Talk to me of sidthimunki

[Basil]

On my regular call to my one LFS, the guy told me no Histrionicas in stock yet but that he has about 50-60 sids in stock. I told him I have my heart set on Histrionicas for my 75.
But, I have my 40 breeder. Hmmm.
It was stocked with a RTBS and 8 scissortail rasboras. The shark was a small juvenile. I lost him last week
Not sure why as he had been fine. But about 6 weeks ago, I didn’t realize my python connection had loosened and I introduced a ton of tiny bubbles into the tank. I lost one Rasbora and the shark hid for 3 days than seemed ok. But maybe he had lasting damage?
Anyway, I know if I get another shark, he will eventually need a longer tank, correct?
So then I started thinking about stocking it with the sids.
So is this a better plan? Tell me about sids.
And the main question is do they do better on a sand substrate? My 40 is gravel so I would need to change out the gravel. Or would a mix of gravel and sand work?
Thanks all!
And yes, for those on Fishlore, this is a duplicate post!

[Bas Pels]

With regfard to substrate, sand is Always better than gravel, but for some fish, such as Rasbora they don't really care.


Sidhymuncky is a social fish, which is a lot of fun

[Basil]

Thank you Bas Pels.
The 40 g was a free tank and it came with the gravel so that’s how I set it up. But I’ve been thinking of changing it to sand anyway.
My LFS also mentioned they have Botia dario in stock. I’m just going to take a drive down there today and have a look!

[NancyD]

I love sids! You could have quite a few in 40g. I agree with Bas Pels, sand is better. Last time I kept them on Eco Complete, like coarse sand/fine gravel. They were fine but turned very dark, almost no chain pattern because of the black substrate.

I don't think a shark would be a great fit with loaches. They're very territorial with other bottom feeders & similarly shaped mid-water swimmers like SAE. People do keep them successfully with loaches in a large enough tank with lots of hiding spots, so it can be done. I wouldn't keep 1 in less than a 4ft tank.

[Basil]

Exactly Nancy. Which is why I decided to not get another shark. I can say that I would have plans to update but I really like my 40 g and don’t want to add another tank for the shark as it matures.
But I now have 10 sids in my 10g quarantine.
They are so cute! And a few are quite tiny.
What sold me was that the fish store guy showed me their planted tank with mature sids. I fell in love!
I purchased both Black and Tan sand to mix similarly how I did the black and white in my 75.

[Soulmover Di.]

I have 10 sids and 4 clown coach in my 135 gallon tank,I luv my sids so funny and very sociable little things,I have a pale sand substrate I think this is more suitable for them.I do plan on getting some more sids,possibly another 5 at some point in near future just changing filters at moment to Eheim experience external.

[NancyD]

Well, I'd like to see both your tanks! Basil & Soulmover, I miss my sids! Please post a pic or 2 if you can. I want to see!

[Basil]

I’ve had the little guys in quarantine for 3 weeks now. I absolutely love them! I also did purchase the Darios. But I only have 1 left.
I had a water disaster that I described in Fran’s matrix thread. Let’s just say, I need to re evaluate my water source and as of right now, I am not using my well water.
Anyway, I put off doing a deworming round and have lost 2 sids. I have 2 more that are definitely smaller and skinnier and not ass active. If I don’t see an improvement after the second round of Prazipro, I’ll look into levamisole.
My last picture posting didn’t go as planned but I’ll try again. So annoying to still need to use a photo hosting site!

[Basil]

Let me know if the photo appears sideways again lol! I’ll try to figure out why. I took this about 2 weeks ago. Except for the smallest 2, they are noticeably larger and fatter. I discovered they love the shrimp pellets!

[Soulmover Di.]

Trying to post photo,but having trouble,when pressing photo icon just comes up with Img in brackets : (

[Basil]

Trying to post photo,but having trouble,when pressing photo icon just comes up with Img in brackets : (

So you need to have your photos saved on a photo hosting site. I use Picture Trail.
So I don’t know about sites but on picture trail, you can copy a URL that is specifically for posting on forums and then paste it here.
The photo icon can also be used and you paste the URL of your photo from the photo hosting site between those brackets.
Clear as mud lol!

[Basil]

And here’s my remaining Dario with a photo bomb by one of the sids. Excuse the pea gravel. I had originally planned this tank as a quarantine for more barbs.

[Soulmover Di.]

Ok thanks Basil I will give that a go

[NancyD]

Basil, your Dario looks ok; your sid a bit thin. (both pics are sideways unless they're tail standing, lol)

I'm very sorry you're having extreme water issues. Frankly I'm be concerned about people using your water...let alone fish. Well water can be much more variable than "city" or "county" as a water source...I think you need to look at a whole house RO or other filtering system. Thankfully, I've never lived with well water & it's possible problems...Except in MA, where deep wells were "winter water" at times...but still overseen by the city.

Please start your own thread so we can see your issues not combined with anyone else's.