Loach Tank Update: Sand Addition Pics

[LoachOrgy]

Ok so we named all of them. I finally figured out a decent setting and angle on this camera to get a few better shots than the older shots i have taken. These guys are always camera shy. I think the red focus light on the camera startles the loaches a bit.
I am placing them all in pecking order as I think it is from observation. A few of the smaller loaches I would say are tied bc I see them regularly eating side by side without pushing eachother away.

This is the alpha loach. Double O Loachy. This is an older picture. The loaches are in their own tank. The comet is in a pond now. Double O is about 5". I have had Double O for more than 2 yrs.


This is Julius. Julius is 2nd in command but he is almost equal to Vincent. They have been buddies since they were babies. I have had the twins for about 1.5 yrs. I am beginning to think that Double O Loach and Vincent are in love. The more I watch them at night the more I see these two play with eacother consistently. It used to be the opposite. The twins were always together and almost equivelant size. Now I can finally tell the difference between Vincent and Julius.


This is Vincent. Vincent has an orange spot on the top fin. Today is the first time I have noticed the orange colored spot. Vincent is also now slightly smaller than Julius.


George is like the alpha loach of the smaller loaches. He hangs with the older loaches more after midnight. The other loaches stay sleeping away. George is more curious and outgoing than the other loaches. He goes crazy for bloodworms. I tend to see him competing with the larger loaches and pushing them out of the way for pecking even though he is half their size. He doesn't so much shadow the larger loaches but just kinda hangs around them during feeding time. But George also hangs with the baby loaches during the day. So George is the one that is always out and about. George seems to have the most colorful fins of the rest of the loaches. George has a bit more reds and brighter color oranges than the other loaches.


There is a tie in pecking order for these two. They are always together tearing up the cucumber. These two don't ever stay very far away from eachother and if one is out then both are usually out. I put Spot in front of flipper bc spot is the bravest of all the loaches. This loach isn't afraid of anything. I can put my face right in front of Spot and the loach will not budge. Spot has a spot on the top fin that is where the name came from.


This is flipper. Flipper looks like a dolphin to me. I wish I had a better angle on this picture but this is the best I could get.

Scronny Loach is a scrapper. This loach has odd colors compared to the others. The pictures don't really show the colors but There are darker splotches all over.



The smallest Runt Loach is impossible to take a picture of. This loach shadows the big loach only at 6-7am and doesn't come out much more than that. Unless there is shrimp. This loach almost hides behind Double O. It almost looks like Runt is Double O loaches baby or something.





Here is a pic of the loach sharing the algae disc with the cherry barb.


more sharing or should we call it fighting?


This is one of the twins either julius or vincent eating a hikari disc.


fighting over the wafer

Smiling for the camera


Last but not least. Peeking around the corner to see where I am....



I actually don't know any of the sexes of the loaches so if I say he or she it is just to make explanation easier.

[Emma Turner]

L.O., your loaches will thank you if you change the substrate over to a more natural colour and something not so sharp-looking - you run the risk of barbel erosion keeping them on something like that. A better choice would be aquarium sand or a finer rounder (natural coloured) gravel that is smoother to the touch. They look like nice loaches, and you want to keep them that way. The gravel could be changed a bit at a time (say 1/3 of the tank at a time) and replaced with pre-rinsed sand or natural gravel.

Emma

[MTS]

That's it, I'm getting glasses. I can't tell my loaches apart enough to name them.

Nice pictures, thank you for sharing them.

[LoachOrgy]

With the new tank I am going with a more natural substrate. I figure its easier to change an entire tank rather than flood them out with gravel right now. Although I am still saving money for the tank and supplies so it may be a few months before I can actually change. Not to mention cycling it. If you guys think this is a good idea I may go pickup some gravel at the store soon. I was thinking about half the size of the gravel now and a bit more rounded.

This tank was setup before I knew much about loaches so it is still in the conversion stages. I have had my alpha on this gravel for two years and the barbels are fine. Most of the time I find they pick the entire pieces of gravel up in there mouth and throw them. The loaches dig quite a bit and I havn't noticed any injured barbels. I did notice some an injury on one of my albino corys in the other tank. I am probably going with some really rounded river stone along with smaller rounded pebbles with a more natural appearance. I like the idea of a mix of gravel sizes like I see in your tank Emma and Martins and some others.

Lately I have noticed that they are much more playful and being themselves once again. Now even in the daylight they won't run away as much. I find now all of them are out at the same time in the mornings and afternoons. They really love the hikari wafers.

Emma, I was worried about adding pebbles. Would fine sand added like you said above be ok or would it really cloud the water? I was just worried about the gravel changing the chemistry of the tank.

If I add gravel that gives me a new project since I have nothing going on at the moment so I don't mind. I know the green corys seem to love that color. It really blends in with their colors.

Will adding sand keep most of the debris from accumilating at the bottom of the gravel? I have to vaccum quite a bit bigger chunks of things even with the powerjet filter.

I am not worried about the plants bc the loaches generally dig them up so I don't think the root systems of the plants are that large. Basically java fern and anubias fern.

Lol, most of mine have distinct differences MTS....like a spot or a red fin or things like that. I just spend alot of time staring at them.

