Loaches Online Forum

Can loaches smell food? From what I've read and watching my own pair of dojos, I think they detect food by tasting it on their barbels. So unless a current moved particles of the food to their barbels they wouldn't know it was there. Although mine know to go to the surface to find food also, even t...

I also like your substrate... did you buy it like that? I collected gravels from like 3 different places to make something similar.

Yeah, I think maybe something like that, or maybe I've accidently collected their eggs or babies in the water change.
Still something of a mystery though.
Thanks anyway!

Nice set up and fish! CLS, I understand the soil's value to plants, my main trouble is with digging fish on soil that can get stirred into the water column... I was looking through a really old book on aquariums and the writer advised putting down three layers in a planted aquarium. 1 was soil, 2 wa...

hmm have you fed any worms to them. It might even be parasites. :cry: I haven't fed them worms, although in the warmer months I net insect larvae (gnat/mosquito etc) from pots of water outside. These winter months I feed a mix of dried stuffs. The reason I don't think they are parasitic is because ...

ClownLoachSharky wrote:do you have kuhli loaches?

Hello,
No I don't have them, and I probably should have said that my tank isn't heated/tropical.
regards

I've noticed these worms in small numbers in my tanks on and off over the years. I saw one today in my tank swimming aimlessly in the flow until a minnow swallowed it. What are they? Some posts online say these are planaria and are evidence of a dirty tank. But they don't look anything like any plan...

Jim Powers wrote:Its interesting. I haven't seen this in a long time in my hillstreams, but I just noticed my 10 year old Sinogastromyzon wui is going through the same thing. It appears to be shedding

I really didn't realise hillstreams could live so long! Certainly encouraging to look after them.

Thank you Menu!
That looks exactly like what my fish has (or had as I think it's cleared up now).
How strange though... Perhaps caused because their pectoral and pelvic fins are constantly running along surfaces?
Thanks again Jim and Menu!

I am not an expert on fish health but I would definately isolate him. You don't need another aquarium to do that as a bucket or old tub will do. The shade that a non-glass container provides is good for sick fish anyway. Do make sure there's some kind of lid as he may well jump out to find his frien...

Thanks for your help Jim! I tried to find posts on this but I couldn't find... anyway... The fins don't exactly have the spiny look but rather the fins look like they are dropping the edges, like shedding skin. I can see tiny pieces of the fins hanging off. I've never seen this on any of my fishes b...

Hello, I'm new here but need some advice..... I have 2 Sewellia lineolatas [ http://www.loaches.com/species-index/sewellia-lineolata ] and just noticed when watching one on the glass, that her pectoral and pelvic fins looked tattered . Her tail and dorsal fin looked fine. The other specimen looked f...