Loaches Online Forum

Martin Thoene wrote:

Diana wrote:I had read somewhere that this is the correct one, that it was the GE Silicone II 'Kitchen and Bath' that had the anti-mildew ingredients.

I'm pretty certain that is the same GE silicon I bought a while ago from my LFS (used up now, so I can't check). It doesn't say anything on the tube about being aquarium safe but it's the same one used by a local aquarium manufacturer.

Martin.

All the GE II ones that I saw say on the back "Not for aquarium use".

First off, Thank you all for the warm welcome.
I stopped by Home Depot this morning to check if they had finally restocked the Beckett pond pump pre-filters but no luck. While I was there I pulled some GE I and II silicone off the shelf to take a picture and clear up any confusion or doubt that might still be lingering.



Note that GE II has the bad stuff “Bio Seal”.



On a more exciting subject I was cleaning this morning and came across an old powerhead that's new still in the box. I must have been reading my crystal ball about ten years ago and bought this in preparation for my river tank



It’s rated at 2000 L/hr. That’s as good or better than an 802, Whoo Hooo!!!


Martin said:
“Most enjoyable and for me personally it's very nice to see that I'm capable of instilling total insanity into people”

Yep resistance is futile. I’m at least a month away from having a suitable tank and I’m already calling all over town looking for Hillstreams. I found them at one store today and they said they had something like that but couldn’t pronounce the name of whatever they were. Well despite their policy of no cameras, I convinced them to let me drive over and in the interest of science snap a few photos.



Turns out they had ONE and he doesn’t look to happy in this tank. I wished I could take him home but currently I don’t have a tank ready that would be any better than where he’s at.



In the further interest of science I decided to snap as many photos as I could before they chased me out. I decided to take pictures of fish that might interest you folks the most.
I’ve been practicing on my daughters tank and most of these Loaches turned out to be easier than Danios to photograph.
I’ll let you folks do the I.D.ing since I don’t have a clue what half of these are.


My Daughter made the trip with me and made me happy when said "Now that I have my fish tank, I don't want a Dog"



Had a hard time with the Yo,Yo's as they were all over the place.




Some kind of Khuli?


These two got smootchy. One in the background looks crushed.





These Striata's cooperated nicely.





Their Clowns seemed very happy and active.



Not a clue what this guy is but if I had to name him it would be Camel Loach due to the double hump back.






no clue what these guys are but they're so pretty I had to take a bunch of pictures.




These two were fast and really cool looking. I was super pleased when they finally seetled down for a potrait. The big guy came right up and posed for me, Beautiful!!!



This is the last photo I managed as they reminded me of the no picture policy. AARRRGHH!!!. They labeled it as a Skunk Loach?
All was not lost though as two blocks down the street was a HOT ROD get together and my daughter and I walked down for a fun walk down memory lane. Here's a couple teases for Martin.



OK, not extactly Loaches but you gotta love'em.

Another cool post!

I tell you what, that looks like you've got a pretty good shop there.

The hillstream is Beaufortia kweichowensis.

Kuhli looks like Pangio myersi.

The striata are very nice. Good pattern on one.

From the Clowns down it goes like this:

Probably Schistura obeini...the humps are weeeeird though

Botia kubotai.... I'm guessing from appearance these were reasonably large right? Some look like they neat treating for internal parasites.

Beautiful Mesonemacheilus triangularis (Zodiac or Batik loach). These will work with Hillstreams.

Yasuhikotakia morleti (Skunk Botia).

1958 (I think) Chevy Corvette.

1934 Ford Roadster

1940 Ford Coupe

Martin.

Hi KFF,

... that store has a nice loach slection... should be no need to be so fussy about pictures taken...

Re the silicone, to be on the safe side, I would not use any silicone with additives like fungus-killer etc.

Back in the old days, I checked by smelling for vinegar-odor =good silicone , means it hardens creating acetic acid (CH3COOH) which is ok. The one curing the other way, was not to be used for tanks...

Greetings from Germany

Have to agree with Martin on the Kubotai. White feces=parasites. But they look to still be functioning ok. Definitely need treatment, however.

Very nice pics and story, KFF. I'm happy you've found such a wonderful hobby and your daughter can share in the fun!

You're lucky to have a LFS with such a nice selection. Best wishes to you and to the lot of them

Kate

I’m beginning to develop a love / Hate relationship with this store.

What I hate;
1. No cameras allowed.
2. 50 miles round trip from my house.
3. I hate going into Portland (traffic, crowds and limited parking).

What I love;
1. Huge selection (at least 500 tanks).
2. Well staffed (a happy face in each isle).
3. Rarely see dead or sick fish.
4. And last but not least you have to love the name of this place,

The Wet Spot

They removed their big name from the front of the store I think because to many confused gents would come in and ask if they rent by the hour

I'm going to visit as often as possible and try to soften their stance on no photos.
Also with a staff as large as they have there's bound to be somebody on staff that I can build a repport with that has a passion for fish (no reason why they shouldn’t assimilate as well).

well done to your daughter for saying that with her fish she didnt want a dog its so much better when there is more than 1 person who likes fish at home.

those botia striata look great, with lovely patterns i dont get the no cameras rule in that shop as at least it looks like the tanks have stuff in them to give the fish some sort of cover. and i did like that last car photo too.

Thanks for sharing. That area where you were finding all the rocks and wood looks amazing. I agree, that looks like a very nice shop, worth the drive.

Those cars are awesome too

We were just in there last week! Visiting Portland on holiday, and just happened upon it. What impressed me was that the whole store was freshwater, and they listed the latin names of just about every fish there.

Prices were also better than Atlanta. If only I couldn't have brought some back with me!