New loach lover. Some pics and videos

[Loachloach]

Hi all, just joined this wonderful forum. Here are a few pics and videos of my 5 clown loaches in total.

Two of my clowns are very discreet about their domestic problems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzGhiN2wVQg

[starsplitter7]

What a beautiful tank. Nice healthy, bright fish. The video was great. I love all the spectators to the fight who looked completely unconcerned.

Thanks for sharing and please post more pictures when you can.

What country do you live in?

[Loachloach]

Thanks. It's Ireland and nice Irish weather
I added some almond leaves a couple of days ago for the first time and although it looks a bit messy they absolutely love it.... well especially the pleco who tries blending with them.

This is a video of my clowns sucking up baby corys from the breeder box, caught them doing it just after I turned the lights on in the morning. The box has tiny holes at the bottom and by the time I realised how my corys were disappearing, there was just one left:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2jKOu5p9ks

And another one trying to figure where the corys will lay the eggs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nggImzM8cHA

Before the almond leaves







And with the almond leaves







Find the pleco

[FishFanatic245]

found him .
beautiful tank love how clean it looked , almond leaves make it seem more like a river or lake bottom though, did they add much tanins or was the camera on a diiferent setting when you took the pic with the leaves, or was it bright before because the sand reflected the light and made it seem brighter? again beautiful tank and looks like the loaches like it.

[Loachloach]

Yeah, it's the tannins that made it darker. The almond leaves released quite a lot of it. The fish love it and I don't mind the darker water but I don't like the messy look

[starsplitter7]

Thanks for sharing more pictures of that beautiful tank, and healthy happy fish. I agree I don't mind the tannins, but the messy tank bottom -- blah!

Your tank is beautiful and I know the fish like to browse and sleep in the Almond leaves.

[Loachloach]

I don't know how it is for you guys but the clowns in my tank don't come out at any other time bar very early morning till lunch time and besides a couple of the two smaller clowns that seem to be braver, they won't come out even in the evenings or night with the lights off either. They also really hate me and will hide if I pass as close as 2-3 meters away from the tank( I am working on that )
Today one of the bigger clowns was venturing the tank on his own, playing around so I got a chance to take a picture of him/her. A few hours later all of them were playing like small puppies at a time of the day they never come out(lights full blast). I've even tried luring them out with a secondfeeding in the evening and it still doesn't work, just the two small ones(probably hungrier than the rest? ) come out for a while but the 3 bigger ones won't bother until I feed them in the morning.
I am wondering if the sudden success has anything to do with me dropping chopped garlic and making the tank stink ?

Also, on a side note, when I bought them they were all the same size and over the space of 4-5 months 2 of them grew considerably bigger, the third one almost as big and 2 stayed smaller. Does this growth rate difference have anything to do with dominance or food availability/diet or what?

A short video of one of my bigger ones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTxwsr2tGlw

And a picture:

[starsplitter7]

That is one chunky clown.

I would recommend getting some dither fish. I didn't see any in your tank. They are the "all clear fish" for the clowns. I used giant danios and rainbows in my larger tanks. Rasboras, ghost catfish in my smaller tanks. Any fish swimming in the middle of the tank that lets the clowns no that the predators are not around. My clowns eat blood worms from my fingers, so they see me and rush to the front of the tank. They know they have to compete with the African Butterfly and Hoplo cat if they want any worms.

[Loachloach]

Yeah, 2 of them in particular did get chunky in a very short period of time.
I do have 6 male guppies and 4 platies in the tank but they are kind of invisible. I can add about 10 more female platies I have in another tank as I want them gone from that tank anyway. Would it work as dither fish?
They are out and about today again, strange...I think they are getting used to me No platies or dither fish can help them against the big monster By the way, my dog sticks her face against the tank and starts licking the glass and the clowns pay no attention, same when the cat is pawing the tank so I fugure there must be something wrong with my face

[Loachloach]

I also fixed the driftwood a bit today as I hadn't touched the tank in months and the branches fell off Tried to grow some floating plants to block some light but they keep getting stuck in the corner above the filters intake tubes so that won't work. I am waiting on new lights that shouldn't be so white and shiny so we'll see how that goes.
The big trunk in the middle is actually a huge cave with 3 openings on both sides and back, that's where the clown loaches prefer to spend their lives most of the time

[starsplitter7]

The tank is really beautiful. I would add a few more caves, so the loaches will feel like they can duck in whenever they want to. How many loaches do you have?

I think the platies are a little too low key to be dithers, but maybe if the boys chase the girls, you will get some movement. You just don't want franetic/panicked movement.

[Loachloach]

Thanks. I really appreciate your help.
I have 5 clown loaches only. And I agree the platies maybe not the best idea as they do move frantically around sometimes. Maybe if I had only females would be better as they stay in a bunch and are quite peaceful in the other tank but are the greediest of fish and will pile up to the bottom for food. The only thing that puts me off buying new fish is the fear of introducing something to the tank and I don't have a spare one to quarantine them.
I am trying to figure out what type of caves to put. I actually tried some coconuts I have yesterday but they kind of look out of place and not all clowns will fit through the holes comfortably. Maybe some pvc pipes if I manage to decorate them from outside properly, or stone formations.

[starsplitter7]

Definitely quarantine. It is good to have a second tank running anyways, so you have a seeded filter in case ytou lose your bacteria through antibiotics or an accident. You could keep the platies in the Q tank.

What you need is a peacefully schooling fish that swims around, but isn't twitchy. Rainbows work well.

You can decorate PVC with sones for nice looking caves. I also caution you about coconut huts. I use them in all my tanks, and my fish love them. My tanks are utilitarian, not attractive. Some coconut huts have holes in the top. Do not get those. I had cut a panda garra and a yoyo loach from the holes, because they wedged themselves through the hole. Took weeks to heal the abrasions and bruises. Terrifying. The fish were too big to fit in the holes, and yet I found both stuck up to the pectoral fins. Took me an hour or so to cut them loose.

You can also loosely pile driftwood and allow the clowns to hide underneath.

[Loachloach]

I'll go to the shop this week and get pvc pipes. Wondering if I should silicone sand on the outside or it won't stick, or should I use some gravel instead?
I do have 3 more tanks but they aren't empty at the moment. I'll see what I can do in a while, maybe I'll have an empty tank once the cory fry grow. I like the rasboras, does it matter which type behaviour wise, besides the water and temperature requirements of course?
Maybe I can put them in a huge plastic container setup like a tank with a heater and cycled filter inside for a while? Or I have a 30L betta tank, at least there's just one fish to risk.

[starsplitter7]

A friend of mine covers PVC with gravel and it looks great. I do not know what she used to make it stick, because I know sometimes PVC doesn't adhere well. I am sure people on here know what to use. Make sure evrything you use is non toxic to fish.

What you want is active fish who do not act frantic. They need to swim with purpose, but not fear. This lets the clowns know there's nothing to be scared of. I also built a routine with my fish, and in the evening right before the lights go out, all my fish are front and center in the tank wagging their tails. The little beggers. I put flake in first to let my speciality feeders know it is dinner time. I add flake to the tank, and it lets the eels know to get ready for the bloodworms. I don't give the bloodworms first, because by the time the eels figured out there was something they wanted to eat, the food would be gone.