Loaches Online Forum

Emma, Aren't these highly endangered? Are they from a breeder? Will they be/are they for sale, and if so are you setting up some sort of private/hobby-oriented breeding programme or club? I work in conservation (restoration) and consider the pets industry to be the last great hope for many hyper-end...

They're polychaete worms. Annelids, yes, but not earthworms. If only 3" I'm surprised your fish don't eat them. I'm not familiar with the FW version, but in the marine system they can be serious predators... though also can be scavengers. I think your fish are dying from something else (Water qualit...

IME (common) plecos are terrible at cleaning that stuff up- try snails, maybe Mystery.
The best thing I've seen with that dreadful algae has been a marble headstander, though I'm not sure how one would do with the oscars.
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I was under the impression that nitrogen-cycle bacterial required a substrate such that a UV filter didn't affect them in an established system? Such substrate can be stone or gravel or plants or sand or filter-media, but can also be junk and organic flotsam in the water that will be (yes) meanderin...

Nope. MTS are popcorn once the loaches figure them out. A botia's head is a set of gasket lips attached to a heavy-duty vacuum pump purpose built to suck a snail out of the shell, so the strength of the shell is of no help. Deep gravel might help or mixed gravel and sand as the MTS live underground ...

I've said it before and I'll say it again- EVERY child should have immediate access to a butterfly net and a big mayonnaise jar at all times. These things should reside in the car boot and/or at the back door and come along on every outing. And at the age of 12 they should get a snorkel, and it too ...

Sarg,
I think it's me- my questions always seem to need to "marinate".

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Right,
I'm getting tired of plecostamus generally, but for the next project will need a little "heft" in my algal clean-up crew.
Do snails mark/scratch acrylic like plecos have a reputation to do?
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Has anyone ever bred Y.sid.?
Recreationally or commercially.
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for containers- go to local mondo-hardware and get some of those big square tupperware boxes. One massive is better than 2 smaller, though the smaller are more useful afterwards. Cheep and functional. Fish don't seem to mind, so long as filters are still hooked up.

In university we used concrete building blocks stacked up end-on-end and stuck them together with liquid-nail. Put a couple of 2x10s across the bottom and in the middle to make a shelf (80-gal), and a piece of fridge-shipping styrofoam underneath the glass in case of unevenness. Covered the whole th...

siphon the fish out?

or just put a mesh box over them?

If the question is "do I have to cut away all the silicone & glass and start again" I have to answer- i hope not ;) The usual is that one should not try to stick new silicone to old, but I've never had too much trouble with this (though I've never let this join carry particular weight). Just make su...

Sorry if i missed this in the text, but why are you resealing it? Does it leak? Do a fill-test out on the balcony, and if it doesn't leak don't worry about it. Without direct sunlight, rats or nibbling loaches the silicone should last, well, pretty well forever. If you're cutting silicone away you s...