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Bis
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Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:51 pm
Location: Telford

Hi to all the members

Post by Bis » Sat Dec 12, 2015 2:28 pm

Hi New to the forum. Just started a tank today with six small Clown Loaches. I have not used any other fish to start the tank as I want to keep only the clowns. I put two bag's of alfagrog from my pond Trickle filter into the new tank. I'm hoping the cycling process go smooth. All six loaches are very active and always staying out in the open and looking for food. I thought I will not feed today but at the end just feed a little of one sinking pallete and they were happy to eat. I will post a photo of the tank later. I have placed two big bog wood and some other hiding places so they should be happy. Water test before the fish introduced NO3 20ppm (as in TAP water), PH 8.2 (too high?) and have not tested GH and KH values yet. I set the temp at 86 degree F. My tank is a 4 ft open top (just with glass sliders) and have no lights for the tank. Lights are available as in the room light. your comments and advices are welcome.

Greek
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Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:17 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by Greek » Sun Dec 13, 2015 6:27 am

Hello, Bis :)
Bis wrote: PH 8.2 (too high?)
Definitely tooooooo high :cry: Clown loach requires pH value lower than 7. That's so important, because it's connected with osmotic regulation which is very influential on the fish health. pH like that will shorten life of Your clowns dramatically.
I will also reccomend lowering temperature - clowns like warm water, but 86F for a long time is excess. Optimum will be 81-83F.
What's more - clowns grow slowly, but after some time the 4ft tank will be to tiny for them.

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redshark1
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Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by redshark1 » Sun Dec 13, 2015 4:44 pm

Hi Bis. Good sign they are out and feeding. I also have six. Mine are at 82F and pH 7.2 and nitrate 5ppm.

My six foot tank is a little small for them, wish I bought bigger!
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

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Bis
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Location: Telford

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by Bis » Sun Dec 13, 2015 5:24 pm

Thanks Greek
Thanks Redshark
I will get a 6 ft X 2 ft X 2.5 ft tank soon. As the ph is high here at Shropshire and surrounding, what you all normally do to keep the Clowns please. Do you bring the ph down to around 7 or leave it as it is. If I can lower the ph what is the best way to do that. When I do the water changes twice a week, how I manage to keep the lowered ph.

Do you have a community tank Redshark with 6 loaches or just only they leave in the tank?

Greek
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Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:17 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by Greek » Mon Dec 14, 2015 8:39 am

Bis wrote:. Do you bring the ph down to around 7 or leave it as it is. If I can lower the ph what is the best way to do that. When I do the water changes twice a week, how I manage to keep the lowered ph.
Of course I bring pH down to about 6,65-6,85. In conditions like that i see they are happy and grow faster. This is that important, cause they must have an optimal concentration of body fluids. And this concentration is connected with concentration in the water. If water is bad, fishes have problems with health.
I firstly use acids to bring down KH to low level, and than i adicify water with tannins.
But the second important thing is general hardness. You said that You didn't test it. But while looking at pH we can suspect that hardness will be also high. For clowns it can't be higher than 12dH. Lowering hardness is a lil bit more difficult than acidifying - because You will nead RO filter or an ion-exchange resin. Than You'll have a water with "zero" values of hardness. You can mix it with Your tap water than in optimal proportions.

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redshark1
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Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by redshark1 » Mon Dec 14, 2015 5:21 pm

Hi Bis, I have 9 x Congo Tetra as dither fish (I found they are the best for this purpose).

I also have 10 x Bristlenose Catfish that were born in this aquarium plus their parents. I thought they would eat all the algae but they maybe eat 50%. I can see it in their bellies but they are not as effective as the big plecs.

I have an adult female Angelfish also and she is well behaved with them and shares their retreat. This was not planned. Its good for her that she can live in this aquarium and she is a beauty. Her exceedingly long fins are untouched.

I like to keep things simple and easy to manage and I am lucky to be able to utilise my tap water unaltered except for dechlorinator.

All filtration is in the tank, a 2 x powerhead-driven undergravel filter covers the entire base and I have two internals also. One powerhead utilises a venturi to aerate the water.

I also have two heaters. The required wattage is split 50/50.
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

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Bis
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Location: Telford

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by Bis » Wed Dec 16, 2015 1:58 am

Great tank Redshark :D

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redshark1
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Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by redshark1 » Wed Dec 16, 2015 12:30 pm

Thanks Bis!

I apologise for not getting round to including a picture. Here is a recent one.

I know people often think of algae or snails as bad in an aquarium but it really doesn't bother me. Every river I see has algae on the rocks. So, whilst I love my Bristlenoses to watch I don't mind that they do not eat all the algae. I am surprised though as they are often recommended as excellent algae eaters.

What do others think?

Image
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

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Bis
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:51 pm
Location: Telford

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by Bis » Wed Dec 16, 2015 3:21 pm

Redshark, Wow your tank is very nice indeed. Thanks for the picture. I do think controlled algae helps maintain the aquarium environment. But too much of algae may spoil purpose of the show. otocinclus catfish is very effective in removing algae. Sometimes we may get duplicates in the pet shop which are totally ineffective. So we need original otocinclus!

Updates for my new 4 ft tank with six small Clowns introduced on Saturday the 12-DEC. As I said I used filter material from my pond, the condition in the tank is not very bad - fingers crossed. Ammonia - ZERO, Nitrite - Was 0.25 ppm yesterday. Did a 30% water change yesterday. Good news today that Nitrite is also ZERO !!!!! great great.

Will check again tomorrow evening time.

I will stick to my temp of 86 at least for few days now if not permanent.
The small ones are very happy out in the open and eager for food always. No sign of any discomfort at all.

Greek
Posts: 72
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 2:17 pm
Location: Krakow, Poland

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by Greek » Wed Dec 16, 2015 5:08 pm

Wow Redshark, great clowns! :) How long is the biggest one?
Algaes rules! :lol:

Bis, to be honest, keeping high temperature just after introducing loaches to a new tank can be really helpful to avoid white spot disease, which often attacks loaches stressed during transport. But generally not more than 84F would be ideal. My clowns survived 94.5F while my fight with white spot, and they where not showing any worrying symptoms. I guess they would survive 97F without any harm :) And higher temperature is also good to protect them from digestive system's parasites.

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Bis
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Location: Telford

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by Bis » Thu Dec 17, 2015 2:18 pm

thanks for the info Greek.
I feed my small ones three times today. The test results in the evening - Ammonia ZERO, Nitrite ZERO, PH 8.0 (Bogwood is working !). Looks like tank is cycled.

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redshark1
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Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Hi to all the members

Post by redshark1 » Thu Dec 17, 2015 3:07 pm

Hi again, that's good info and good news.

My stats for my Clowns are in my signature at the bottom of my posts.
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

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