Hello everbody

[Martin Thoene]

You're obviously a very experienced and dedicated fish keeper and intelligent enough to realize you don't know everything. You're prepared to listen, consider and take on-board suggestions.

From our point of view that's fantastic. All too often we have people appear here and ask questions, then fail to change anything in their modus-operandi apparently for reasons of ego or whatever. Well there's no point in asking the question in the first place if you're not going to listen or act on the answer is there? That is just arrogant and anyone who claims to know it all is an idiot.

I've been keeping fish for over 42 years and I learn new stuff almost every day. Never stop considering that there are other ways of doing things. I'm biased as all get out over LOL, but if there was one forum that I would advise anyone to join it's this one. If you really want to know about keeping loaches you need to be here. This site has more long-term loach keepers than any other and a lot of people with very high standards that think outside the box and are innovative. Anyone who comes here has free access to all that information because we don't keep many secrets. The experimentation and innovation that members here are involved in keeps this specialized section of the hobby moving onward and upward.

Admitting you don't know it all and altering your methods is the best thing you can do for your fish and will win you friendship and respect here.

Martin.

[LoachOrgy]

awesome pics...yeah i just recently upgraded to sand and i have to say, it is a great substtate and the loaches love it. the cory's don't like it bc it sticks to them but they can live with it...

also my pleco really loves it as well. he rearranges the sand with his tail every night. so it actually forms alcoves and tiny spots with the varying heights, hills and valleys. the loaches then dig around and mess it up again. so the pleco will just rearrange later in the hours of 3-5am. its quite entertaining and an ongoing rearranging battle between my pleco and my loaches. they don't fight but they do like things their way...lol'


i also recently upgraded my tetra tank to a small fine rounded gravel. it actually doesn't really allow waste to penetrate it. i find the waste sitting at the top of the substrate. i used to clean it weekly with a gravel filter. now i can just swish the bottom around a bit and the waste can then be sucked up by the gravel filter without having to penetrate the substrate. i believe it was this brand.

http://www.carib-sea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html

it is the peace river gravel in this site. it is impressing me day by day and the tankwater hasn't been clearer.
hope this helps

[loachmom]

A 10percent water change is a hundred gallons so water changes are slow and always on going here.

That's ALOT of water. My water changes consist of 10-15 gallons. Wow!!!!

[Tinman]

Well the deed has been done.Substrate of pool filter sand. Perfectly inert. I took advantage of being wet and rinsed all my rocks and adjusted some things to be more in line with so much of the info I have found here. I also added 2 more power heads to keep everything blown clean. It is really quite a shock to me to see this tank this way.Loachmom my Pink tail is very bright today

[loachmom]

Can't wait to see this new change...hint, hint

[Spankenstyne]

What a great thread.
Tinman i find your setup fascinating and it's obvious you have a giant passion for this. I'm more of a lurker and tend to post in spurts every few months or so, but welcome aboard. Your great attitude will take you far in sharing ideas here, it's a great forum.

[Tinman]

Thank You and Hello Spankenstyne. I was taking the hint Loachmom and my Canon Powershot died.I will post some new pics and a link after a shopping excursion.

[chefkeith]

Tinman - It good to here about the new sand. I’m thrilled that you are also taking advantage of algae as part of your filtration system.

I'm a huge fan of algae. I find it very interesting how it evolves in aquaria. I think it provides many true benefits in my tanks, and it’s in no way a nuisance to me. I prefer it over many of the plants I keep. Also I figure I have enough algae in my main tanks to provide food for the fish if I ever leave town and can’t feed them. I also raise shrimp and snails from surplus algae. They make great live food for the loaches too.

[Emma Turner]

This is excellent news, Tinman. Can't wait to see some pics and hear how the loaches are behaving now.

Emma

[Tinman]

Yes Chefkeith ,I rely on algea in many forms for life support here. All my tanks are double drained so there is about 80 feet of pipe that is full of algea in the dark of the pipe .I am not sure if my header pipe for supply water is coated too but I suspect it is also.Emma ,Thank You for the advice .I have increased my flow and that has affected my Clowns alot more than the Angelicus.The Clowns get out and ride the current and the Angelicus still sit up on the rocks. The hillis I have in are even more vivid than before and love this set-up.Most of my fish are still grazing and cruising the rocks still with some activity on the sand but not much more than was on the bare glass yet.I have not had much time for observation though. I managed to get my camera back up for a few shots before it flaked again, Thank You for the kind words Martin .To see the new pics http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t26/ ... medtinman/

[chefkeith]

Nice pics.

[Emma Turner]

What a great change, Tinman. The loaches are clearly enjoying their newly refurbished home. The snowflake looks like it's positively delighted too, what an expressive little face!

The hillie on the powerhead is a Sewellia lineolata.

Emma

[doglover_50]

I noticed a few posts about how to add sand. Another method that is relatively pain free, and beats draining the tank, is buying a PVC pipe with length just over the height of your aquarium, and width a couple of inches-larger for larger tanks. After cleaning the sand, just stand up the pipe, drop in the sand into the pipe, an gently move/angle the pipe to allow sand to escape at the bottom.

I'm also curious the depth of the sand bed people keep?

Great thread!

[gorhaf]

i've been told that when you switch from gravel to sand the best way to scoop the gravel out is to use a dustpan with a hole burned in the handle so that when you pull the gravel up the water drains making it easier to lift out and you get a large amount at the same time. I dont know if anyone has mentioned this on this site or not but i figured that i would offer it up to all my friends here.

[Tinman]

I used pool filter sand which was almost clean from the start. Emma was dead on about this earlier in this thread. . I rinsed in a 5 gallon bucket using my garden wand, then siphoned tank water into the bucket to bring the sand up to temp. After shutting off my pumps I then used a large plastic cup and placed the sand in my tank.If you are removing large gravel it should probably be cleaned several times first before attempting to remove just for water quality issues.I would be hesitant to let the water fall back in with the fish unless it was very clean. I had no substrate at the start of this endeavor.My plecos find it a nuisance actually but I think but they are grumpy about most things,and happy that way