Loach Count

[starsplitter7]

This weekend I consolidated my tanks and took accounting of my fish. Where I thought I had 4-6 B. striata, I had 8. I am now up to 9 Yoyos, 3 Kubs, 2 Golden Chinese Loaches, . . . very nice.

I also went to my favorite LFS, and they have finally have Histrionicas! I have been waiting three years. I got 5 of the tiniest Histies I have ever seen in my life. I also picked up three lizard loaches to add to my two.

I picked up two eels and two 3/4 inch moth catfish. They will all go into quarantine together. It was a productive day.

[glenna]

that sounds NICE!
do you have all your loaches in one big tank, or are they separated by size, aggressiveness, or whatever. Finally saw some tiretrack eels in person but was out of town at the time, so could not get one. Besides, still need to do a lot of learning about eels prior to getting any.
Looks like you had QUITE a productive day

[starsplitter7]

I've had my tiretrack a couple years, and I love her. She lives in a cave with her nose sticking out. I feed her cocktail shrimp and shrimp pellets and catfish (frozen from the store). She is a good tankmate, and all her tankmates are big and non-aggressive. One of my favorite fish ever. Make sure she can't leave the tank. They bail. And mine is big enough to eat the ferret.

[zenins]

Someday, I will count my loaches

Anyways, I have one Histrionica loach, I have never seen them in the local fish stores.

When ever I put it in a show, most people think it is a Yoyo loach, but then I have to point out the differences in pattern on the tail,
and dorsal, the thickness of the lines, the different head shape and eyes ... well, you know

Here is my Histi in a show two weeks ago:


and here is one of my clowns:

[surgeon]

Seems like a decent sized clown. How large?

[starsplitter7]

Beautiful Clown with rich color. Really lovely.

I point out the mug shot numbers that are along the body of my histie. I only had one for years, because I couldn't find any. Now my Histie is 5-6 and hefty, and its new freinds are about an inch and will be 1/4 inch tall. Haha! But my Kubotai in the tank are just a bit bigger, so I am not too worried about adding them after quarantine. I like the cleaner marks of the histie. Your histie is lovely and looks quite a bit like mine. The mix of large and small loaches works well. The small ones are out cruising the tank day and night. It coaxes the bigger guys out.

[zenins]

Seems like a decent sized clown. How large?

That is one of my mid-size ones at 15cm ( 6 inches )
They seem to have the best colour, once they get larger and older, their black bands seem lighter,
and the red in the fins is not as bright ...

[zenins]

Beautiful Clown with rich color. Really lovely.

Thanks

That clown came in second place in the Loaches class, right behind my Histrionica ...

[starsplitter7]

At last month's Loach bowl show, my clown came in first, the Golden Chinese loach second and the Histrionica third. So funny when you think about it. I expected the histrioncia to blow everyone else out of the water. People said, "You swept the category." Not difficult when I am the one of the few loach keepers in the club. There is one other woman in the club who has loaches and hers are truely impressive. A few other people have a few for snail control. I am working on loaches being more popular. People think they are aggressive. I am trying to work through that myth. I think since most people keep them with cichlids. No wonder they are aggressive.

The club has mostly cichlids, livebearers and catfish. I think it is because people like breeding fish. I have the weird fish. Otherwise known as the cool fish.

[zenins]

I am working on loaches being more popular. People think they are aggressive. I am trying to work through that myth. I think since most people keep them with cichlids. No wonder they are aggressive.
The club has mostly cichlids, livebearers and catfish. I think it is because people like breeding fish. I have the weird fish. Otherwise known as the cool fish.

Agreed.
I have been a guest speaker on keeping loaches at about 8 clubs in the last 18 months.
I promote loaches several ways, usually as an interesting schooling fish that also controls snails
I want to encourage more people to keep them so I can see more of them in shows

Very Cool Fish

[starsplitter7]

I want people to keep them, so they love them, will learn how to keep them properly, and keep them out of the African cichlid tanks as snail contraol. Education is key.

[zenins]

I want people to keep them, so they love them, will learn how to keep them properly, and keep them out of the African cichlid tanks as snail contraol. Education is key.

Agreed

I have convinced more people to keep loaches, I even auction of a bag of three after my presentation, with proceeds going to the club,
hopefully to buy a loach book for their library ...
http://www.loaches.com/loaches-in-books ... ng-loaches

[starsplitter7]

Best loach book ever! Look it with me to the auction just in case.

[raedeon]

Someday, I will count my loaches

Anyways, I have one Histrionica loach, I have never seen them in the local fish stores.

I know it is a bit of a drive for you, but Scarborough (and even further, Whitby) Big Als have had Histies for the last few weeks. I think Mississauga had them on sale last week as well. For some reason I check all the Big Als specials every now and then

[Craig_]

Does anyone have experience with the Ottawa location(s)? I may take a jaunt over one of these days to check it out.