kuhli loaches in 10 gallon?
Are they reaching full size of 4″ and are they living full lifespans of 10+ years?
If they are, then congrats to you for keeping up with frequent PWC’s and maybe plants do utilize the hormones which cause the stunting/stressing problems so prevalent in many overstocked tanks. So far, none of the studies that I’ve read about hormone related stunting have experimented with live plants as a way of removing the hormones but most of the studies out there have to do with the fisheries industry which uses bare ponds for raising fry so they have been experimenting with constant turnover of fresh water and advanced chemical filtration methods.
I’m not sure who your experts are that said it was fine but I do know there are lots of so-called experts out there in the fish keeping world who are readily dispensing horrible advice on a daily basis. Practical Fishkeeping Magazine (UK) recently did a survey of their local fish stores and pet stores about safely cycling a new tank and 96% of the employees/owners surveyed gave bad advice to their customers. They are currently working on a survey about keeping a couple of fancy goldfish and I’m sure the same high percentage of bad advice will be dispensed about them as well.
This is why, we as hobbyists need to double and triple check everything a so-called expert tells us and it’s why there are thousands of user forums in existence on the web so that people can try to get good advice on keeping their fish healthy.
While your tank may be working for you, make sure you tell people that the tank MUST be heavily planted and/or frequent PWC’s MUST be done to give an overstocked tank a chance for long-term success.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
