Hi, I'm new to keeping fish and whilst I am getting my aquarium ready I have been looking an what fish I would like to keep. I loved the little baby clown loaches but have since discovered they grow slightly bigger than the man in the shop said! Thankfully I didn't buy any as I just don't have to room to give them the space they need.
Currently I have a small 60l aquarium but in the next few months I am looking to get one around 250l. Unfortunately I live in a hard water area (according to water companies website). Tap water pH is about 7.2.
Are there any loaches I could keep when I get the bigger tank? I don't want to get some if they will be unhappy and for obvious reasons I now don't trust the fish shop!
Advice needed.
Moderator: LoachForumModerators
-
Marcos Mataratzis
- Posts: 561
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:18 pm
- Location: Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
- Contact:
Wellcome to LOL Aliena,
pH=7.2 is not so bad for most loaches. You said you have a hard water but did not say values. Most Loaches will do fine in waters having global hardness bellow 12 DH. You may want to buy a Global Hardness kit at your local fish shop and test your water Hardness.
250 liter is fair enough room for a school of 5 Loaches of most species, even Clown Loaches. Yes... they can grow up to 14", maybe more, but they will do that in not less than 15 years or so. If you do plan to have a bigger tank in the next five years or so than you may want the Clown Loaches as well.
Otherwise, you may choose other Loaches like kubotai, striata, YoYo, sidthimunki and so on. Most of that does not get bigger than 5".
pH=7.2 is not so bad for most loaches. You said you have a hard water but did not say values. Most Loaches will do fine in waters having global hardness bellow 12 DH. You may want to buy a Global Hardness kit at your local fish shop and test your water Hardness.
250 liter is fair enough room for a school of 5 Loaches of most species, even Clown Loaches. Yes... they can grow up to 14", maybe more, but they will do that in not less than 15 years or so. If you do plan to have a bigger tank in the next five years or so than you may want the Clown Loaches as well.
Otherwise, you may choose other Loaches like kubotai, striata, YoYo, sidthimunki and so on. Most of that does not get bigger than 5".60 liters is rather small as far as Loaches go, only the smallest species would be OK in this tank permanently.
250 liters is a lot better, though not really big enough for several full grown CLown Loaches. Fine for the Loaches that reach about 4-6", though.
In the smaller tank you could try some Kuhlie Loaches, or if you want to set up a special tank, a few Hillstream Loaches can work. Other small ones like Schisturas and their relatives might work, but read the descritpions very carefully. Some are rather pushy, and this tank may not have enough acreage for them to get out of the way of a really pushy one.
Good fish for the larger tank include many of the mid-sized Loaches such as Kubotai, Zebras, Yoyos and many more.
Might be easiest to find out which ones are available to you and research those species.
Choose one, then look for compatible tank mates such as Tetras, Barbs, Rasboras or others for the upper tank area.
You will want to look into water temperature, water movement as well as water chemistry.
pH is not a measurement of hardness in the water.
Do you know what the General Hardness (GH) is? Carbonate Hardness (KH)? Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)?
Most Loaches prefer a relatively low GH, KH more or less about the same as the GH, and slightly acidic to neutral pH, but each species is different, some can thrive at a wider range of conditions, some are more particular. So do the research. Great info here about whatever Loaches your local stores carry.
250 liters is a lot better, though not really big enough for several full grown CLown Loaches. Fine for the Loaches that reach about 4-6", though.
In the smaller tank you could try some Kuhlie Loaches, or if you want to set up a special tank, a few Hillstream Loaches can work. Other small ones like Schisturas and their relatives might work, but read the descritpions very carefully. Some are rather pushy, and this tank may not have enough acreage for them to get out of the way of a really pushy one.
Good fish for the larger tank include many of the mid-sized Loaches such as Kubotai, Zebras, Yoyos and many more.
Might be easiest to find out which ones are available to you and research those species.
Choose one, then look for compatible tank mates such as Tetras, Barbs, Rasboras or others for the upper tank area.
You will want to look into water temperature, water movement as well as water chemistry.
pH is not a measurement of hardness in the water.
Do you know what the General Hardness (GH) is? Carbonate Hardness (KH)? Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)?
Most Loaches prefer a relatively low GH, KH more or less about the same as the GH, and slightly acidic to neutral pH, but each species is different, some can thrive at a wider range of conditions, some are more particular. So do the research. Great info here about whatever Loaches your local stores carry.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.
Happy fish keeping!
Happy fish keeping!
Thanks for the advice, I will get a kit to test the water to be sure of the hardness. The water company website says 11.9 which is close to the top end of what most seem to be happy with.
I don't want to put loaches into my 60l tank, I think it is too small. I am waiting until I get the larger tank. I think clown loaches will have to stay at the shop though. My other half has said no way to a six foot tank!
I don't want to put loaches into my 60l tank, I think it is too small. I am waiting until I get the larger tank. I think clown loaches will have to stay at the shop though. My other half has said no way to a six foot tank!
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot] and 238 guests