P cheni tank mates !

[Geordie]

Hi everyone ,
I found the site after following a link from Mad Duff on another site.
I had already read the great article life in the fast lane by Martin T.
I've at pressent got a few tanks spare after breeding crayfish .
In a 2ft tank I have placed x4 P. cheni which i obtained from a high street pet shop. I've a 4ft tank (55g) when my last brood of crays are out will be turned into a river tank.
The tank with the P. cheni is well oxygenated with a box filter and koi stone ( Cray young need water saturated with O) there is a bit of turbulance flowing arround the tank not from A to B . I will be building a manifold system later.
My hope is to keep Aegla (South American Decapods) they come from fast flowing rivers and also need high O levels ,with a few Sewellia l.
I am needing to know though, I also have 4 large Swan mussels in my tank with the P. C's they are a sort of natural filter sytem (given to me by conservation volunteers who thought my pond was up and running ! therefore I shouldnt be in trouble for having them !! I hope !) I understand the mussels larval stage uses fish for a host for a short period Though they wont be in long and larvea arnt expected is there any risk in keeping these together or would it be Ok is they are compatible to introduce white Clouds as a host / or would stickle back (native fresh water) be OK ?
I also keep shrimp but realise the loaches would eat the young.
Are there any moluscs which would go in a tank with out risk ?
All the best,
John

[LES..]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum :-) a 4' tank sounds perfect for keeping Pseudogastromyzon cheni with plenty of space for a river tank manifold.

Alas i can't give you a definitive answer your question, I have no experience with keeping Swan mussels.

Having a brief scan through a wikipedia article on fresh water bivalve reproduction would seem that the parasitic phase may attach to the gills of a fish, this would raise serious alarm bells for me as the P.Cheni already have a high oxygen demand. Naturally information from wikipedia should be treated with scepticism and all of the papers listed require a subscription service, that said there are people on the forum that can probably get access, this seems most appropriate:

Dartnall, H. J. G., and M. Walkey. 1979. The distribution of the glochidia of the swan mussel, Anodonta cygnea (Mollusca), on the three-spine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus (Pisces). Journal of Zoology (London) 189:31-37.

There is the suggestion that levels of infection in river fish are low but this probably needs to be balanced with proximity of the fish to the mussel and a dilution effect from running water, both of which are compromised in an aquarium.

Clearly more research is required and I welcome you to the cutting edge of fish husbandry, please post your findings :-)

LES..

[Geordie]

Thank you for the reply Les,
My tank temperalily housing the loaches is now after about 4 days crystal clear so as the housing of the musseles is also short term (till i complete my pond and the conditions of their new permenant placement becomes favourable !) I think I will rotate them arround my other tanks to tweak the water up , hope their not carrying any diseases !!
Shrimp tank next though expecting young at any time.
The mussels have been quite interesting moveing themselves around the tank like mobile heli. pads for the loaches to sit on, one has even climbed over some stones at the back of the tank ! I'll try and get a photo before moving them on .
all the best,
John

[Emma Turner]

Hi Geordie and welcome to Loaches Online.

I honestly don't think I would want to risk having the mussels in the same tank as the loaches because of information I've read on the larval stages. Also, they don't tend to do well in filtered environments, as they can't get all the nutrients they require and would obtain from a natural set-up (natural pond).

What shrimp are you keeping? Most hillies should leave these alone. I keep Amanos in with my Sewellia lineolata/Sewellia sp. 'spotted'/Annamia normani/Schistura balteata without problems. Even when they were very small, the loaches didn't bother them.

Emma

[Geordie]

Hi Emma,
Thanks for the reply and the forum looks great.
I'm going to have to return my mussels to some one who knows an apropriate pond for them ,I have though about putting them in a tank and giving it water changes using siphoned water from my other tanks (though I'd never be confident in using that water again despite being on a water meter !! it would still be used in the garden) and my pond which is still in construction stage would take some time to mature + my turtle tank quickly smells like a pond and dont want another in the house !
My shrimps are Crystal Reds ,2 of which have been with eggs for about 3 weeks ,their living together with Aeglids and nerite snails .I worry about the young shrimp being eaten when they hatch.
i'm becoming increasingly fasinated with the fast water flatterned bodied loaches and would love to house as many species as possible but will refrain from this and study first probably ending up only keeping a couple species .
All the best,
John