DanTheMan

Well hello everybody! I was face booking some "fish people" in England and they can buy live blood worms, mysis and brine shrimp at their local pet stores. Does anybody here raise live mysis shrimp? I was thinking it would be good for fry.

Great job on the cave! It looks natural and inviting. The clown looked as though it may want to book a stay in the pleco mansion. I know my clown loaches would be crowding the door to use this cool cave. Hopefully the pleco will appreciate the effort and set a move in date shortly. LOL

Dear Santa, Been an awful good boy this year and I would like a new 180 gallon plywood tank and maybe one of your elves can help to relocate my 300 gallon to the fish room. Milk and coookies await!

From what I have read the clown loach coloring can differ for several different reasons. They may be from a different area, or the substrate and or lighting in the tank may bring out a stronger or weaker coloring. Also as the loaches get bigger the color seems to lessen and white lines form within the black stripes. The last part is super cool, I have one very large loach and it almost looks like a white lightning bolt going through the black stripe. When these white lines form it is also a lot easier to tell the loaches apart when they are very similar. I had adopted 5 new loaches quite red about 2 months ago and after quarantine I placed them in the 300 gallon with the other loaches in a white sand substrate with lots of artificial plants, rock caves, and artificial driftwood and only natural light and after 2 weeks their red coloring is fading. They are still receiving the same food their previous owner fed them, but the previous owner had them in a tank with a darker gravel substrate and real plants with bright lighting. They are swimming with the group actively and eating extremely well, no ill effects, in fact in a short amount of time there has been noticeable growth. As long as the loaches are not flashing (indicates irritation) and are active and eating well all is good. Enjoy these beautiful fish, they can be a real riot and quite mischievous, Never a dull moment around here.

It hasn't ended yet. Picked up 15 sweet little neolamprologus brichardi, and 6 black calvus. Next on the list Enantiopus kilesa. Running out of room for the tanks. I'm not ready to admit I have a problem.

I have seen my clowns in a lot of places that I thought they couldn't get out of, however every time I went to rescue them , they would swim away on their own. Maybe your clowns have faded because of the Arowana?? I do not know from personal experience but have heard many people say that keeping clowns with a arowana or a predator type fish will put a constant stress on the clowns??? Anyways have a good one...Dan

Nothing, they are too busy eating shrimps.....

Have you separated/quarantined the sick fish? Not sure what the problem is, but when anything seems not right with any of my fish the first priority is to quarantine and do a water change. You said you have had the acei for a few years, did you get it as a fry, juvenile, or full grown fish? They do live quite a long time. About a month ago I had 2 threadfin rainbows go into the s shape, they were removed to quarantine and died about 5 days later. I would worry that if they die in the tank and the other fish pick at it, some disease or parasite may be passed on to healthy fish. After those 2 fish were removed there were no more issues with sick fish in the tank. Remember with mbuna to provide a lot of algae plant based foods, such as spirulina flakes or pellets. Try feeding thawed peas (remove outer skin) to the fish, it sometimes works to alleviate bloat. Bloat doesn't always kill the fish, but if it does survive it can take a long time for it to look and feel normal again. I only give my Acei's frozen treats (daphnia, Mysis,etc) (only a small amount) once every 2 weeks. They are now around the 7 year old mark. Hopes this helps, and good luck!

Great to hear! Sounds like you have all the bases covered. I wish you continued success. :thumbs:

I used Melafix when I first received my loaches. Every loach had fin rot to one degree or another and had lots of dark patchines from being in not optimum conditions. 22 of them. I have them in a 300g tank and treated them with melafix. Within a few days you could see a noticeable difference and at the 7th day the end of the treatment huge improvement. Within 2 weeks you couldn't tell there had ever been a problem. Cost was about $16.00 per bottle and took me almost 3 large bottles. Follow the directions closely and when treatment is done do the water change as noted on the directions. I have faithfully done 30% water changes once a week since then, and they are all fin rot free. It was a new tank as well and the old filter and driftwood were used as well as new ones and it still hadn't been 100% cycled. I took the gamble and it worked for me. Remember if you go this route to remove the carbon. Good luck on whatever you decide.

O.K Now I know I have a problem. Just added a 55g tank with 16 duboisi maswa juveniles. Helllllppppp!!! When will it end.

So Cool! I would be afraid to put them with an Arowana. The loaches obviously don't find it intimidating. Plants are a definite no in my tank as well. It's bad enough that they move the artificial plants attached to large rocks to their liking, pull off heaters, eat air stones and sponge filters, try to remove filters and the stream pump. They seem to be enjoying watching me cringe when they move, pull, and destroy things in the tank. As long as they don't actually break the glass I enjoy watching their antics. They tip sideways and wave with one fin when they are hungry, or heaven forbid I am late at supper time. It appears loaches here are not that popular, stock that comes in is usually sick or becomes sick in the LFS not just the small ones but the bigger 3"-4". I have picked up and added to my collection from other forum members that realize keeping one or two is not what is best for the fish., or realizing they can't give them the space they need to be healthy and happy. I am however encouraged that people are doing their research and understanding their needs. I always quarantine my loaches for an extended amount of time minimum 8 weeks. I would hate to lose the beautiful and large loaches I have. I will try to post some pics soon. Thanks for the reply

Before you buy Ehiem, I would strongly suggest checking how available replacement media and parts are in your area. I have a Pro 1200 xl since spring and still have no Ehiem media, used Fluval media and then the ceramic shaft that holds the impeller broke and the impeller got chewed up over a month ago and I am still waiting for replacement parts. I don't mean to sound negative, but rather just to let you know what my experience was.

Have fun setting up your new tank. That is one of the best parts of the hobby. I usually stock mbuna at a ratio of one fish per 5 gallons. (Give or take a fish or two or three) Works for me. I think the yellow tail acei does not get the attention it deserves. They liven up the tank, are really not aggressive, and as adults the males are absolutely phenomenal.

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