Information please

[AengusOg]

Hi all

I've just disovered this excellent forum. I was searching for information on treating white spot in Clown Loaches.

I had several tanks set up at one time but, owing to a dodgy electricity supply, I lost many fish.

Now I just have the one set up in the house........an Aqua One........mainly for the kids to enjoy. It has been running nicely for about eighteen months now, with a pair of Royal rams, one Labeo bicolor, twenty Neon tetras, one ottocinclus, and three clown loaches.

I have only introduced the clown loaches in the last week, and I bought them the day they arrived in the shop. They have developed ich in the last twenty four hours. I had this before and cured it by raising the temp for a week, so I am doing this again. Fingers crossed.

I am setting up another larger tank with a view to transferring the loaches and increasing the number/species, but for the moment they seem to be feeding and are quite bold.

I added some new pieces of bogwood before the loaches went in, and it has leached quite a lot of tannins into the water, which I don't really mind as I do weekly water changes anyway, but I wonder if this will be detrimental to the clown loaches. Any opinions on this, please?

Also...........what are the chances of successfully keeping clown loaches with discus, as that is a long term plan for the larger tank.

I could also do with some advice on plant fertilisers and their use, if anyone has any views, as I'd like to have a well planted environment for the discus and loaches.

Thanks in advance of any help.

[Keith Wolcott]

Welcome to LOL. I have had wood for years, and the tannins leaching from the wood are no problem. I am sure someone else will help with your other questions.

[Diana]

Clown Loaches and Discus thrive in similar water temperature and chemistry, but come from different water movement areas.
Most Loaches thrive in very high oxygen levels, which means LOTS of water movement.
Discus cannot swim in water that is moving too fast. They are just not shaped that way.

I have one Discus in with my Clowns. He will not socialize well with the other Discus, so he cannot go in that tank.
He finds places with slower moving water, the Clowns hang out where there is more water movement.
This works in a larger tank, lots of driftwood and rocks.
I have 2 filter systems, and 2 power heads set up so that there are no dead spots. Some areas do have slower moving water, though.

Tannins are not a problem for most soft water fish. Many of them come from water that is very high in tannins, at least during part of the year.

[michael]

I've never noticed nor heard of a problem with tannins in the water from bog-wood for fish that enjoy softist/slightly acidic water.

However, if you wish to remove the ``yellow stain" then try replacing your carbon filter as well. Eventually the carbon will become saturated with the tannins (and other chemicals) and no longer serve its purpose. If you've got bogwood and notice the water slowly turning yellow, then the carbon is being exhausted.

Clowns can be very prone to Ich. The resources you'll find on this forum can be quite helpful.

Michael