[Icewall42]

Beautiful fish! I hope to get shots of mine, maybe with some video since my cameras aren't all that good. I really want a shot of my biggest guy with an algae disc because he carries it around like a dog with a frisbee. It's also funny to see them eating the sand and filtering out their gills.

I only have three clowns, Fornax and Orion (the married couple) and little Fafnir, the most energetic, chubby little clown ever lol.

Clowns are so adorable. I want more, but need a bigger tank.

[joitoy]

I'm a complete newb to having a tank over 10 gallons and when I changed over my 75 gallon tank to sand I was done in 3 days and my fish never suffered for it, I had no ammonia or chemistry changes whatsoever.


Someone here or on another board, I can't recall which, gave me the tip to wash my sand, then use a disposable or measuring cup to scoop it up, then gently lower it into the tank one cup at a time until you reach the bottom, then allow it to spill onto the aquarium floor. You have to turn the filters off to do this and stop all current. I worked for about fifteen minutes and as soon as it looked like my aquarium water was clouding, I stopped for 6 hours. I turned the filters back on a half hour later when the sand water completely settled. After the six hours was up, I did about 15 pounds more and took a break until the next day.

I never see any feces and buildup on my sand. ever. Rarely I see dojo loach feces but only after it was just placed, a half hour later i can come with plans to remove it and it'll be gone. I wish I could explain where its going but I suspect the cories are hiding it.

[shari2]

I'd bet on the snails. They'll ingest it...yuk, I know.

[LoachOrgy]

great thanks for the responses. I think you answered my questions joi. I will give it a try. During my lunch break I visited the lfs and saw some gravel I may pickup. It was pricey about 20$ for 10lbs of rounded stone. I will give petsmart a look after work and decide.

[loachmom]

Enjoyed your pictures, LO.

My loaches pick up gravel and throw it, too. They dig nice holes.

[LoachOrgy]

I made a myspace for my loaches lol. i put the music on the page from the band reel big fish lol...


Does anyone know where I would find local sandblasting sand? I contacted on local silicate store but I didn't find anything else local yet. I am still looking.

[loachmom]

I made a myspace for my loaches lol. i put the music on the page from the band reel big fish lol...


Does anyone know where I would find local sandblasting sand? I contacted on local silicate store but I didn't find anything else local yet. I am still looking.

Is is possible that an autobody shop might know where you could get some? Don't they do sand-blasting?

[Fear_The_Loach]

Nice fish, sorta reminds me of my tank, lava rock and all. My gravel is a darkish blue and seems to have a lot of simmilar fish in it.

[LoachOrgy]

I picked up some tank sand and large river rocks. I was feeling the heat, so I had to change the gravel. Gives me something to do this weekend. I bought some fine white sand. The brand is called Super Naturals. I am going to rinse it and get to changing the sand. We looked for smaller more rounded gravel but big als was out of the texture we liked. We went to superwalmart but they didn't have much. Tommorow I may hit petsmart and petco. We found some really nice larger rounded stones at walmart in the vase section. We found some before at Target that we have been using in the tetra tank. This time the rocks had some nice variations in colors and such so we picked up quite a bit of them. If we don't use them we can use them for the bonsai trees. We are also going to mix a brown color smaller gravel on top of the sand for color variation. just a sprinkle here and there. Hopefully it will turnout right. I think with the darker background it will look sharp!



This is so hillarious. I caught Double O Loach in the spot!


I also caught Runt Loach finally! Runt loach only comes out really early in the morning. Recently runt has been coming out for the wafers daily. Usually runt is shadowing the alpha so much that I can barely see the small guy right next to the larger loach. The loach almost hides. The loach also sleeps in a very tight spot and stays there around 90% of the day. I am not sure what to do about this. Emma said this loach may be stunted. Even the new smaller loaches are now larger than this one. Hes playful and healthy and even interacts with all the loaches as of recently. I have been looking at tanks for a few weeks now just trying to figure out what size, type, price I can afford.


There were actually two other loaches inside this house including the two in this picture. When the big one pulled its head out the two smaller ones were stuck right after. It was hard to catch this photo.


So I finally figured out how to get all my loaches to dance and come out whenever I want. All I have to do is breakup a few hikari algae wafers and they are out in less than two mins.



I think this is flipper, this one likes playing hide and seek


Here is a better picture of the orange colored spot on one of the twins as my gf and I call them. One is slightly larger now so we named them after twins the movie.

[Ippo456]

Your loaches are beautifully coloured!!!!
The Runt Loach's round black spot is cute!
Nice pictures & lots of hiding places for them.

[Emma Turner]

Excellent, LO. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics after you've changed over the substrate.

Don't worry too much about the Runt loach - as long as you give him a good spacious home, he'll do fine along with the bigger ones. I have a couple of stunted clowns in my tank that I have rehomed for people. One is particularly small (compared to the others) at about 3" and has never grown since we took him on. He came to us with a group of 7 loaches that we rehomed (the rest were all larger) but because they had all been together for so long, there was no way I was going to separate this little one. He often sleeps against the front glass, we joke that the bigger ones put him on 'guard duty' out there.

Emma