Khulis In A 48 Litre

[littlegreentiger]

I currently have 5 that have been in there for a while and are seemingly very happy and healthy. Despite reading many owners hardly ever see them I was wondering whether I would ultimately regret buying them, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Mine are the plain black ones and are out-and-about all day and night. They are extremely active and have cute little 'faces' that give a greater impression of individualism that most fish. They share their home with a few Barbs, Cardinal Tetra and Rummynose Tetra.

I understand they put only a very low load on a tank, it would seem they clear up more mess than they make. Also they aren't too fussed about having their personal space invaded by other Khulis, in fact they positively enjoy playing together and living in a tight group. I don't think any of their fellow tank mates add a huge load individually so it's not a particularly 'messy' tank and it does get weekly 25-50% water changes. Given all of that I'm wondering how many, if any, more I could add?

It may be a plan reserved for the future when inevitable loses eventually hit or perhaps part of a replacement plan at some point, but thought it was worth asking what people thought.

Cheers.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I currently have 5 that have been in there for a while and are seemingly very happy and healthy. They share their home with a few Barbs, Cardinal Tetra and Rummynose Tetra.

For a 48l tank, I'm concerned about how many fish you have.

How many Cardinal and Rummynose Tetra are in there?
Which species of barbs do you have and how many?

If you have those tetras in barbs in suitable sized groups of 6+ per species, your overall stocking would be more in line with a tank of at least 125l.

 

[littlegreentiger]

I would consider it overstocked for adult sized but most are currently pretty small. One near full size and one a little smaller Odessa Barbs are the biggest, with others being a couple of Cherry and Gold (am I right in thinking maximum 7cm for the Odessa/Gold and max 5cm for the rest). There are more than 6 but no more than 10 of the Tetra (would have to do a head count to be certain). I do keep up the water changes and have two air stones and an Interpet PF2 with the fizzing thingy open too. The current stock was established slowly, not all dumped in together yesterday and I haven't lost any fish for some time.

The plan, though I know this won't achieve Universal popularity, is to see which fish settle best in my tank with a view to the long term stocking. I wouldn't be considering keeping them all to full adulthood. There are options for rehousing them at home and I have 8 (I think) fish stores within as many miles that I could return/donate to. As I said I know this approach won't be popular with many but would adding 15 Cardinals (for example) and watching them all die because my water is not to their liking be a better approach (rhetorical).

I genuinely appreciate your concern and response.