Loaches Online Forum

Maybe he's a philistine like me. Ammonia? what ammonia.

Something to watch though with a new tank.

You might have missed my pics in my previous post on the other page

Martin.

Martin, we posted at the same time so I missed the pics.
WOW!! I love the cool mix of species.
The Vanmanenia have sure filled out nicely.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can find some around here.

No ammonia what so ever, plenty of bio media available. I have a nylon filled with cycled pot scrubbies hanging in the tank with an airstone running through it.

This same method cycled my 55 in 45 minutes just left them for 3 weeks till all the new filters got their bio. I have found the pot scrubbies available from the dollar store are the best biomedia I can find.

http://www.wernersponds.com/biofiltermedia.htm

I luv 'em Jim. They're a far more attractive fish than L. disparis even if you and I have a soft spot for those. The biggest one (foreground, second to last picture), which I think might be a male, has these beautiful salmon pink metallic spots on the gill cover and a sheen of that color on the pectoral fins. He also has metallic gold near the dorsal which they all have.

It appears that unlike L. disparis, they stay slimmer no matter how much they eat.

Martin.

Martin wrote:I just fed mine my home-made frozen mix and took these pics. They like it....they like it a lot!

How about a recipe?

I have searched everywhere and can't find the original thread this appeared in. I'm wondering if it was a thread started by someone else?

Anyhow, the ingredients were mostly bought from a Thai supermarket and cheap. The quantities are enough to produce 7 10" x 10" Ziploc bags full of food at around 1/4" to 3/8" thick:

2 small trays of cocktail shrimp (prawns)
1 tray of snail flesh (these are Vietnamese, the original thread had the name)
1 banana
1 small can of V8 juice
1 small bag of frozen Spinach
1 small tray of beef Liver
1 clove of Garlic.
Gelatine powder to set mixture

(I think that's it)

All ingredients are cut up then put in a blender.
Don't let anybody see blended snails.....it's not for the faint of heart
Mix together, then cook gently to coagulate the liver content or it won't set and will easily foul the aquarium water.
Adding the right amount of gelatine is a trial and error thing. I generally add far more than the instructions on the packet say. You want the food to stay together in the water.

I find that 3 to 4 big serving spoonsful are the right amount for a large Ziploc bag. Spread the food through the bag evenly on a flat surface, then zip it closed. Leave bags to cool then place on a flat sheet to support them and pop into the freezer.

Once frozen, they can be stored vertically and take up minimal freezer space. The last lot I made cost me around CDN$14. Compared to $24 for a single big flat of Bloodworm it's very economical.
Everything eats it avidly. It gives a good balance of meat, fish, veg and fruit. Lots of good minerals too.

I break off bits, hold it under water till it thaws then let it go. The fish find it really quickly because I think it smells fairly strong to them.

Martin.

I searched for "recipe."

I think this might be what you wanted. I had seen it once before and wanted to try it.

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... ght=recipe

Great pictures, Martin and Tom

EDIT: I realize now that this is NOT what you were looking for. I do remember reading a post about someone shopping in a fish market and buying the ingredients for homemade fish food. They saved a lot a money, too.

They sure seem to love the stuff, Martin!!
As for the Vanmanenia, I will be looking for them at Walmarts starting late this week. There should be a new "Fish of the Month" at the Wally World. Those in the area that didn't have hillstreams last month should be getting them for April or maybe May.


Hmmmm...pot scrubbers as bio media!!! Thats brilliant. Low price, easily available and think of all the surface area. I'll have to remember that.

How much is a small tray? Does it have a size in ounces or grams or is it a cup or teaspoon measurement??

Would canned snails work? I live in a very rural Amish area, all they have around here is canned.

Thanks
Tom

Well, here's another post on the homemade fish food:


http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... +food#1021

I think we need a sticky for recipes

Nice mixture Tom!

shari2 wrote:Well, here's another post on the homemade fish food:


http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... +food#1021

I think we need a sticky for recipes

Yeah, basically this new one is that one with modifications.

Do canned snails have saline solution with them Tom? That might be a problem, but as long as well-drained once they're blended up, the salt would be diluted by everything else.

I think (if I remember) the tray of snails was about CDN$3

EDIT: I found the original thread.....it was on the FW Forum with a weird title....no wonder I had difficulty.

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=4464

Martin.

Is it normal for these guys to hide all the time?

What is the weight / amount of "a small tray"?

On a sad note 3 out of 7 have died More are supposedly coming in on monday, I hope its one of these species I got, not more vannies. 16 vannies is enough.

That's too bad. Which species died?
That's the tough part of getting hillstreams. Deaths seem to be inevitable...unless you get them from Emma or someone conscientious.
You might want to consider a treatment of Maracyn and Maracyn 2 if you notice patchy color on any of the fish.
As far as the hiding, that is common with beaufortia and S. wui more than the gastros.

not exactly sure what species died, they were all faded I put them in the fridge to keep them fresh until I can return them for replacements

All the vannies are happy though, so thats a good thing.