michael.qian Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Hi all, I'm thinking of stocking my tank a little more, either with 5-6 Corydoras or 3-4 Kuhli loach, in about 3-4 weeks time. The tank is pretty stocked already for its size, see below for the list of fishes. After this addition that's it, I'm will be afraid to add anymore, or maybe even not this one if I have too many fishes already. Which one would you go for? I'm having trouble deciding between the two, kuhli loach for corys? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted July 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Whoops, forgot the signature, here it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 You only have "too many fishes" if your nitrates rise too high between weekly water changes, keep monitoring them and if they don't, you're fine. I'd go for the Corydoras with the numbers you've mentioned, just because with only 3-4 Khulis you probably wouldn't see them that much (If you have 6+ you see them a lot more, in my experience) where as the cories will be out and scrounging around constantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted July 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 I actually have a bit of a ammonia problem at the moment, though it's steadily improving, luckily I took fast action, did the appropriate water changes and ammonia level is slowly going down. This happened because I made the terrible mistake of adding fish too fast, I added 26 fish in 3 weeks, the tank is fully cycled before I added all the fish and after the fish were added there was an ammonia spike. It doesn't look like I'm going to lose any fish so luckily I won't have to learn the hard way, but I would like to take this opportunity to advise people NOT to add lots of fish at once, you'll just restart your cycle and it can be deadly to your fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Ahh.. yes.. the filter was cycled for the amount of fish you had in the tank... If you suddenly increase the amount of fish the bacteria have to play catchup. Luckily they have a headstart and you did water changes to avoid a disaster while they catch up. I think you need another tank Remember the fish you have will keep growing. Those Clown Loaches will get pretty big in a few years. An understocked tank is a lot more forgiving than an overstocked one. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplecatfish Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Go for the corys. I've recently sold over half a dozen of kuhlis because I never saw them and there's still four left in the tank as they're hard to catch. I'm looking at adding another group of corys to another tank (which already has a group of peppered corys in it) cause they're so cool when they wink at you. There's also the possibility that the corys will spawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted July 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Ok the Corys then, I was kind of leaning toward them myself as well. Will aim and get a new tank within 2 years time, a 4-foot one will be ideal, already having headaches of how I am going to transfer everything over to the new tank, but will leave that till when the time comes. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishandchips Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Kuhlis are really nice to look at when they come out which is not very often. I would go for the Corys just because they are really cool to watch when they are in a group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoshark Posted July 15, 2007 Report Share Posted July 15, 2007 Will aim and get a new tank within 2 years time I bet you'll get it sooner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted July 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Just want to ask another question, nothing to do with fish. Just a month ago I added a heater, 150W Jebo, today my power bill arrived and apparently the heater has made a massive $30 difference! According to my calculations, which I'm sure it 99% correct, the maximum increase on my average power bill is $19 maximum, but the heater wasn't even on 20% of the time. Any ideas on this? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 its winter- what do you use to heat your house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted July 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Burn firewood from late afternoon to about 9pm, when we go to sleep and the fire stops temperature will begin to drop. But it's only 150W, my calculation is based on the assumption that the full 150W is running 24/7 for a month, which it won't be. But then I did just realise this month I've been at home mostly and my computer is always on during the day, for 12 hours a day approx, that would probably consume a lot of power. But anyway will wait until next month and see what's the bill is, won't have computer running much from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 just don't get a reef tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted July 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 lol I know, the power cost can be astronomical with those. I've estimated it like this, for a average 4-5 foot tank 150W Fluorescent lighting 600W Heater (2X 300W) 450W Metal Halide 100W Other accessories TOTAL of 1300W or 1.3KW Max Cost per month will be about $170 just for the tank, but realistically will be about $100-$140. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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