Loaches Online Forum

What do you think? LEDs usually produce quite a bit less light per watt than HO T5s (while standard T5s with electronic ballasts are probably the most efficient lights per cost in the long term, at the moment), so you should keep that in mind with regards to plants. Blue is relatively ok for growin...

What are the dimensions of your current tank? My last 55 gallon was only 3 ft long and I would say that that was not suitable for 6" clowns; on the other hand, my last 28 gal tank was 4 ft long, and that is reasonable for 6" clowns. I believe in upgrading earlier, rather than later, so I encourage y...

Many hillstreams prefer cooler water, same as White Cloud Montain minnows and from what I understand, the minnows and the loaches come from similar (if not the same!) type of areas. A 4 ft tank is great for both species (I used to keep my hillstreams in a 4 ft tank as well), I would be looking at ha...

They've offered a time slot tomorrow evening for collection (which I can't make), and finally given me a mobile number to call them at, so I'll try to get more information tomorrow and to collect on Friday.

I've been eyeing up loaches for a while and, having finally settled on these, spent a few months trying to find them. A couple of days ago, I managed to place an order for 10 with a local drop-shipper and the delivery from the wholesalers is tomorrow. As the company is local, I will be able to at le...

Not specifically about clown loaches, but there is at least one Cory species which has been observed as preferring fine gravel over sand when both were available. As least from what I have observed, the most common reason for barbel damage is poor water quality, not substrate, as long as sharp subst...

I think the OP means 20 gallons ;) how long you imagine before I need to get em out of there. Probably when they reach 7-8 cm (3 inches) long from tip of nose to base of tail, but I would also like to reiterate that ideally, they should be in larger groups. If you want to find fish a good home, I th...

20 gallon long, is that 30*12*12 inches? I would say any which grow up to 2" should be fine in that, and try to go for a group of at least 6 for most species. As an example, I am planning to get 10 Yunnanilus sp. 'rosy'. which grow up to 3 cm for a smaller tank than that. Yunnanilus cruciatus is ano...

As a counter suggestions for those who still like their externals, I recently came across someone who was running the outlets from the external filters through a reverse underground filter to get a much larger surface area for bacteria and a much lower flow for the discus while decreasing the need f...

The dimensions are considerably more important than total volume :) I have not kept many loaches in my own tanks, but I have had to look after them and at one point, I had a housemate who kept them. Given the activity level and adult size of the loaches, I would want a tank with the bottom area of a...

RickU, have you looked specifically into softwater plants? Things like Vallis generally don't do that well in soft water, but you should have better luck with something like Cabomba, for example. pH of 6.7 isn't that low, but if it changes by so much, I assume your water is quite soft and poorly buf...

That depends on what you want to make it out of but the best answer, regardless of what you go for, is good quality materials and a sturdy floor. You're talking about something that weighs almost 1.5 tonnes, and at least I wouldn't want that all over my floor!

Thanks guys I think I have *finally* found a supplier for the loaches, I'm going to call them first thing on Monday and try to pick up the fish the same day. Fingers crossed! Once that's sorted, I'll try to update with some fish photos

The guy at the pet store told me that i could keep several in there. fyi he knows his fish REALLY well. its not a petsmart, pet warehouse or petco. Well, we all have different opinions on what is big enough and what is not. If it helps, I base mine on what I consider that the fish needs to be able ...

I have to say that the only time I have seen khulis in a 10 gallon, they didn't look comfy at all… quite the opposite really. I also found that when my ex-housemate kept some, they really appreciated being in a large group. Sponge or stocking over the intake is a really good idea as any ammonia can ...