Loaches Online Forum

great pics! and congrats on the new camera...

How many tanks do you have anyways?

phosphates are present in many fish foods such as flakes. I believe they use it as a binding agent. Hair algae is usually a result of excess phosphates. I would test both your tank water, and whatever you are using as a water source for the tank to see the phosphate levels. A great (but expensive) p...

As far as adding the sand to the tank, you still need to rinse beforehand to remove the fine particles. If you are able to empty the tank before you add the sand, what I reccomend is draining the tank, then add all the sand. Once the sand is in the tank, get a large garbage bag and lay it over the s...

I say don't fix what isn't broken. If you went with substrate and are worried about waste getting trapped, sand will keep almost all of the waste on the surface making for easy cleaning. That said, getting it into the tank would be a PITA, and keeping it there would be even tougher. The sand will ge...

Nice looking tanks you have there! Wish I had the room to do something like that.

I have put 14 wheels and tires in my subaru wagon, never tried a tank though.

gorgeous fish!

i have heard horror stories of fish going missing with the raphael cats. As far as choices, any of the botia you suggested should do very well in a 75 gal tank.

I have been using this stuff for a few years now in tanks with loaches as well as my african tanks. I haven't had any problems with parasites, but that doesn't mean that the food did anything to control parasites either. The only downside to it is that the food is very expensive.

did u have a heater break or something that could cause a current?

you can use a sheet of eggcrate from the lighting section of home depot to keep them in the tank. Cut it to fit around your filters, etc.

well, i have red-finned danios, similar to giant danios, and they are decent bottom feeders. If you have shy loaches, it can be difficult to keep them fed as the danios finish the food before the loaches get to it.

until you do manage to switch them to a new tank, try feeding the loaches with the lights off.

put me on the list

As long as the loach doesn't seem to be stressed (breathing rapidly, etc.) it sounds like a typical botia spaz. Maybe he was a nascar driver in a former life?