Loaches Online Forum

Yes, I love val, too! I have a lot of it now and I can't seem to kill it - this is good! As I become more experienced at keeping aquatic plants I'm sure I will want to diversify a bit more, but, as a beginner, I am definitely enjoying this plant!

Wow, I can't believe no one else has seen this. It's like a lighter colored, wide banding will appear at times and then disappear... depending on fish's mood? I have no idea why. I've raised a couple generations of BNs and they have been doing it all their lives, but seem to be healthy...

Thanks for the pointers, starsplitter!

I've seen this. It seems to be normal? At least, mine haven't died yet. (They're happy, I swear!)

Hmm... This makes sense to me. I guess I will just have to watch out for any problems with the knife. I am still new to the hobby and am making lots of mistakes. Thanks for saying it looks good - I am trying lots of new things in it all at once! I may have gone a bit crazy in the design, since I hav...

Yes, this is a grow out tank. The botias are very small right now - just a couple inches or less. When they outgrow this tank I would like to put them in the biggest tank I can find and fit (150g+). Someone gave me their 2 clowns and a yoyo when they moved and I fell in love with them! My 100g has t...

It sounds like mine are a little bigger than yours, and yet I still feel like mine have the tiniest mouths ever! I've been feeding them grindal worms and baby daphnia, and frozen blood worms. I will have to try black worms with them... they just looked so big by comparison!

I got a pair at a swap meet last weekend and the male is sitting on eggs right now... hopefully I'll get some fry but this was sort of an unplanned pregnancy, if you know what I mean! I did not expect them to settle in so quickly... they're still in the QT tank! P.S. I never see mine eat. I don't wa...

Has anyone in the States run across any Sicyoterus sp. for sale? I have had a round goby (an invasive species where I live; I caught it wild) for about a year and would love to try more fw gobies! Trouble is... I can't find any.

Here's a pic of the tank. You can see the intake sponge on the left and spray bar on the right for the river tank manifold. A few changes have been made since the photo - the giant danios have been moved to another tank and a couple of the stones were removed from the left side to create a little mo...

As for dithers, I've found none better than harlequin rasboras. A decent shoal of adults is quite a sight - don't be fooled by the often stressed youngsters in fish shops. They are lovely fish! My water is on the hard and alkaline side, so I might not be the best fit for them, from what I've read. ...

Do the cichlid stones leach into the water? This could adversely affect the pH. Okay, so I got the test drops... I suspect that the cichlid stones may raise the pH a bit. My tap water tests at 7.4 and my tanks, some with and some without the cichlid stones, range from 7.6 to 8.0. It's not clear tha...

Yeah, you are - and you're not alone! Sounds like a delicious day of loachiness.

Your females are bigger than your males? Mine are the opposite - and one of the females is so short I call her Mini - she's a couple years old and under 2.5". My boys are all about 4". I was hoping for specific recommendations on caves because I need to find new things to try... my boys have outgrow...

My condolences to you and the remaining dojo! Can you get more locally?

They sound wonderful. At first I was put off by the fact that my apartment is too warm... and now I'm considering a chiller! Ridiculous, I tell you...