Leaving Loaches (at least for a while)

[slick666]

I'm sorry to say that my last clown loach "Zippy" has passed away early this year. For those of you that have helped me directly you may recall I had this fish for a while and have had problem introducing other clown loaches into the tank. I had gone away for 3 weeks to visit family around the US and had the tank babysat by a local family member. On the day of my return he passed away. For a clown loach he had excellent marking and amazing color and was a joy to own.

Due to the problems I've had I'm taking time off from clowns. I'm looking to make some changes to the tank, and how it is set up. I'm also going to re-evaluate my motivations to own clowns due to the difficulty I've had these past 6 months. I've attached a picture below


Zippy is located in front, the fish behind him is Zephrum already passed

Thanks again to those that have helped me directly as well asl all those I've learned from by reading your posts.

[chefkeith]

Sorry to hear about Zippy.

One thing that I noticed in the picture is that the rock the clowns are in is not inert. I've had rainbow rock like that before in my tanks and later found out that it leaches and adds to the TDS quite a bit. That might of been the problem.

[shari2]

sorry to hear about Zippy.

keith, would having a rainbow rock in the tank increase gh/kh? My tanks seem to have very low to none (which is why I have to do small water changes).

[bslindgren]

Sorry about your loss. I'm afraid that too many loaches meet that fate for various reasons. Hopefully you'll try again. As Martin Thoene's posts declare: Resistance is futile - you will be assimilated!!

[jwyfk]

I'm really sorry to hear about your loaches. Sometimes it's good to take a break if you're having bad luck with a certain kind of fish. Maybe now would be a good time to create a more natural looking aquarium and get rid of the blue gravel and rock that Keith was talking about. Get some driftwood that you can attach java fern to. Keep some cheap, hardy fish with cory catfish until one day you see some healthy clowns in the store. I wouldn't rush anything, though.

In my experience, it's never a good idea to have non-fish keeping people take care of your aquarium(s), although that doesn't explain the death of the other fish.

[chefkeith]

sorry to hear about Zippy.

keith, would having a rainbow rock in the tank increase gh/kh? My tanks seem to have very low to none (which is why I have to do small water changes).

I only tested it for TDS. My guess is that it leaches Sodium and Potassium since it is a type of sandstone. It shouldn't change the KH/GH. Perhaps it leaches iron too, but I'm not sure.