I wanted to share an Ebook with you that I found a while ago. It has been a great resource to me, and I find I still go back to it even now.
There is info in there for the person who is still planning what to buy and set up, right through to maintaining your existing setup. Alot of the hints and tips that I use came from this Ebook.
In my tank, I have 5 clown loaches. Originally I got one to rid my tank of a snail infestation. I soon began to realise thought that the loach was spending about 95% of his day hiding in the corner of the tank under a rock. He could come out only for a minute or so to feed and then head straight back to his corner.
After jumping on google and finding out about the fish, I soon discovered the problem. The clown loach is a very active and sociable fish, and should be kept in a small group. I would recommend no less than 3, but probably look at 4 or even 5.
However before racing off to your local fish supplier to grab a few, there are a few things you should know. They can grow as big as 40cm, however in the aquarium environment most only get to around 10 – 15cm. With this in mind, you need to make sure you have a fairly large tank to accommodate the future growth of the fish. I would be recommending you have a 200Ltr tank at a minimum for 3 fish. As most of you would know, I only have a 180 Ltr tank, and I have plans to get a larger tank a the fish grow. If you try and keep too many fish, or too big a fish, in your tank then you are going to run into problems.
Firstly, you will start having to carry out a lot more maintenance on your tank just to keep it clean and healthy. Secondly it just isn’t fair keeping your fish in such cramped conditions. Liken it to you having to live your whole life locked inside your house. never being allowed outside, and just for good measure, there is 2 adults and 4 kids in your humble 4 bedroom house.
As you can imagine, you would very quickly tire of those conditions and as a result of the stress of the situation, your health (and probably your sanity) would suffer greatly. It is the same for your fish.
The clown loach has spines located under their eyes which are used to defend itself from predators, but also uses these to catch its prey. If you try to catch the loach in a net, then there is a good chance that it will deploy these spines, and get caught up. This could not only cause injury to the fish, but also to you, the handler. If you do get the fish caught in a net, I suggest just resting the net in the tank and gently helping to untwist the fish. Try not to handle the fish, as it will remain agitated. Hopefully it will get out of the net on its own if you leave it alone for a while.
I have noticed too that my clown loaches spend alot of time checking out my gouramis and, at times will swim and play with them. It is fun to watch and makes for a nice aquarium setting.
Another thing that I have noticed is that when they are really active, and sometimes during feeding time, they make a clicking type of sound.
It is not uncommon for me to come out and find that one (or more) of the loaches are lying on its side on the bottom of the tank, not moving. In fact the first couple of times I saw it, I thought I had a dead fish!!! It was only when I went to pick it up of the bottom that it swam away as normal. I have also seen them swim on their sides and even upside down.
I have live plants in my tank, and I have noticed that the clown loaches love to play in them. In fact they like to pull them out all the time. There wouldn’t be a week go by that I don’t have to replant one or more plants. I also have a couple of rocks, which I have set up to form a small cave for the fish to hide under.
I have come to know that they do not really like brightly lit tanks. If you have a light in your tank, then be sure to provide some shady hiding areas for them. Likewise if your tank is near a window, then be sure that there is ample places for them to hid out of the light.
The clown loach is native to Sumatra and Borneo, in Indonesia. It lives in the rivers and streams. As such having adequate water movement in your tank is a good idea, for the loach to swim against the current. This can be achieved by having a powerhead attached to your filter system, or by setting up your filter output to come out under the water so as to create the desired current. You will see your fish dancing in the current.
Because they come from rivers and streams, they are used to having other fish and plants in their home. By having this in your tank you help them to be more relaxed, or less stressed. This will result in them just spending their whole time hiding in a corner or under a rock. The same as my lone loach did when I first got it. It is normal for your fish to be a little dormant when you first get them. Until they get used to their new tank and environment. After a week or so you should see them start to warm to their new home and start to be a little more active. Of course you can always coax them out with a bit of food. If there is one thing my loaches love, it is food. They go absolutely ape on zucchini, and I also give them shrimp pellets from the pet store. I have even seen one person who gives them cooked and peeled shrimp. You can also use live foods, like small snails, worms and brine shrimp. Frozen bloodworm and brine shrimp are also a good food source, but be sure to bring the food back to aquarium temperature before adding it to your tank.
