Loaches Online Forum

I'm not in a rush but, with having a young family and living about an hour away from the shops that may have them in, I like to plan my fish shop trips in advance.

The tank has been running for just over two weeks, with mature filters from another tank, and is home to a small shoal of zebra danios. Algae is beginning to grow on the rocks.

I had originally planned to wait 6 months before adding hillstream loaches but that seems a bit like overkill with the rate at which algae is re-covering the rocks. How long is a sensible minimum waiting time?

I'd give it as long as possible. It isn't just mature filters and algal growth that is a requirement but also other micro flora and fauna that is needed. You need to reduce the possibility of the tanks water chemistry changing rapidly - two to three months is the absolute minimum I personally would wait for this and preferably four to six is better.

if you have any java fern/moss from another tank then add these to your hillstream tank that will let the maturing be done a lot faster, with the moss weight it down so it does'nt clog the filter up.
plus when you think the times right for adding some Gastro's or sewelia, just add a few at a time to let the tank balance itself out.

mick

Thanks Mick. Funnily enough the only plants I have put in are Java ferns and I'm constantly pruning Java moss out of my planted tank where it is growin wild. I'll get onto it right away and in 3 - 4 months I'll hopefully have the results to show everyone.

Bringing in live plants is a great way to introduce the microorganisms to the tank that will mature it faster. This is good. Still, a couple of months to really get the well seeded throughout the tank is a minimum, especially when the fish you want eat the microorganisms that are growing in the algae. The more you can get in there to start with the better.
You might also get some algae rocks started to rotate in and out of the tank as needed. Again, the longer they are growing the more assorted fish food will be growing on them.