White "mildew"???

[ecitraro]

Hi, I have over time acquired 5 loaches. I LOVE them dearly and the oldest and largest is nearing 9 inches and is as big around as my thumb. Number 2 and 3 are about 4" and 3" respectively, and seem to be slightly different as they are greenish, one with a whitish belly and one with more of a golden highlight. The big one is all beige/brown with minute flecks. Finally, I have a very small albino that I got about 2 months ago, and I may still have a khuli in there hiding. That one seems determined not to appear for weeks at a time. Here is my question. Has anyone seen the actual spawning of loaches, because this morning I found white "mildew" looking stuff at the edge of the gravel near the front. This stuff has appeared one other time, and I siphoned it out. It was sticky enough to bring gravel with it, and I was mystified about where it could have appeared from. This morning another thought occured to me...

Anyone? Should I let it sit and see what happens - at least for a few days? It literally appeared overnight.

Thanks for any advice - I'll try to post a pic when I get home again from work!
Emily

[NancyD]

What kind of loaches? I had a catfish that expelled eggs just to get rid of them. Caviar for all!
Nancy

[CKfish]

Sounds like something decaying, or bacteria colonies. Clown loaches lay green eggs, if I recall. It would be very unusual to have them breed in a home aquarium.

[ecitraro]

Well by the time I got home from work, the white substance was gone, except for a very very small area. That was gone by morning, all eaten I expect. They all seemed happy and healthy - by the way, I was implying not eggs, but milt. The substance was sticky and uhh - puddled over the rocks. Apparently also edible. I didn't see eggs, but if eggs were laid and there was an attempt to fertilize them, they might not be visible? There are rumors of loaches and bubble nests; this stuff had a really foamy look but was very opaque white. How big are clown eggs? I doubt the idea of laying, however, given how long we have had winter (San Francisco winter) and how rainy it's been here maybe they do think its monsoon - they wouldn't be the only ones. Also, we don't heat our house, and since I don't heat the tank and it is exposed to the window and light I wonder if the fish got cued by that. I had a goldfish in there which may have laid eggs (didn't see which fish they were from!) about 3 months ago and since she (it?) had gotten up to almost 7 inches I gave her to a pond owner. As far as the species of Loaches, all were identified as dojo/weather by the assorted stores here that I got them from, but they all look very different. The big brown one (8" at least) has fine brown speckles all over, very small, like peppering. No spot at the back end. I imagine its a her, because she is very porky. A very sweet fish, eats out of my hand, will look for food at the top, very fun, gets along with all the littler ones. The next two are greenish, one with a golden highlight, the other with whitish and a white belly, about 4" and 3" respectively, and the little bitty albino is about 3" long. There might be the little 4" khuli, too - never see it, though. They are all very happily munching in a very well filtered (2 bio-wheel, and an undergravel with powerhead) 10 - yes ten gallon tank. Again, whatever the substance was, they seem to have had a taste for it.

I agree that the idea of breeding is very unlikely, but I have had stranger things happen - even had a pair of 6" breeding angels as a kid in one 5 gallon tank. They were happy as clams (or whatever) for many years. And as I said, something laid eggs that got eaten just a few months ago, but they were golden transparent and looked like goldfish eggs. So somebody had the idea, anyway...

LOL - I am waiting to see what appears next.

Emily