Loaches Online Forum

Hi everybody,

I have been planning on upgrading my current 72 gallon loach tank for a while, and finally - my upgrade arrived! 225 gallon with 72X36 inches footprint. I currently have 7 clown loaches, 9 torpedo barbs, bushinose plecos and 1 weather loach. The plan is to move clown loaches, barbs and some plecos to new tank and keep weather loach with 7 new friends (who are currently in Q-tank) in cooler 72 gallon tank.

225 gallon:
Substrate: mostly sand with fluorite gravel areas for plants (sand is either pool filter sand or eco complete sunset gold)
Décor: driftwood, rocks
Plants(wishful thinking): anubias, ferns, mother sword, vals
Filtration: internal wet/dry + Eheim 3e(2078); Eheim has been running on my existing tank for over a month
Additional flow: Koralia 1400/1500 x 2 + 2 Marineland Maxi jet 295
Planning to set up all Eheim spraybar and all powerheads on the left side for one direction flow.
Fish move date will depend on how quickly new fish tank cycles


72 gallon:
Keep second Eheim + Emperor HOB running as is
Replace current fluorite gravel with sand (leave some gravel areas for plants)
Keep Marineland 295 powerhead
Once clown loaches moved to new home, slowly lower temperature to acclimate existing weather loach and couple plecos
Move new weather loaches from Q-tank (currently keep at 74F similar to the tank they arrived from)
Select dither fish for weather loach tank

I am very new to sand as substrate, so any advice on sand selection is appreciated. I like the look of sunset gold eco complete, but not sure if I can achieve the same look with the pool sand. I am going to have a "field trip" to check pool sand out. I've tried silica sand before, but it turned very gray unattractive color.

Also, new weather loaches have been in Q-tank for almost a week and they appear to be very active, hungry and silly. Would you recommend treating them with anything? Or should I just keep them with no medication and observe? I have medicated flakes from AngelsPlus available.


I appreciate any comments, suggestions or advice... Thanks in advance for your help!

Awesome tank! Where are you located? If you live in the USA, Leslies Pool Supply is good place to get sand.

Thanks chefkeith,

I am in Connecticut (haven't figured out yet how to add my location to the profile ). I just checked that we have Leslies Pool Supply right around the corner. I am going to go check it out tomorrow.

Wow, sounds great! I'd skip the sword, my clowns loved to punch holes in them. And if I didn't feed romaine 2 or 3 times a week they did even more damage.

Hi NancyD, totally agree regarding swords, I think I managed to salvage existing sword by regular supplementation with cucumbers, zucchini and some lettuce.

I have added new post for dealing with ich while moving (not moving) loaches.
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=24929
I appreciate any comments here as well. Thanks1

Congratulations on your excellent plans.

I hope you and your fish will be very happy with the results.

I look forward to hearing from you in future.

It's great to hear of people willing and able to provide such good husbandry.

Thank you, redshark1, for kind words! My loaches and I have been looking forward to this upgrade for a while. And, I will be posting pictures as soon as there are any visible changes. We are temporarily on hold with the move until ich issues are resolved. But, on the bright side, new tank is moving along... Test bag of pool filter sand is in (thanks, chefkeith, for Leslie's recommendation ), 2 powerheads installed to help with water movement/air, and fishless cycle is kicked off.

Not the best quality, but one of my favorite shots of loaches enjoying extra flow from MaxiJet + newly added Koralia:
And, my girl chilling:

Well, long waited move finally happened! Everybody is doing well so far and adjusting to new surroundings.
220 Clown Loach Tank: (Hoover + Spot)
7 clown loaches, 9 torpedo barbs, Pair of bushinose plecos.

72 Weather Loach Tank:
9 weather loaches, 2 plecos (+ dozen of white clouds to be added)

I am planning on adding more clown loaches over time and possibly some rainbows. Any ideas on what other mid-level fish might do well with clowns?

Thanks for looking!

Both your tanks look great! Many barbs do well in lower temps as do most danio species. I wanted to keep denisonii barbs with either clown loaches or discus but decided they'd prefer lower temps to live longer...it can be a trade off mixing fish that like different temps, not a good compromise most times...

I love the look of the stand on which the 225g is sitting! Also, I have never come across a tank with those dimensions (the ones I have seen are generally very tall, while your seems easier to manage, height-wise!), did you have it custom-made? I bet the loaches are in their glory

Hi Solo,

Yes, it is a custom made tank that was built for a display, and I just happened to come across it. I liked dimensions and unique stand... Oh, all the things we do for loaches (and pets in general) Speaking, of loaches, they are adjusting to the new home well, still shy around feeding time, but I see them a little more every day. I also can judge their confidence by number of uprooted anubias I get every day.

Here is the whole gang swimming together...

Recently i bought a bigger tank for my fishes and bought some natural carpet and other items such as stones. fake bushes etc for decorating it from inside. I want to decorate it to look absolute ocean view.