Loach display tank revamp

[Graeme Robson]

What i like seeing is that these chap still hold the lipstick around their chops!

[crazy loaches]

As with many loaches, it seems as though there stripes divide as they mature. At least thats what I have noticed, as I have seen previously solid stripes start developing a tiny new line in the middle. For example here is one pic I took:

In the thicker brown lines you can see very faint and thin new yellow lines, some of which dont even go all the way around yet. But they have since become wider to the point they are similar to the thicker yellow lines already present.

I can only hope mine will be as nice as Emmas someday!

[mikev]

Great! It all makes sense now. Any idea how old is your Striata approx?

[crazy loaches]

Mine or Emmas? I know Emmas must be mature, mine are pretty young - dont remember for sure but think it was sometime last fall I bought them, so less than a year ago. And they were ~1" when I bought them.

[Barracuda518]

The tank looks great. Where do you get the bamboo?

[Emma Turner]

Thanks Jason.

I got it from a UK-based specialist bamboo company: https://sslrelay.com/s127130937.oneando ... shopscript

The big stuff is pretty expensive and is delivered in hefty 14ft lengths.

But as I mentioned before, using bamboo is fine for this display set-up, but I wouldn't be comfortable recommending people do this in the home aquarium, particularly with such a quantity of the stuff. The main reason I have used it in this tank is because of the strange dimensions and the need for decor which is tall enough to show off the full height of the tank and encourage the fish to be confident inhabiting all levels of the aquarium.

Emma

[mikev]

Mine or Emmas? I know Emmas must be mature, mine are pretty young - dont remember for sure but think it was sometime last fall I bought them, so less than a year ago. And they were ~1" when I bought them.

I was wondering about all of them...to see the timeframe. Thank you for answering, so now it looks like the stripes start to split very early....I'll be looking to it (I have a few 1"-1.25" in qtank now).

It also looks like Connor's Striata is a little ahead of yours, and all the recent Striata's photos together show how it works.

[Pixelated_Pirate]

Amazing pictures as always.

[lf11casey]

Sweeeeet!!! Love the tank Emma.
That sand is awesome looking. What kind is it? Silica?

[Emma Turner]

Thank you!

Casey, the sand is indeed a fine grade silica sand. Loaches love foraging about in that stuff. I also have it in my big clown loach aquarium at home.

Emma

[newshound]

Mark, I've been looking for a man-made replacement for the XL pieces of bamboo for years, but to no avail. It is actually very hard to find suitable decor to furnish XL display tanks.

Emma

Emma you would have no problem finding the driftwood you need for your XL tanks in northern ontario!!!! Infact you'd need bigger tanks LOL.
But I guess life is a trade off...
I can't find loaches up here and you can't find large pieces of wood.
BTW
sweet looking fish!

[Whitey_MacLeod]

Fabulous pictures- those angels are stunning

[Barracuda518]

Thanks Jason.

I got it from a UK-based specialist bamboo company: https://sslrelay.com/s127130937.oneando ... shopscript

The big stuff is pretty expensive and is delivered in hefty 14ft lengths.

But as I mentioned before, using bamboo is fine for this display set-up, but I wouldn't be comfortable recommending people do this in the home aquarium, particularly with such a quantity of the stuff. The main reason I have used it in this tank is because of the strange dimensions and the need for decor which is tall enough to show off the full height of the tank and encourage the fish to be confident inhabiting all levels of the aquarium.

Emma

Yeah, I wasnt planning on using any. Bamboo isnt that common around here, which is why I was asking where you got it. I did notice, they do make good hiding places.

[Martin Thoene]

Yep, sounds like this. Would be nice to see "an evolution of Striata markings" one day. Needless to say, but your Dad's Striata is fantastic.

I think that's a good idea, along with about another million projects we have on our collective back-burners Emma's juvenile striata pic is actually quite developed. I've seen teensy ones lately where there's even less sub-splitting of the stripes. Basically Mike, striata's stripes keep sub-divinding through life and can end up as complex as Emma's Dad's gorgeous fish.

Martin.

[mikev]

Yep, sounds like this. Would be nice to see "an evolution of Striata markings" one day. Needless to say, but your Dad's Striata is fantastic.

I think that's a good idea, along with about another million projects we have on our collective back-burners Emma's juvenile striata pic is actually quite developed. I've seen teensy ones lately where there's even less sub-splitting of the stripes. Basically Mike, striata's stripes keep sub-divinding through life and can end up as complex as Emma's Dad's gorgeous fish.

Martin.

Sounds like something to do.

I have a few of the teensy ones in my qtank right now, indeed less developed than Emma's juvenile and (finally) a camera that works reasonably well. If they don't die on me and I can figure out a way of telling them apart, I think I'll try this.

But for LOL you can probably put a very nice page by simply taking a few good photo's of different loaches and arranging them in sequence...I did this yesterday for myself just to get the sense of the process -- real neat. Finally a loach that improves with age.