Loaches Online Forum

cybermeez wrote:How long have you been keeping loaches?

Close to two years.

APPEND. Oh, I think I understand why you ask this. It is not immediately obvious that what applies to Botias also applies to Pangios; these guys actually like some dirt.

What kinds besides Kuhlis and Clowns? Are you out on the Island or in Queens? If you are on city water I bet it's super soft, right?

cybermeez wrote:What kinds besides Kuhlis and Clowns? Are you out on the Island or in Queens? If you are on city water I bet it's super soft, right?

Yoyos, PolkaDots, Schisturas.
Queens.
NOT supersoft. gH is 8-9.

(WHY?)

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Maybe I should clarify the situation a bit: this is an experiment in a 10G tank to see if the environment of a heavily planted tank with little current and some algae will induce them to breed (someone suggested that it might). So far I don't see that it works.

I was in Manhattan for almost 20 years. The tap water there is incredibly soft. The Loaches loved it!

I keep Clowns, Kubotais, Darios, Rostratas, Striatas, Sids, Yo-Yos, Zippers, Kuhlis, Horsefaces and Moosefaces. Did the write ups on the last 4 for the up coming loach book several of us here colaborated on.

I've been wanting to keep Schisturas and Hillstreams, but my apartment is way too warm and I could never keep the water cool enough for them.

cybermeez wrote:I was in Manhattan for almost 20 years.

I escaped 15 years ago...

The tap water there is incredibly soft. The Loaches loved it!

I keep Clowns, Kubotais, Darios, Rostratas, Striatas, Sids, Yo-Yos, Zippers, Kuhlis, Horsefaces and Moosefaces. Did the write ups on the last 4 for the up coming loach book several of us here colaborated on.

==> you are way ahead of me. Darios and Striatas are the two loaches I'd love to have, but could not find so far.

I've been wanting to keep Schisturas and Hillstreams, but my apartment is way too warm and I could never keep the water cool enough for them.

I have kept Schisturas for six months without any problems. In a standard tropical tank with only moderate current. They are active and ultra-fat now.

Hi Mike,

Have you read Martin's article on Hillstream loaches?

http://www.loaches.com/hillstream_loaches.html

Shisturas will likely not do well long term in a tropical tank setting.

How long have you been keeping fish, other than loaches? Just curious

Hi, Shari,

Shari wrote:Hi Mike,

Have you read Martin's article on Hillstream loaches?

http://www.loaches.com/hillstream_loaches.html

Sure

Shisturas will likely not do well long term in a tropical tank setting.

At this point I think this is not true.

What happened was not intentional -- the fish was obviously mislabeled at the store, and I misidentified it and until January I thought it was a variation of an entirely different *tropical* loach (Yuck). 6 months is a fairly long time, and schistura is not a true hillstream, so it looks like they adapted fine. In fact, if I'm to make a colder rivertank at this point, I'm not sure it will be safe to move them there.

How long have you been keeping fish, other than loaches? Just curious

Obviously, not as long as you

A couple of years, if you don't count several more of goldfish.
I'm certainly not at your Angel Breeding level.

Well, 6 months may seem like a long time, but I'd bet they'd prefer the river tank if you acclimated them to it properly. You'd surely see more 'natural' behaviors from them, I think.

We simply don't know this. In fact, one thing that I've noticed is that polkadots and esp. yoyos use the current much more than schisturas.

Here's a thread from the old forum regarding shisturas:

http://aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archives ... read=19742

You'll note the habitat they come from as discussed by tony, who's been there.

Hi wanda I use melafix but only at half strength, But I like many other often find that more frequent water changes will help best with healing.
Kuhli's certainly do react to Melafix as do weather loaches but I've not seen any morbidity involved.
Erik

Shari wrote:Here's a thread from the old forum regarding shisturas:

http://aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archives ... read=19742

You'll note the habitat they come from as discussed by tony, who's been there.

Shari,

Thanks a lot, this is interesting.

mikev wrote:In fact, one thing that I've noticed is that polkadots and esp. yoyos use the current much more than schisturas.

Schistura is a brook loach - all those loaches that are torpedo shaped, but not eel-like (kuhlis and dojos). Schistura is found in rushing water, and I don't believe that it needs to be kept "cold" per se. I think they must experience warmer water in nature - in pools in the stream, for instance.

Whereas the true hillstreams are built for hanging on in really fast current, the brook loaches benefit from a large-pebbled floor. They spend a lot of time resting. I keep several brook loaches together with hillstreams in an unheated tank that probably does not go lower than 71 or 72F.

I would not keep Schistura in a tropical heated tank. It would be like a lifetime of summer heat for them - and none of us need that.

Mark wrote:They spend a lot of time resting. I keep several brook loaches together with hillstreams in an unheated tank that probably does not go lower than 71 or 72F.

I would not keep Schistura in a tropical heated tank. It would be like a lifetime of summer heat for them - and none of us need that.

Mark, thanks, but I think I'm missing something here.

The tank they are in is set to 75F (termometer on the other end of tank shows 73-74). You suggest 71F-72F. So I'm off by only a couple of degrees? -- can this possibly be serious?

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that your tank was heated for tropical, which I associate with 78 or more. If you provide the current, you might be able to keep them going - I cannot tell you what their limits are, and there are scores of different Schisturas, suited to different settings, found over a very large area.

My advice would still be to keep them in a cooler tank than that, and one with tons of round rocks on the bottom. The fish becomes interesting when it has somthing to do. And watching Schistura is pretty interesting if you're a loach weirdo like myself. Again, they make it known what their needs are.

Schisturas are really territorial, and keeping two is a bad idea. Keeping a little pack of them is the goal. Keeping one of them at a time in a setting that could be improved... Well...

No peer pressure from me. Keep loaches as you might, but I do think that a matter of degrees is a key aspect to their health. You should consider getting the loach new quarters, IMO.