Loaches Online Forum

Looks like Etheostoma fusiforme , which is the darter I usually find in the feeder tanks. If you find larger, vertically banded killies they are probably Fundulus seminolis . The F. seminolis are a bit more aggressive than the bluefins. E. fusiforme is unusual for a darter in that it does well in wa...

If you are in the US, keep in mind that the Asian arowana is illegal here. Several other species are available and popular among big-predatory-fish enthusiasts. If you want to learn more, try the Monster Fish Keepers site. I have not kept one, but would like to try some day when I have the necessary...

In short, yes, they are a gimmick. Clams are filter feeders, but they feed on plankton and detritus. Fish poop will not sustain them, and they do nothing for ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites. If you want to keep clams successfully, you will need to feed them and provide appropriate conditions for the...

Certain cyprinids will graze on aufwuchs, including species of Pimephales (fatheads, rosy reds) and Chrosomus (red-bellied dace). I don't know if you can get these in your country. They're not efficient cleaners like loricariids, but they keep it in check. Probably your best option would be snails i...

Check this out for some info on (Australian) invert predators on cane toadpoles: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3893154. Red-spotted newts, garter snakes, various turtles, and most predatory aquatic insects happily eat American and Fowler's toad tadpoles around here, but I don't know if they could hand...

I've been looking for that sort of information and haven't found any. Strong smells are often associated with toxins (but not always). You could test it the old fashioned way. How do you feel about running a tank with hardy, inexpensive fish for a while with the driftwood in it?

You can encourage rooting by first placing your cutting in a container of water with a commercial rooting hormone (available at most nurseries) or with a cutting of willow, which will naturally release rooting hormones. Once you have some decent root growth, rinse it and add to the tank. If you are ...

This may help: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com ... hting.html. I have no personal experience to offer.

Better for what? The 40 long would be easier to set up as a river tank.

First, let me emphasize that I am in no way a goby expert. That said, it does look a bit like a Gobionellus to me, but looks even more like a Pseudapocryptes mudskipper. Both genera are euryhaline, so either is likely to do well in fresh water. Perhaps you could give them a haul-out spot and see wha...

How big? Fresh? Salt? Any idea where it was collected? Gobiopterus stellatus could be corrupted into the name you've got, but they don't really match your description. (I couldn't find any good photos of this species online, but the genus consists of tiny, translucent, relatively short and compresse...

Breaking the surface is not necessary. If there is enough current that you can see a swell or ripple at the surface, that is enough to greatly increase oxygenation. This is because in static water, only a very thin layer of water is in contact with the atmosphere, and it does not interact much with ...

Did he offer any reasons? I have heard some fishkeepers say that a diet heavy in daphnia can cause bloating and other digestive system problems; however, I don't know anyone who has experienced this firsthand and it may just be one of those things repeated so often it becomes fact. Daphnia and other...

You're quite welcome, Kurt. And thank you, Martin, for the original manifold design! Now that Kurt has made me think of the possibility of pushing rather than pulling water through a manifold I will have to try it myself.

You can get really luxuriant algal growth if the stones just have water running over them, rather than being deeply submerged. If your filter out flow is high enough you could place a little shelf or something beneath that and set the stones on it, so they'll get the best of all worlds (close to the...