Loaches Online Forum

I have black beard algae covering all the big rocks in my hillstream tank and I think it's beautiful. Less beautiful in my Botia tank, where it used to smother the Anubias. Four SAE sorted that out completely. Lovely fish, too.

I have adult amano/japonica shrimp in a tank full of loaches, yoyos included. Never had a problem. Cherry shrimp disappear within a day though.

Bad news. One of my viriosus died. I think I'm just down to one and a cheni. Picked up some of the novo tabs today and have tried it out on my 300ltr Botia tank. Highly entertaining! Will try it out on the hillstream tank in the week (it's at work). I haven't had a huge amount of luck with hillstrea...

The first one.

I have plain black backing on all my tanks, so algae growth tends not to get out of control there although I really wouldn't care if it did. As far as I'm concerned, algae is a good thing in a balanced tank.

That's a nice looking tank. I've heard that a major shake-up in a tank can deal with the behaviour of individual problem fish so maybe it will clear things up for the clowns. Fingers crossed!

Your tank is coming along nicely!

I use this: http://www.cascadebitz.com/Aquarium-Maintenance-Bitz/Tetra-Tec-Glass-Scraper-p-668.html It's fantastic. Much more effective at getting tough algae (what I call 'spot' algae, no idea what it's really called) than the magnetic cleaners and much less effort than getting your arm in the tank...

Loaches are certainly better in groups of their own species but it's important to keep in mind the adult size of the fish you're putting in. Your clown loach would ideally need a tank no shorter than 6 foot in length as it grows (even that seems too small to my mind). Even yoyo's I think are too big...

Most but not all, it seems!

Jim Powers wrote:Tetra Delica gel spread on the tank glass or on rocks, is another favorite, but it is no longer available on this side of the pond.

I tried that after seeing how successful it was in Emma's tank but the hillies ignored it completely and eventually the shrimp ate it all.

I'll pick some up the next time I'm at a fish shop. They seem to be just fine grazing away in the tank but it would be nice to supplement that a bit.

What kind of prepared foods are you giving them? I've never had any hillies pay even the slightest bit of attention to any food I put in there.

Most people here will have seen that tank before but it never stops being stunning. The man is a genius.

I'm interested in LEDs because of the low heat output but I don't know much about which products are available. I think they're all still very expensive.