New Weather Loach - Help & Advise Needed!!!

[kingswfc]

Just got myself a tank, and come across the weather loach (love them). Got one loach as the pet shop said you have to put them in gradually - one each week into a new tank??? From putting the little guy in (9 hours ago) I haven't seen him swimming around at all. I have seen him once under the gravel with only his eyes peering through. Now I can't even see him at all. I don't want to put my hand in as I don't want to upset him. I have some bogwood placed central in the tank so I'm hoping he is under that, but not trapped??

Also I havent fed him, obviously if I can't see him / he's not hungry don't want the food to go off in the tank.

Can anyone please advise if this is normal behavior from a new weather loach. Very new to fish keeping!

Thanks.

[Martin Thoene]

Read, digest and most of your questions should be answered.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/we ... licaudatus

http://www.loaches.com/articles/weather-report

Martin.

[Diana]

Sounds like this is not a cycled tank.

Fish create waste of several sorts, but ammonia is the one that is of greatest concern.
In nature, and in an established aquarium there are beneficial bacteria that remove the ammonia and turn it into nitrite, then other bacteria that remove the nitrite and turn it into nitrate.

Both ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish.

Return the fish to the store and properly cycle the tank; grow the beneficial bacteria before adding the fish. Do not force the fish to live through the toxic stages of growing the bacteria.

Print this out and give it to the store, too. Make sure they know that cycling with fish is no longer the preferred method of growing beneficial bacteria. About 10-15 years ago some people figured out a better way to raise a big population of nitrifying bacteria without exposing fish to the toxic effects of ammonia and nitrite.

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=16737

There are a few products available to help with the cycle. Read the label. The CORRECT active ingredients are Nitrospiros bacteria. Tetra Safe Start and Dr. Tim's One and Only are two products that have the correct bacteria. All the other 'bacteria in a bottle' products do not have the proper species of bacteria. Do not waste your money on them.
I know Tetra Safe Start is available in the UK; it was marketed there before it was available on this side of the pond.

[Pywakyt]

Before I joind this forum I had 1 dojo loach aka weather loach. I posted that my 1 dojo would hide for MONTHS at a time. I was advised that he needed mates so I went out and bought 5 more and PRESTO he came out of hiding and has loved his mates ever since. I have since lost 2 one to an over zealous red finned shark that i have since got rid of and the 2nd to filling my tank to full and not closing the lid before I went out of town for a few days I came back to find the poor thing stuck on the outside rim of the tank >< I cried I felt awfull about it. I have also since adopted a new VERY tiny one maybe 2 inchs long with some sort of spine disorder he looks like an S he doesnt really play with the others and they tend to leave him alone but I'd rather him die in a big friendly tank then a barren sick tank in a back room. Anyway my point is maybe he just needs some mates. Good luck.

[kingswfc]

Thanks for your quick response guys. I woke this morning to find him swimming around the tank Guessing he just needed to get used to his new surroundings. The pet shop gave me floating goldfish pellets, I haven't seen him swim to the top yet. I am soaking the pellets first and squeezing them so they sink to the bottom... Is that ok, should I try to remove any uneaten food or will he eventually clear it up?

How long would you recommend before buying another loach. My tank isn't the largest so worry there isn't enough floor space for another?

Thanks again

[Sharkscott2]

I'm assuming this tank isn't cycled. Do regular water tests for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Once you see your nitrate is growing and your ammonia and nitrite are steadily at 0. Then add another fish. During the process of cycling the tank I'd only feed your fish every other day or every third day.

How many gallons is this tank? These loaches can grow large.

I have a 55 gallon planted tank with 3 weather loaches, some odessa barbs, and some blood fin tetras.

My loaches don't hide but they aren't terribly active. For the most part they do lounge around boldly out in the open, sometimes in very odd positions. The exception to this rule is when my hand is in the tank, then 2 of the 3 go nuts exploring it. These two will go to the surface for food, their tails swinging wildly shooing the tetras away, but the third only takes food from the bottom.

I feed mine a mix of regular and veggie Omeag one flakes. But once a week they get frozen brine shrimp or frozen blood worms.

[kingswfc]

I got the tank up and running and left for a week with no fish. I also used Nutrafin Cycle which states fish can be introduced immediately. Obviously I didn't do this as the pet shop said I have to wait a week and from then on introduce fish one at a time week by week.

I know you will probably slate me for this, but the tank is about 30 litre (7ish Gallon). The pet shop said it would be fine as long as when the loach grew (maybe a year or so) I release it into my pond, or take it back and swap for another small one. I'm hoping by that time I will have more knowledge on fish keeping and have a much bigger tank.

I have had a pond for over 5 years and kept kois, ghosties, and tench with no problem at all. Would it be ok to put the loach into a pond when it out grows the tank??

I returned to the pet shop today and mentioned that I was worried the loach wasn't eating. They gave me some blood worm and told me to empty the whole bag into the tank. The un-eaten bloodworm would then live in the gravel and be eaten when the loach was hungry.

Appreciate all the advice!!!

[Sharkscott2]

I know of a guy in a local club who keeps these loaches in a pond in Virginia. I'm not sure what ghosties and tenches are. But assuming the loaches are large enough, or the Koi small enough that the loaches don't get eaten that shouldn't be a problem.

A 7 gallon tank is way way too small for one of these for long. One of mine seems to be staying small or growing very slowly but the other two have gone from 3 inches to 6 inches in about 6 months. And I don't feed any of my fish daily. I sometimes question if my 55 gallon is too small for 3 of them. A better, similar choice, for that kind of tank would be a few Kuhli loaches. They are still eel like but stay smaller, they would require warmer water though.

If the loach you have keeps growing and you want to keep him indoors I'd recommend a 29 gallon or larger home for him/her.

[Diana]

A 7 gallon is really only large enough for a month or so while the fish is in quarantine, and being treated for possible parasites. There is NO WAY that a second or third Weather Loach will fit in such a tank, even when they are relatively small.

I sure would not trust this shop for advise!

"Floating Goldfish Food" ... for a BOTTOM feeding fish!?
Goldfish food is often high in grains or fish meal, which are not good quality ingredients for fish that prefers worms, shrimp, snails and other bottom living foods.
Then selling you live worms and suggesting that they will live in the tank. The worms probably will live in the tank, but they need to be fed, and will contribute waste to the water and the ammonia will build up even faster to highly toxic levels.

Fish-in cycle with any living creature (at this point fish and worms)

Suggesting that you add fish without the hint that you need to test the water to be sure that any ammonia or nitrite spikes from the previous fish are gone

"Let it sit for a week" is how to get it ready for fish
Nitrifying bacteria need food (ammonia) to grow, not just a box of water, and it takes about 3 weeks to grow a proper population of nitrifying bacteria to be sure the aquarium is safe for the fish.

Nutrifin Cycle has been re-formulated, but from the label I have seen it still does not have the proper species of nitrifying bacteria.
(I tried to link www.Hagen.com the company that makes Cycle, but cannot right now)
Here is the research backing up my comments about the proper species of nitrifying bacteria, and my warning not to waste your money on other products:
http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/Library_P ... apers.html

About the only thing they may have even half right is that a mature Weather Loach can live in a private pond with small pond fish such as Goldfish (which grow to about a foot long). I would caution about several things:
If the tank (well, pond-) mates are larger (Koi), or the Loach is smaller then this is not so good. When there is too much size discrepancy the larger fish can eat the smaller.
If your pond is in ANY way connected to natural water ways this is not a good idea. These Loaches are very good at finding their way into other bodies of water with just a little bit of a connection. For example, if your pond has an overflow that drains to a local river or lake the Loach can escape this way.