New to Loaches.. not sure if my tank is a good home

The forum for the very best information on loaches of all types. Come learn from our membership's vast experience!

Moderator: LoachForumModerators

Post Reply
Syphen
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:04 pm

New to Loaches.. not sure if my tank is a good home

Post by Syphen » Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:48 pm

So, I'm fairly new to aquariums and fish tanks.. After having the 12g for a year, I bought my fiance a 34 gallon bow front (it says 34g on the top, not sure if that is accurate.. It came with no information! :? ) The following are its measurements:

L = 36"
H = 20"
W = At the mid point 16.5"
W = At the far sides 14"

It is fully planted (somewhat messy..) and currently houses the following:
10 x Full grown platies of various varietys. Another 5-10 babies that are usually eaten on a weekly basis by the platies.
2 x Swordtail females
1 x Unknown fish of 5-5.5" size (Possible Flying fox / False Flying Fox)

And recently, a purchase of 3 Yoyo loaches, each measuring around 1.5-2" big. They are a touch smaller then the Platies which are fully grown at this time.

I had not read a huge amount about Loaches and was told they would be fine in this tank with regular water changes by the gentleman at the local fish store. I have a couple concerns, the first being that these fish will simply outgrow the tank, or become hostile to the other fish. My other concern is about my Amazon Sword. I've read that loaches will poke holes and kill these plants off just for the fun of it. My amazon sword started at a small 5" plant and now grows out of the water. I really like it and don't want it to get destroyed by these fun loaches.

I'd really like to keep them but simply do not have room for a larger tank in my house. I'd just like to know if people think they will be okay or not in this tank.

I'm no aquarium expert at all and have just been lucky so far.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvIof-S1PJQ

The pictures were huge so I took them down and here is a video on youtube instead. Easier to watch.
Last edited by Syphen on Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Batch
Posts: 245
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:15 pm
Location: Knoxville

Post by Batch » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:00 pm

I've read that loaches will poke holes and kill these plants off just for the fun of it.
Yo-yos (especially small rapidly growing ones) may well tear up your sword plant. At least that's been my experience.

Batch

User avatar
Marcos Mataratzis
Posts: 561
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:18 pm
Location: Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
Contact:

Post by Marcos Mataratzis » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:18 am

Someone said "An image worth more than a thousand words". These are my giant Anubia:

Image
Image
Image

Loaches do eat soft plants and dig holes on others. That will happen to most plants.

Concerning the size of your tank, 130 liters is not big enough for grown up YoYos. You may wish a larger tank, at least 1 meter long.

Another thing to be concerned on are water parameters. YoYo loaches do prefer soft and slightly acid waters while Platys like alkaline and moderately hard water. Those preferences do not match, to say the least.
My 450L Loaches tank
31 clown, 5 morleti, 2 sidthimunki

User avatar
FishyLady
Posts: 519
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:46 pm
Location: Hay on Wye, Hereford

Post by FishyLady » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:32 pm

Marcos Mataratzis wrote:Someone said "An image worth more than a thousand words". These are my giant Anubia:

Image
Image
Image

Loaches do eat soft plants and dig holes on others. That will happen to most plants.
Awww, just kids havin' fun!!!! :lol:

Val
Better the chaos of creativity than the tidiness of idleness.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 134 guests