Loaches Online Forum

Yes, fresh romaine & zucchini, stuck on a fork or weighted with a rock. Mine didn't bother anubias or java fern much, swords & crypts were much more fun & easier to put holes in, brats!

Thanks, I will give romaine a try... They were not too wild about zucchini... Oh the things we do for our pets...
I blame my addiction on our retired neighbor, when I was 10, he gave me a 5 gallon fish tank with couple catfishes and swordtails...

Olesja wrote:Well, my sword looks good because it only been in my aquarium for one week, always optimistic that it will grow faster then loaches eat it. So, we'll see how long this one lasts... Two mother swords are helping me to keep nitrates under control in addition to frequent water changes.

Have you thought of emersed plants hanging out of the tank, with their roots in water? They literally wipe the nitrates out of a tank because they have access to aerial CO2. I am currently dosing nitrates in my clown loach tank as my plants get nitrogen deficient all the time The easiest plant that can work is a pothos plant as it doesn't need dedicated light(room light will do) and you can squeeze its roots through the cover holes somewhere. Peace lily is another one but it develops big root systems. Its beautiful though and mine has flowered several times in my tanks. My loaches are in open top tank because for me its a must having emersed plants in tanks...It's the cheapest filtration ever but I don't slack on water changes despite that..hence the nitrogen deficiency problems...

As for underwater plants, mine punch holes in newly grown fresh leaves..but Amazon sword is particularly adored by them Anything with soft leaves besides stem plants with small leaves, is vulnerable. But crypts are untouched by them. I also have crinum calamistratum which they don't touch whatsoever. There are many other plants they are not interested in. Years ago when they went on a plant eating spree, I started feeding more vegetable dry food, like algae wafers,and that seemed to stop them from bothering majority of plants. They probably just need vegetable matter in their diet and when they don't get it, they go for the plants....They absolutely love algae wafers too, ensures a good fight...

Mine are now in a planted enough indoor pond and besides the odd punch in new anubias leaves, the majority is untouched but then again I've got nothing fancy...I'll take a picture when the lights come on later...

A few pics...obviously its not a tank but those emersed plants come from my previous glass tank.

Those are beautiful plants.i only have one house plant growing in my clown loach fish tank, I definitely could use more. My 72 gallon tank would be perfect for emerged plants, but my cats climb it, so I am hesitant to add more things that attract them they already use it as a personal water bowl...

My clown loaches love algae wafers, cucumbers and I just tried romaine lettuce, which they ended up shredding it to bits. With this round of swords, they haven't touched fully grown leaves, but they certainly love new growth both my swords are in the glass dishes if I need to rescue them...