As always you need to ensure you have adequate filtration in your tank, as these fish are native to the flowing, clear streams.
Clown loaches are particularly susceptible to ich (Ichthyophthirius) and due to their lack of scales you need to be careful when medicating your tank. You need to use a reduced concentration of the medication. This will mean a reduction in the effectiveness of your treatment, and may mean you have to treat over a longer period of time. It is vitally important that you use a quarantine tank when adding new fish to your tank.
I add Stress Zyme and Stress Coat to my tanks every time I perform a partial water change. This helps to keep the fish happy and healthy.
You cannot have any aggressive fish in your tank if you want to have Clown Loaches. They will become too stressed and spend their time in hiding. Eventually you will find that they become unhealthy and may even die due to the stress.
Water parameters: pH 6.5 – 7.0, Hardness: aim for softer water, Maximum DH: 12
Temperature: 25-30°C (78ºF to 83ºF)
Keeping your water quality at acceptable levels is not as hard as it first seems. There are a range of different things that you need to keep an eye on.
the following list is by no means an exhaustive one, but you should keep these in mind.
PH
Nitrate
Nitrite
Ammonia
General Hardness or GH
Carbonate Harness or KH
You can buy test kits from your local pet supplies store, and if you are going to do this, then I suggest getting a multi function test kit. The one that I have is from API and it is called API Freshwater Master Test Kit. From memory it cost me about $50. It will last me well over a year, infact I think closer to 2 years. This test kit test PH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia.
I also have a Hardness Test Kit, which tests both GH & KH, again made by API. From memory this was about $20. It too will last me close to 2 years.
You will find that most aquarium stores will test your water for you, some may offer this for free, and others may charge a small fee for this service.
I will try to explain water hardness as best I can for you here.
Water hardness, measured in degrees, is a measure of the amount of minerals that are dissolved in the water, mainly calcium and magnesium. It is by far easier to change soft water than it is to change hard water. Different fish like different levels of water hardness.
0-3 degrees (0 – 50ppm) Discus, Arowana, Elephantnose, Neons, Cardinals, Live Plants
3-6 degrees (50-100ppm) Most tropical fish including Angelfish, Cichlids, Tetras, Botia, Live plants
9-11 degrees (100-200ppm) Most tropical fish including Swordtails, Guppies, Mollies, Goldfish
8-12 degrees (140-200ppm) Marine fish and invertebrates
11-22 degrees (200-400ppm) Rift Lake Cichlids, Goldfish, Brackish water fish.
As you will see from above, there is a cross over between the levels where fish will thrive. Your fish will adapt to your hardness levels, however you should try to work with the hardness levels that you have in your particular area.
To decrease your carbonate harness or KH, partial water changes should be carried out. Test your hardness before and after the change and note the differences. Again, API have a tap water filter which dionizes the water, reducing the KH. To raise the KH, then you can add non-carbonate buffers that automatically adjust the PH and increase KH. There is a range of Proper PH products from API that do this for you.
General Hardness or GH levels can be decreased by using a water softener pillow, or again by using dionized water when performing your partial water changes. To increase your GH, try adding epsom salts (which adds magnesium) and Calcium Chloride (which adds calcium) to increase the GH. It would be best to add a mix of these two, to avoid messing up your Ca/Mg ratio.
For those of you who have plastic plants in your tank, I am sure you have all seen that they start off clean, bright and almost lifelike. But after a while, no matter how much you try to clean them, they always appear dull and lifeless.
Why not try live plants. Pop down to your local pet supplies store, and have a look at the great range of plants available. Try to get something that is fairly quick growing for your first plant, as this will help the plant to take off in your tank.
Your fish love to eat plants, so you will notice that they are always nibbling at the leaves. This can often leave you disheartened as if you have a few fish in your tank, your plants will start to look a bit bare and twiggy. My fish often pull out some of the plants completely. This is where a fast growing plant has its advantages, as because the leaves grow faster than other plants, they are able to recover quicker.
Another way to help you plants to survive the fish, is to ensure you are adding a leafy food additive to their diet, like spirulina flakes, lettuce leaves, zucchini etc etc.
You also need to keep on top of your 10-20% partial water changes every 2 weeks or so. This will help keep the water contamination down and provide optimum growth conditions for your plants (and your fish).
