Redecorating the loach tank - thoughts?

[JWhipple]

I'm wanting to redecorate one of my loach tanks. I want to stick with the natural look, w/ a mix of live and artificial plants, as well as a resin copy of a piece of driftwood.

I did this type of setup at one point before I knew LOL existed, and before I knew loaches required a much larger setup than the 20 gallon tank that I had, with 2 small 2" clown loaches , 2 kubatai, and 1 dojo.

The resin driftwood ornament I bought can be seen at the URL below, and fit perfectly into my 20 gallon tank, with only 1 inch clearance on either side:

HERE it is.

It has 2 large holes in it, but the way it's designed, those holes are UNDER the ornament. I figured that since they were hidden, they wouldn't be a problem. I was wrong - DEAD WRONG. They advertise it to be hollow, allowing hiding places - they should be advertising it as a watery grave!

I lost one of my clowns and my dojo to this thing. Yes, it looked VERY nice, but somehow both of them got up inside and couldn't figure out how to get out.. and of course, died in the process.

I found them only a day or two later, so the water was not fowled, but I was heartbroken! I had to throw the entire thing away because I couldn't get them out!

Because I really liked how it looked, I have since bought another for the 20 gallon after having moved my loaches out, but just to be safe, I "glued" some window screen material over the holes using aquarium sealant - worked well! Nobody has been inside!

Anyhow - with that bit of backround info.... here comes the questions...

I see that everyone says that Clowns, and of course other loaches, love to have hidey spots.

If I were to pick up another fake driftwood ornament (the one in the URL below is what I have in mind), and the holes to get inside are not ON THE BOTTOM without a way to get out on top (I still think that it was a stupid idea!), am I putting my fish in danger? Or should I have to "screen" the holes again?

I assume the loaches would come out to eat when they're hungry (boy that was a stupid comment!)?

Here's the one I am considering for the largest tank:

Something this size could potentially house all the loaches in the tank! Another concern would be - is there danger in all those fish being jammed into there should they all decide to make it into a Loach Motel?

[shari2]

ummm. The links both go to the same page...

[JWhipple]

Oops!

Try this one as the 2nd...
THIS is the one I am thinking about now...

[shari2]

JWhipple--I edited the links above so the page would not require scrolling back and forth. Hope you don't mind...
shari

yanno, after all the stories I've read about clowns/botia getting stuck in holes they've outgrown I don't think I'd get an ornament that has holes that aren't either expandable as they grow, or able to be sealed up.

Just my personal preference, don't want to have to tell one of those stories myself.
I like the pvc tubing that has been coated in silicone and rolled around in sand. The inside is smooth, the outside looks natural the clowns love the tubes. Now, don't ask me if I've actually gotten around to coating mine yet...

[Dave_2133]

Lets see a pic of how the tank is now then we can suggest other ways of laying it out. It all depends on how much you want to spend and how much you want to fill it, you need alot of swimming space for the clowns to dig about in.

I have a mixture of bogwood, real plants and a few pebbles. So it all depends on you taste and budget.

[wasserscheu]

on my future tank, I´m thinking of creating something like a creek at a bit higher than the bottom glass (1/2" sand with bebbles, some bebbles standing high, like a tunnel for loaches to hide in there...).

That creek should "flow" around some "pans" (= glued/made from acryl-sheets and covered somehow...) The pans should have the function of flower pots, and hold the sand for the plant-roots. Some of the "pans" should be standing on feet that evenly spread the weight (so the bottom glass does not crack, use a foam between feet/pan to avoid gravel get between plastik and glass - as the entire weight may get on one grain and so crack the glass...). Some feet so high that loaches can swim underneath the pan, or hide there. Some pans may also have pvc pipes pierced through them (and the entire substrate in the pan - look through).

So, there may be varoius high "pans" that are standing like islands, this way creating canyons.

Instead of only big wood pieces, I´m thinking additionally, of piling up a bunch of small wood to creat something of a "tent" ...

Sand kept as dark as I can get it, rounded grain. Using plants that open to the top and don´t cover the ground-space, but give shelter from light ...

The creek my be flooded directly on the ground with one of the pump outlets being positioned down at the ground, I´ll try this time more flow at the bottom, ...

I´m planning to cover some acryl parts or wood with cut open and flatened out moss-balls.

Some lava -rock may also be used to have plants grow on it - green reef idea... here some sample:

http://www.aquaristikimdetail.de/thread ... adid=11324

This site shows about thousand different tanks, to click on for viewing:

http://www.einrichtungsbeispiele.de


Wolfram