Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
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Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
Share any loaches or loach-related items you get for Christmas/Boxing Day sales here!
473 liter - pictus catfish, smallscale archerfish, planned pumpkinseed sunfish
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
- redshark1
- Posts: 585
- Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:58 am
- Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.
Re: Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
Merry Christmas everybody!
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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Re: Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
Merry Christmas! Thank you redshark1.
In regards to the specific purpose of this thread, I will say that yesterday I had to rush to my local aquarium store to correct a heater malfunction. The official sale had not yet begun, but both of 2 types of caves I intended to by for my existing and future loaches were there. With plenty of one, but only 1 of the other.
I hid that lone cave behind some other decor to increase the chances of it being there for me when I can attend the sale on Dec. 28
Hopefully no one will find it!
In regards to the specific purpose of this thread, I will say that yesterday I had to rush to my local aquarium store to correct a heater malfunction. The official sale had not yet begun, but both of 2 types of caves I intended to by for my existing and future loaches were there. With plenty of one, but only 1 of the other.
I hid that lone cave behind some other decor to increase the chances of it being there for me when I can attend the sale on Dec. 28
Hopefully no one will find it!
473 liter - pictus catfish, smallscale archerfish, planned pumpkinseed sunfish
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
Re: Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
Happy New Year! Did you go back & get your hidden treasure MTS?
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Re: Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
Happy New Year to you as well Nancy!
I sure did, thank you for asking! They were still there when the sale had begun, but instead of where I hid them they were out in plain sight. Looks like one of the employees found the treasure!
These will prove especially handy once 20 or so years have gone by. They're big enough to accomodate my clown loaches at adult size, unlike the smaller caves they replaced (which you'll see in a bit).
Got a smaller cave too, for my 110 liter's future dwarf chain loaches. Didn't have to hide this one prior to purchase, as there were plenty of them.
Plus, some new decor for my 2022 loach tank (https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/foru ... st-8399174). The 2 log caves and the driftwood on the right were purchased at the sale.
I also used the previously mentioned older, smaller caves from my clown loach tank that the clown loaches would eventually outgrow. They are the first and third in the sequence, and while they may be too small for adult clown loaches, they're an ideal size for the future Burmese, weather, yoyo, zebra, and striped kuhli loaches.
I'm very confident those loaches are going to enjoy this aquascape.
Also got some very realistic fake plants in that sale. These fake plants could not stand up without water, so unfortunately I couldn't photograph them in the tank.
But I'm quite happy with them overall.
473 liter - pictus catfish, smallscale archerfish, planned pumpkinseed sunfish
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
Re: Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
Very nice new logs, congrats!
I have a couple suggestions for you, I hope you'll take in a nice way, that's how I mean them. You might try having a bit more angling to your caves layout instead of all in a line along the back.
Another idea is to try java fern &/or anubias real live plants attached to your caves, they'll raise the tank "ceiling" & help the loaches swim higher. My 6-7 inch clowns didn't bother them much, I don't think they taste great. I also offered them romaine lettuce & zucchini (courgette) 2 or 3 times/week. I made a slit in the veg & added a bit of pellet or wafer to help them get the idea. I had other plants with them too (swords & cryptocorynes mostly) but they made holes in those if there wasn't enough veg offered regularly. I also offered pea "guts", cooked sweet potato, etc. but they were not as popular.
None of my other loaches ever ate veggies but the clowns did, kind of a food toy. I had to move & give them away so I don't know if that would hold true for larger clowns...
I have a couple suggestions for you, I hope you'll take in a nice way, that's how I mean them. You might try having a bit more angling to your caves layout instead of all in a line along the back.
Another idea is to try java fern &/or anubias real live plants attached to your caves, they'll raise the tank "ceiling" & help the loaches swim higher. My 6-7 inch clowns didn't bother them much, I don't think they taste great. I also offered them romaine lettuce & zucchini (courgette) 2 or 3 times/week. I made a slit in the veg & added a bit of pellet or wafer to help them get the idea. I had other plants with them too (swords & cryptocorynes mostly) but they made holes in those if there wasn't enough veg offered regularly. I also offered pea "guts", cooked sweet potato, etc. but they were not as popular.
None of my other loaches ever ate veggies but the clowns did, kind of a food toy. I had to move & give them away so I don't know if that would hold true for larger clowns...
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Re: Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
Thanks for the compliments and suggestions Nancy. If any of the suggestions work I'll let you know.
The caves are layed out that way because I found my clown loaches to enjoy that layout compared to layouts with more angled caves (likely having to do with less angled caves providing more space outside the caves).
But I have very little experience with weather, yoyo, and zebra loaches (plus none with Burmese). So I'll have to give your suggestion a try with them and see what they like best, and if you have any experience with them relating to angled vs straight caves, let me know.
