Loaches Online Forum

Different people, different experiences

peat is what kuhli like, and when watered properly, it will sink more or less as good as sand does

As wheather loaches are found in central Europe, I would assume one could find specimen which have no trouble with an outdoor temp of -20 C. That is, a pond frozen over with 10 cm of ice or more. However, do mind the water under the ice will still be + 4 C. When a thing gets warmer, it expands. Howe...

Generally, bacteria arte the result of biological stuff in the water. If your fishes are sensitive, it cold help to reduce the amount of wood in a tank. Wood decays resulting in both loss of oxygen and increased amounts of bacteria. Without wood, these problems are slimmer. Waterchanses do the same,...

Chlorine will prevent all and any growth of algae. So you should either use chlorine free water - the best solution would be to use water from a river or rainwater - or, alternatively, use a dechlorinator. Adding fish food will not help much. After all, this will forst have to be processed into ammo...

On Planet Catfish I found this link https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4341.2.1 To an article describing 3 new species of Acantopsis, from mainland Asia. Most striking for me is that A choirorhynchus is not a valid species, but a synonime of A dialuzona. I got to say, the latter name l...

I don´t think 11 hrs a day is too much, and most rapid flowing waters don´t have much cover to the sun. That is, fish from rapids will not be scared of 11 hrs of bright sun. Still, they do need to have sufficient cover, and obviously, that is a bit in conflict with what you want to do in a quarantai...

Otocinclus generally don't need current. Any current, they are found, for instance, in grass hanging into the water. Further, they will not need driftwood, they only eat algae, not wood. But wood will make the tank prettier. The problem with Otocinclus is, thyey need to eat more or less constantly, ...

If you can match the TDS that would probably be best. But you are right, the water in the bag is pretty bad. Ammonia and CO2 are produced by the fish. The CO2 keeps the ammonia in the form of ammonium, which is less toxic. But as soon as you open the bag the CO2 escapes, allowing the pH in the wate...

You are right to point out issues with heating using powerheads. Or an internal filter for that matter. I got a tank with an internal filter which has a turn around of 10 times, using 38 watts. These 38 watts heat the tank to 4 C above ambidient. The thing is, however, I once read people in the USA ...

In the Netherlands, we have 3 species of laoches - the large loach Misgurnis fossilis, the small loach, Cobitis taenia and "het bermpje" Barbatula barbatula. I thouth it was Noemocheilus barbatula, but that apart.

As far as I know, in north western Europe these 3 species, and no more, are found

The weight gain after fish has had worms is slow but you should be able to start noticing some filling out soon enough. Take pictures because one forgets where they started... I think this is one of the best advises I ever read regarding the treatment of illnesses. And so obvious, I'm almost ashame...

putting both ends of a pump in opposite sides will work nicely.

I got a tank which is working for 6 years now, with an 2500 l/hr internal filter, and the outflow is through a PVC pipe to the other side. It works like a dream.

As far as the pics look like anything, the fishes could be a Syncrossus species I would say

So I believe it's the same in the U.S., though maybe it's a New York thing, we did after all used to be a Dutch colony before we were British :P That's right. Not our ancestors best deal, swapping NY for Surinam. There was even one day a vote whether English or Dutch would be the national language ...