The same as the plants in your garden, your aquarium plants need oxygen, and light to grow. a simple air stone or air curtain will provide oxygen, and an aquarium light will provide the needed light levels. Just remember once you start using a light, you may see some increase algal activity in your tank. Be sure to clean this away regularly, and do not over use your light.
There is a number of plant food additives that you can add to your tank which will make your plants thrive. I add mine at the same time as I add my stess zyme and stress coat after the partial water change. For a day or so, I do notice a yellow tinge to the tank, but this settles out pretty quickly.
If you notice any damaged or dying leaves you should remove these, otherwise they will start decaying in your tank, and this mucks up the water quality levels. Again, I do this when i do my water changes.
Once you have your first plant set up and coping in your tank, try changing any other plastics that you have for live plants too. over time you will end up with an amazing tank setup.
For a range of great plants check out this site. They will even deliver straight to your door anywhere in Australia. www.aquaticdreams.com.au
If you are anything like me, the christmas and new year period turned out to be pretty busy. All those last minute things that you realise you have forgotten to do. Express posting presents to get them there in time, nipping down to the shops at 6pm christmas eve for the last few things, and realising on christmas day that you accidentally put little Johnnys tag on Sallys doll.
And so far you still haven’t made it to the christmas lunch or dinner yet.
Who ever decided that the end of year holidays were supposed to be for rest and relaxation!!!
But it is now well into the new year, and I have survived. Time to get back on track and maybe even look at losing those extra few christmas pounds. At the same time, I need to start getting back into the swing of keeping this blog updated and moving forwards.
The first major change, is that there is now a forum. www.mypetfish.com.au/forum check it out.
This is a place to discuss and chat about anything fish/aquarium related. There is also a trading hub there for people to buy and sell items.
For those of you who are confident enough, I will be looking for a few moderators as the forum grows in size. Please keep this in mind, and if you are happy to assist me here, please send me an email at info@mypetfish.com.au to let me know.
You will also see that there is a section on there for sponsors. Moving forward, It will be my aim to get a couple of sponsors for the site. Out of that, I hope to start running some competitions and give aways for you, our loyal followers. If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a sponsor then please send me an email to advertising@mypetfish.com.au and we can discuss a tailored sponsorship package. I will be offering a range of products from text links right through to banner adds.
I look forward to chatting with you all in the forums, and I hope that you all have a fantastic 2010.
Well I hope you all had a very merry festive season and that 2010 shapes up to be your best year yet.
Apart from all the usual rush and frustrations that come at this time of the year, don’t forget about your scaly friends. If you are going away for longer than a few days then I suggest that you perform a partial water change, and add things like, plant food, stress zyme, stress coat etc. to your tank the day before you leave. this will help to ensure that your fish remain healthy and happy in your absence. Also how are you feeding them? I have found that fish feeding blocks, when left for long periods, start to muck up the tank. I always try to find someone to come in and feed the fish, and my dogs too if I have left them behind.
However is this is not possible then, a feeding block, and/or automated feeder is the next best option. just remember to clean the tank out as soon as you get back home again to remove any uneaten food. Also, again perform a partial water change on your return to help restore the natural water conditions.
My 6 clown loaches are now the spectacle of the tank. They are out and about playing, and sometimes harassing the other fish. Feeding time is starting to become a bit of a show too. They are not as timid as they used to be, and I have started to add some shrimp pellets into their diet as well, which seems to be working a treat. I will take some video footage of feeding time and post on here in a few days.
After trying and testing many things with the old filter, I decided to get a new one. I have again gone with and Aqua One, but I have increased the size from the CF500, and now have an Aquis 1000. After only a few hours of running, my tank is back to normal and clear again.
Better Pets and Gardens in Port Kennedy were very helpful in helping me work through ways to check the old filter unit so that I didn’t end up buying a new filter that I didn’t really need. In the end, I got the new canister filter which was double the size, cheaper than the old one cost me. They were the cheapest place I have found.
While I work out which filter I am going to get for my setup, I am going to be conducting 10% water changes every 2 days to try and keep on top of the tank.
Should only be a couple of days while I look at the different options available to me.
I will also be conducting water tests more regularly to ensure the fish are ok
The new impeller came in today, and I have replaced it, however there is still no flow from my old unit. I have come to realise that it is just dead.
Have to get a new unit.
