Loaches Online Forum

Interesting point about the flat fish, Martin.
I think we have tended to judge these fish by what we have seen before with cheni and disparis fry as well as young schisturas. The rate and form of development of these fish seems to be different.
It, of course, doesn't help that the fry possess characteristics of all three species found in the river tank.

'Xactly Jim....which is why my theory came to be I guress.

Martin.

Emma, you don't have any radioactive material near that tank, do you?
That's how this always starts in the movies.

Martin Thoene wrote:Love to see a head closeup Emma

Very difficult to get anything much more detailed than what I have already been posting, as they are still such teeny fish. We have no lighting on their tank and a lot of the time they are hidden or else on the back glass where I can't focus on them . As soon as they see me with the camera they dart for cover!

Anyway, these are the 'closest' I managed to get today 02/07:



(excuse the snail! )


a (crappy) overhead view




underside


and closer, but sadly more pixelated...


Emma

I've just held one of those Ceramic Rings in my hand and looked at Emma's pictures. These are truly excellent pictures!

I also like the fact of that you can see their little 'ticker' ticking!

We're in the middle of a very sticky heatwave again at present (just over 31 deg C at present), and I have to report that sadly the larger of the two adult Annamia's has succumbed to the heat . I'm pretty gutted about this as it was such a beautiful specimen.
There is loads of water movement and aeration in the River Tank, but this particular species obviously couldn't cope with the temperature. I've been doing extra water changes, but with the RO pretty much the same temp as the tank, it doesn't really help. I've got the lights off and am floating some frozen blocks in the tank in an effort to keep things at an acceptable level. Touch wood, the Sewellias and Schisturas seem to be fine.
The baby tank is in a more shaded location in the room and I'm keping a close eye on the temperature. I had been running it at 74 deg F, but today it is up at 80 deg. There is quite a bit of water movement in there and I've already done a water change today. Curse this weather, I really don't want anything to happen to these little ones.

Emma

Oh, that's a bummer Emma

It's the same here at present. My Sewellia tank is 81.5F this morning

I did water-changes on Saturday and replaced the old Almond leaves in the auxiliary tank beside the actual fish-holding tank. So now they're enjoying nice light tea-coloured water.

The 65 gallon River-Tank is 79.1 degrees.

I slept out on my balcony last night. Actually had a decent sleep. Too warm indoors.

Martin.

Emma,

sorry to hear this.

The following approach may help when the heat hits again: freeze a few plastic soda bottles (with water inside), then hang them inside the tank to melt one by one.

I keep a few such bottles available. The real problem with bottles is that one should watch the temp readings all the time, so this is only for the hottest days.

The other thing that can be done is to raise the temp in your tank a little. What kills is not just the high temp per se but even more the daily temp swings. I set mine to 77F right now.

One final trick here: the hillstreams here are kept in the basement, mostly below the ground. Right this moment the temp readings are 82F (main floor Botia tanks, heated to 77F), 77F (main basement hillstream tank), 76F (unheated tank in the same basement)

hope something is of use.

Thanks. We hadn't expected yet another bout of extremely hot weather, and seeing as it doesn't look like there's going to be any let up just yet, this morning we stuck a couple of 2L mineral water bottles in the freezer and once frozen we are going to hang them in the main River Tank to help bring the temperature down (currently on 81 deg F). When one has melted, we can put the other one in, and re-freeze the first one, and so on. The Clown tank is on 84 deg F, but they are fine (their usual temp is 82). It's the babies I'm most concerned about now, I don't want to go adjusting the temperature of their water too much as they could be rather more sensitive to changes, being at such an early stage in their life.

Emma

2L (1/2G) is the size I have here too, did not use them yet (the 5F basement bonus is proving very helpful so far...)

On the danger of playing with temp: it actually may be safer to very slowly raise the temp yourself than allow large swings due to daily temp changes and cooling bottles. Tought choice.....

Hope they all make it.

Thats terrible, Emma.

First thing I've noticed over the past two days was our temperature's rising also. Most of them are 81.5 to 82. So, the other day i saw 'mini' air condition units/fans in Argos and purchased two of them. Nice little job they are doing! You fill them with 1 liter of water and they can placed on-top of most aquariums/desks/tables...etc. Excellent cold air is being produced. Not the warm air which fans just chuck around continually.

So sorry to hear about your loss, Emma. That was a gorgeous fish. It may just have been an older fish more susceptible to heat and the like. Hopefully the babies will not be so sensitive.
The part of the US in which I live is notorious for its wide temp swings (below zero to 90+F) with the summers being generally humid and temps like you mentioned fairly common. So, air conditioning is pretty much a requirement. If not, I suspect my tanks would be terribly warm right now.
Good luck!! We're all keeping our fingers crossed for you!!!

Thanks for the messages, guys. Graeme I'll look into the mini-air conditioners/fans - they sound like a good buy. We have a big portable air conditioning unit for our bedroom, so I'm considering moving the fry tank up there where it is much cooler.

Emma

Here's a link for ya. http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/air ... cooler.asp

Cheers Graeme, I couldn't find them in the Argos catalogue, so your link is much appreciated.