Loaches Online Forum

I usually feed most of the tanks at home late at night, either after the tank lights go out or under blue moon lighting. I had assumed that the little Sewellia sp. 'spotted' fry, which are out and about during the day, foraging for food, would probably hide when the adult hillies came out to feed (it can get quite hectic). However, last night, I was going to bed a bit earlier, so fed the tank whilst the lights were still on. I was absolutely amazed to see that the little fry stood their ground and were right in the thick of it when the food was added!

I managed to get a few short video clips of this, which I hope you'll enjoy. I think I'll have to save up for a proper video camera as my Nikon camera only takes video footage for 30 seconds at a time.

Please turn the sound down/off as usual.

Video 1 (Sewellia sp. 'spotted' adult & youngsters, plus Annamia normani):
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8795.flv

Video 2 (A rare glimpse of one of my Zebra plecs L046, plus Sewellia and Annamia):
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8796.flv

Video 3 (The adult Sewellia sp. 'spotted' are very defensive of the food!):
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8797.flv

Video 4 (Annamia normani often attack the larger Sewellia sp. 'spotted' and S. lineolata via this topping method when food is on offer):
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8799.flv

Video 5 (More of the adults food fight):
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8800.flv

Video 6 (More of the same, but with the young spotties present):
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8803.flv

A lot of quality is lost through uploading to Photobucket, but hopefully these are good enough to give an idea of the goings-on in my river tank.

Emma

Brilliant videos Emma!!!!!!! Those spotted sewellia are stunning!

Wow, that's really great! Love the food fight. In just those couple of seconds you can already see the social interaction really clearly.

Great vids,can I ask a couple of questions?

Do you keep your Zebra plec at a low temperature?

What size tank(s) are your hillstream loaches in?
(Any chance of a full tank shot?)

Very nice. What is that you are feeding them?

Very nice!

Amazing videos, Emma!!!
Those are very healthy looking hillstreams!!!

Ok Emma, that is enough! I feel like you just like torturing me because I cannot get Sp's.



Those are nice videos.

Great stuff!

great videos Emma, ive been looking for the spotties but so far nowt.

mick

bullisbm wrote:Ok Emma, that is enough! I feel like you just like torturing me because I cannot get Sp's.



Those are nice videos.

Emma is a sadist I'll have to admit. She tortures us with the fish that most of us will never see...sigh

Kevin

Thanks everyone.

JAH wrote:can I ask a couple of questions?

Do you keep your Zebra plec at a low temperature?

What size tank(s) are your hillstream loaches in?
(Any chance of a full tank shot?)

Of course you can, Jayne. The aquarium is a Fluval Roma 240 (120cm x 40cm wide x 50cm high) and with the 3 powerheads running the manifold and fairly bright lighting, this tank usually runs at 78-79 deg F. Admittedly this would be considered a little high for some balitorids, but the Sewellia are known to live in this range in the wild, and mine have bred on many occasions. I should mention that the water is highly oxygenated by the output of an Eheim 2028 external, with the spraybar mounted just above the water level too, which I would consider essential. This water temperature also suits the zebra plecs - I have 2 of these, but I think they are both males. I'm always on the lookout for the opportunity to purchase a female.

Here is a full tank shot taken last year, not long after I set it up (transferred a lot of the decor and fish from a smaller river tank):



Since then, the Cryptocoryne balansae (thin leaved plants coming up from the substrate) have really gone mad and I keep having to thin them out or move them from the front where they have sent out new runners.

Barracuda518 wrote:Very nice. What is that you are feeding them?

I alternate between frozen and dried foods from day-to-day, and in those videos they had just received some of their favourite JMC Catfish pellets and some broken up Hikari algae wafers, plus some very fine granular/powdered foods for the fry and the shrimp.



Emma