amaux2

Hi all,
I have a 22gallon tank (or thereabouts) set up in my classroom at school. At the moment, all that's in there is a albino oscar that a parent gave me. I'm planning on taking him to my LFS because of tank size, and I'm looking at some new fish. I really love the loach family, and have read that Kuhli loaches are hardier than clown loaches (they look cooler too!), and as we don't have a lot of time to dedicate to tank maintenance (can spend up to 1/2 hour a week), I need fairly easy fish to keep healthy.

I'm considering:
some Bolivian rams
5-6 harlequin rasboras
5 kuhli loaches.

Does this sound okay? I would like fish that show their personalities - a bit more interesting for my kids to watch
I saw a rusty cichlid in my LFS and loved him, but I think the tank is too small.
Happy to hear any other suggestions!

enthusiast

I think the rams although small in size would like to eat your kuhli loaches and just take them as colorful worms....

the most expensive fish food you'll ever buy!!

harpua2002

Sounds great, except that I'd go with only one Bolivian ram due to the size of the tank. They can be aggressive toward their own kind and it doesn't sound like you have anywhere else to put a ram that is the target of aggression.

*edit* Bolivian rams will not eat kuhli loaches.

enthusiast

let me know how it goes

Shaina

I currently have 3 Kuhli loaches in a planted standard 29g with a (unbonded) pair of adult Bolivian Rams. They have been together since January 2009 without issue (and the Kuhlis swim mid-water column sometimes so it's not like the Rams don't know they are there)

Butterfly

Kuhli loaches are really cool little fish and they would do fine with Rams as long as they have plenty of caves and hiding places.As with all loaches they need extremely clean water.
I don't want to discourage you but please make sure you have time to take care of them properly. a water change and substrate vacuum on a tank that size can be done in 30 minutes or less. The water needs to be tested and the fish need to be fed. How are they going to be taken care of when school isn't in session.
carol

amaux2

Thanks for your time in replying
The fish would get fed twice a day during the week, and either a fish block for weekends, or I have read somewhere that it's ok to not feed them for a day or two each week??
School holidays are more of an issue - up until now, we've had barbs etc, and a fish block worked fine.
We're currently on holidays, and I bought a heap of feeder fishes for the oscar (advice from my LFS), so hopefully he's doing okay Can't wait to see him again on Monday!

What water tests do you recommend on a weekly basis? At this stage, I check pH every now and then when we do a larger water change.

Butterfly

ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests need to be done periodically. I do them monthly most months or if there seems to be a problem.
Until all the fish are in (add them slowly) I personally would do them weekly. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals freshwater master kit is whats most often recommended and the results are very reliable. The readings should be Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, and Nitrates 20 or less.
Oscars can be very Messy especially left with all the feeder fish he can eat so a good cleaning at least once a week and probably twice a week will needed until he is re-homed.
Carol
The fish are fine being fed once a day and not being fed over the weekend. Frequently the feeder blocks can cause problems when they melt. Most are made out of plaster of paris and the fish can't eat that so the tank would need to be vacuumed to get teh residue out on Monday. Excess food or other detritius in the substrate can cause major problems(Ammonia spikes)

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore amaux2!!

I hope you are going to stick with the plan to rehome the oscar..they need 55 gals for a single oscar..they make a ton of waste even as small babies....they deffinately will make a 22 gal dirty and 30 mins a week will not be enough for them....actually, it wont be enough for most fish unless you can vacuum and clean and change water in that amount of time...feeder fish are a major cause of hole in the head because the feeders we get from LFS are full of diseases...once you get a test kit to figure out the readings of the tank, and then get to rehome the oscar, we would gladly help you restock it..

amaux2

Thanks!
Yep, we're planning on taking the Oscar to the LFS when school starts back on Monday, hopefully he'll give us a bit of credit. I'll pick up a test kit then too, and start the testing! I'll be interested to see where it's at, especially after Oscar (although one of my students named him "Grover" - a little confused there :P) has been alone all hols.

And yes, I would love some advice about restocking once the water's good to go.

Amanda