Quarantine for hillstream loaches

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elr
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2017 7:25 pm

Re: Quarantine for hillstream loaches

Post by elr » Wed Nov 01, 2017 10:43 pm

Great info.

I'm so anxious to have this quarantine period over! I put a tub of water outdoors in the sun with some rocks in it so I can rotate rocks through the quarantine tank but I don't know how fast algae will grow out there. The temps are in the 60's here now and the days are getting shorter.

Do you know if I should put dechlorinator in the tub outside to help grow algae? Should I add fish food or is that only to grow beneficial bacteria? I was planning on 2 weeks of quarantine but maybe it's safer to wait longer?

The sewellia are very active late in the day but quiescent the rest of the day. Is this normal? Could it mean they're getting enough to eat and able to rest most of the time?

Bas Pels
Posts: 360
Joined: Sat Nov 30, 2013 9:08 am

Re: Quarantine for hillstream loaches

Post by Bas Pels » Thu Nov 02, 2017 3:35 am

Chlorine will prevent all and any growth of algae. So you should either use chlorine free water - the best solution would be to use water from a river or rainwater - or, alternatively, use a dechlorinator.

Adding fish food will not help much. After all, this will forst have to be processed into ammonia, than into nitrates and only then the algae could benefit from it. If the water is very poor in nutrients, such as rainwarter, you could use a very, very tiny bit of fertiliser, but than I´m thinking of a teaspoon for 100 liters.

It´s a pity your days are getting shorter, just as mine - after all, this implys not only less sun forthe algae, but also less intensity. That is, what can grow in the height of summer in a week, might need a month in november.

NancyD
Posts: 1608
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2006 9:17 pm
Location: SF bay area,US

Re: Quarantine for hillstream loaches

Post by NancyD » Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:15 pm

I don't think more than 12 hours of light is good for any of our fish but might be good in a "no fish" algae grow-out tank. I quarantine for 4 weeks (that's what quarantine means, 40 days I think). Can you add a light for your outdoor algae grow out tub? Keep an eye out for mosquito larva in outdoor containers...some fish will eat them but they do grow into adults, eek!
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elr
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2017 7:25 pm

Re: Quarantine for hillstream loaches

Post by elr » Fri Nov 03, 2017 2:58 pm

That's a good idea - I can put a 24/7 light on the outdoor tub and still get sunlight during daylight hours. I put a big anubias coffeefolia into the quarantine tank yesterday. It had brown algae all over it's leaves and today it's almost completely clean! Every leaf!

I'll try to hold out for 4 weeks - I really don't want to risk my other sewellia. I added dechlorinator to the outdoor tub and I'm adding fertilizer to it too. And I keep trying other foods for the "quarantinees". I've tried so hard in the past to get rid of algae and now I'm trying so hard to grow it lol! I think if I did this again I would use a larger tank - 10 gallons is just too small even for 3 of them.

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