Kuhli loach?

[Emerson]

Just curious: has anyone teamed up their Betta with a kuhli loach? I was out on a site today that said ghost shrimp, cories and kuhli loaches are all good tankmates for Bettas. Hmmm.

Also...on a different topic...I'd really like to get something as a "treat" for Horatio to help break up the monotony of the BioGold, but have seen posts here about constipation. My thought was to go with the daphnia, but was wondering what others' experiences have been with it - in particular the Hikari brand - and how it compares with other treats.

Thanks!

[Betta MVP]

Here is some info on the kuhli loach, including what they eat, what type of water conditions are best for them, how big they get, etc. If you're thinking of getting one for your 5 gallon, I think they will get too big.

www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/bottomfeeders/kuhli.asp

If you want to get treat foods, and you don't want to mess with live or frozen, I recommend Tetra Nature's Delica. It comes in blood worms, daphnia, or brine shimp. It is in little packets and the food is in a nutrient gel and doesn't need refrigeration. The only problems is if you put too much in, it will cloud up the water. My guys love this stuff and will grab it off the end of the packet where I sqeeze it out, sometimes jumping for it lol. I wouldn't recommend the freeze dried stuff, it sometimes can lead to constipation. I don't think it tastes as good either, my bettas turn their noses up at it lol.

[Denise]

I bought the Hikari freeze-dried daphnia for a sick betta once when I was trying everything to get him to eat. He was ignoring his other food, but he loved the daphnia. Horatio might like it as a treat. It is very high in protein, so you don't want to overdo it. For variety on regular food, I feed my bettas HBH Betta Bites as well as Bio-Gold, and they love the HBH bites. We also have Hikari freeze-dried blood worms, which they love, but only once a week.

[Emerson]

bettamvp said:

If you're thinking of getting one for your 5 gallon, I think they will get too big.

I think you're right about khulis. I found another site with profiles, and it said that they can reach 3" or larger. Yikes!

I do want to be careful about clouding the water, since I've been fortunate not to have any trouble with that so far. LOL - jumps for their treat! It's funny, when I put Horatio's BioGold pellets into the water (one by one, as he eats them), he does this little "pounce" at them that reminds me of a shark attack! I can only imagine what he will do with a package of brine shrimp! [do I hear the theme music to Jaws?]

sef

[Emerson]

Denise said:

I feed my bettas HBH Betta Bites as well as Bio-Gold, and they love the HBH bites. We also have Hikari freeze-dried blood worms, which they love, but only once a week.

I might look into the BettaBites. What I don't want to do, is get Horatio spoiled with treats so that he doesn't eat his BioGold. He's so good about eating them and they're so nutricious, but I don't want him to get burned out on them. Are the BettaBites as easy to dispense (measure) as the BioGold pellets?

Thanks!

[ana]

i have also been told by an lfs person whom i trust that some loaches can be quite aggressive, be wary

and you wont burn him out with no treats, i dont treat, very rarely, my fish still adore their pellets

[Emerson]

You know, I have just about made up my mind to let Horatio have the tank to himself. He seems happy, he is (hopefully) healthy. I was toying with the idea of having some little bottom feeders, a snail or even an aquatic frog with him just for some interaction, but am not so sure it would be a good idea. Definitely steering clear of loaches!

[ana]

i toyed with the idea too, even tried zebra danios, if i were going to i think id just stick with corys, theyre absolutely passive. but i decided as you have in the end