Visit to Emma & Steve's Aquatic Store.

[NancyD]

Wow! Incredible store Emma!

[avant]

Thank you Daryl! That is actually quite an old picture of the 8ft tank, it looks even better now. Many more big mother-plants & large bogwood pieces - it's a real loachy haven! There are Clowns, Botia kubotai, Botia dario, Botia striata & Botia histrionica in there. One of the histrionicas is huge, as are a couple of the striatas. Will have to try and get some more up-to-date pics done.

Emma

We are all eagerly looking forward to them

By the way, are those bamboo hollow and with holes to let the clown loaches swim into them? It reminded me of how those fish farmers catch them in Indonesia (if I remembered correctly). They stuck hollow bamboo shoots into the water and wait for the loaches to swim into them (typical clown loach behaviour to squeeze into tight spaces). They will then take out the bamboo along with the clown loaches in them and shake them out into a container. Supposedly less harm done than using nets as they are more likely to get stuck in nets due to their spines.

[Emma Turner]

By the way, are those bamboo hollow and with holes to let the clown loaches swim into them? It reminded me of how those fish farmers catch them in Indonesia (if I remembered correctly). They stuck hollow bamboo shoots into the water and wait for the loaches to swim into them (typical clown loach behaviour to squeeze into tight spaces). They will then take out the bamboo along with the clown loaches in them and shake them out into a container. Supposedly less harm done than using nets as they are more likely to get stuck in nets due to their spines.

The bottoms of the large upright pieces of bamboo are fixed to big pieces of slate with a sort of 2-part aquarium safe putty (that you knead together and have a few mins to work with before it sets). This helps to keep the bamboo stable, makes sure it sinks, not to mention keeps the loaches from getting inside! It also meant that I could 'angle' the pieces slightly, so that they didn't have to be completely vertical. Most of the tops of these pieces are filled with sand/gravel (at least up to the next dividing piece inside the bamboo - sorry I don't know what else to call that!) and then planted up, so that the loaches can't get in at the top either. The plants also look very nice growing out of the bamboo. There are a couple of shorter bits of these large-sized bamboo pieces that I have sawn the middle dividing bits out of so that they are completely hollow, and again stuck them with the putty onto bits of slate. These ones I stuck down horizontally, and the loaches love lazing about inside these! I will have to replace some of it at some point as it does gradually rot down under water. I'd say those pieces have been in there for well over 3 years now though.
Anyway, here is another (old) picture of the Clown Loaches resting vertically between the big upright pieces of bamboo. It seems that they think they are hidden from view, but they obviously aren't! A few more Clowns have been added since this was taken, and they all still do this together. It always looks pretty amusing :



Emma

[Jim Powers]

Your store is even more impressive than I had expected, Emma!!!
I wish I lived closer.