Kuhli loaches with shell dwellers?

[Acorno]

I’m wondering if anyone has had success with keeping kuhli loaches and she’ll dwellers together?

 

[Byron]

Given that these two fishes require very different water parameters to function and remain healthy, this would not work.

 

[Colin_T]

The shell dwellers come from Lake Tanganyika, which has water with a GH above 350ppm and often closer to 450ppm, and a pH around 8.5.

Khuli loaches come from soft water with a GH below 100ppm.

 

[Acorno]

I don’t think the ph will be an issue, because the kuhli loaches are living in a very high ph and have thrived in it for years.

 

[Rocky998]

But the water hardness is more of an issue.
Softwater fish kept in hardwater can lead to kidney failure. The minerals will build up inside of them and will kill them

 

[Acorno]

I believe they have been in hard water their whole life.If they couldn’t handle the water they wouldn’t sell well enough in stores.

 

[Essjay]

Fish are in stores for a very short time, not long enough to have any serious effect on them. Once they leave the store, the store doesn't care. If they die, you'll go back and buy more. It is up to the purchaser to research the needs of a fish and provide for those needs. This includes keeping fish in suitable water. Soft water fish will live for a while in hard water but are unlikely to reach their normal life span.

Kuhlis, like other soft water fish, have evolved in water with few hardness minerals. Their bodies hang on to the few minerals they get from the water. Put them in hard water and their bodies still hang on to the minerals from the water, only now there are a lot of minerals. Because the fish can't excrete the minerals they form deposits in the organs, particularly the kidneys, which cuts the fish's lives shorter.

 

[GaryE]

I agree on the water question, but I get the idea that doesn't matter to you.

So, behaviour. I would expect trouble there, as the loaches and shell dwellers like the same habitat in the tank, and there would be competition. I would expect the Cichlids to win. I doubt they'd put up with a slender fast fish that would look to them like an efficient fry predator. Defense of fry, even if they don't have any at the moment, is a Cichlid's goal in life.

 

[anewbie]

I agree on the water question, but I get the idea that doesn't matter to you.

So, behaviour. I would expect trouble there, as the loaches and shell dwellers like the same habitat in the tank, and there would be competition. I would expect the Cichlids to win. I doubt they'd put up with a slender fast fish that would look to them like an efficient fry predator. Defense of fry, even if they don't have any at the moment, is a Cichlid's goal in life.

Compeitition shouldn't be a problem; kuhli are a shy fish that avoid conflict and seem to learn where not to go. I keep them with dwarf cichlid for years and they seem to have mostly harmony once the kuhli learn to avoid their nest.
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Having said that for shell dwellers the water is unacceptable and the kuhli would have a significantly reduced life span.

 

[Acorno]

I agree on the water question, but I get the idea that doesn't matter to you.

So, behaviour. I would expect trouble there, as the loaches and shell dwellers like the same habitat in the tank, and there would be competition. I would expect the Cichlids to win. I doubt they'd put up with a slender fast fish that would look to them like an efficient fry predator. Defense of fry, even if they don't have any at the moment, is a Cichlid's goal in life.

Thanks.