Appreciate the suggestion on the live plants. I personally am iffy on having any aquatic plants in a tank that isn't filtered solely by a sponge filter, given what happened to Martin Thoene when he put them in his loach tank: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2816
The 2nd loach tank is also going to have roseline sharks, which not only need very high oxygen (so may not be able to cope with oxygen-breathing night plants) but cannot handle the CO2 dosing that a planted tank needs: https://www.plantedtank.net/threads/ros ... ng.146437/. Would be very costly to have them perish.
So with all that in mind, I'll be shying away from the plants.
The caves are layed out that way because I found my clown loaches to enjoy that layout compared to layouts with more angled caves (likely having to do with less angled caves providing more space outside the caves).
But I have very little experience with weather, yoyo, and zebra loaches (plus none with Burmese). So I'll have to give your suggestion a try with them and see what they like best, and if you have any experience with them relating to angled vs straight caves, let me know.
Appreciate the suggestion on the live plants. I personally am iffy on having any aquatic plants in a tank that isn't filtered solely by a sponge filter, given what happened to Martin Thoene when he put them in his loach tank: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2816
The 2nd loach tank is also going to have roseline sharks, which not only need very high oxygen (so may not be able to cope with oxygen-breathing night plants) but cannot handle the CO2 dosing that a planted tank needs: https://www.plantedtank.net/threads/ros ... ng.146437/. Would be very costly to have them perish.
So with all that in mind, I'll be shying away from the plants.
473 liter - pictus catfish, smallscale archerfish, planned pumpkinseed sunfish
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
Re: Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
MTS, I belong to a plant club so now every tank has at least some. I keep a sponge over the filters' intakes to catch the big debris. I clean them every week or so during water changes or if filter return flow slows.
When I had hard water java ferns grew like crazy. I used to give away a plastic grocery bagful of "regular" & Windelov a couple times a year. Now I have soft water & they grow much slower. Other strains of java & all anubias grow much more slowly hard or soft water. Part of maintenance is to remove some plant growth once in a while. I'd give it away, some sell it. Actually I used to trade to my lfs for some food sometimes. I never cared what they gave, lol, we were both happy.
When I had my first group of clowns they hid along the back of the tank (behind all the java ferns & wood caves). We'd see them swimming back there but not as much as we would have liked. They were much more shy than my second group. The first group was in an almost pass through room, the second lived right next to my computer with a different plant & cave tank layout. The second group was not shy at all & would beg, watch the screen, dance out in the open...Sniff, I loved them!
My striatas were in a different tank with sidthimunkis & quite shy except at feeding times. It was funny, half the sids & half the striatas each lived together with a big sid female boss at each end.
Yes, I reread Martin's post & all I can say is bad stuff can happen. Power outage for days? Vacation pet sitter disaster? Disease outbreak? Water co.
cleaning their pipes with goodness knows what just that 1 time? We do the best we can by our fish. It's much like a car accident, you can't predict all that might happen but we wear seat belts, have air bags, change water & quarantine our fish, etc. to reduce risks.
Every tank & loach group can be different. That's part of what makes them so fun!
When I had hard water java ferns grew like crazy. I used to give away a plastic grocery bagful of "regular" & Windelov a couple times a year. Now I have soft water & they grow much slower. Other strains of java & all anubias grow much more slowly hard or soft water. Part of maintenance is to remove some plant growth once in a while. I'd give it away, some sell it. Actually I used to trade to my lfs for some food sometimes. I never cared what they gave, lol, we were both happy.
When I had my first group of clowns they hid along the back of the tank (behind all the java ferns & wood caves). We'd see them swimming back there but not as much as we would have liked. They were much more shy than my second group. The first group was in an almost pass through room, the second lived right next to my computer with a different plant & cave tank layout. The second group was not shy at all & would beg, watch the screen, dance out in the open...Sniff, I loved them!
My striatas were in a different tank with sidthimunkis & quite shy except at feeding times. It was funny, half the sids & half the striatas each lived together with a big sid female boss at each end.
Yes, I reread Martin's post & all I can say is bad stuff can happen. Power outage for days? Vacation pet sitter disaster? Disease outbreak? Water co.
cleaning their pipes with goodness knows what just that 1 time? We do the best we can by our fish. It's much like a car accident, you can't predict all that might happen but we wear seat belts, have air bags, change water & quarantine our fish, etc. to reduce risks.
Every tank & loach group can be different. That's part of what makes them so fun!
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- Posts: 124
- Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2021 11:07 am
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Re: Merry Christmas - Loaches Online style!
Wow, you certainly have some great stories to tell! on the zebras and dwarf chains befriending one another.
Agreed on every tank and loach being different adding up to the fun. Some experimentation as per all your suggestions will be even moreso!
Agreed on every tank and loach being different adding up to the fun. Some experimentation as per all your suggestions will be even moreso!
473 liter - pictus catfish, smallscale archerfish, planned pumpkinseed sunfish
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
110 liter - green neon+cardinal tetras
473 liter - roseline sharks, striped kuhli+black kuhli+Burmese loaches, zebra/weather/neon kuhli loaches (planned)
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