Loacher in Plant? Safe with other fish?

eternal

eternal

Small Fish
#1
Jan 4, 2011
30
0
0
Banbury
#1
Evening all

Ive recenly bought a 54L tank and over the past few weeks started to inhabit it with a few tropical fish. Yesterday we filled the tank with a few guppys and neons. A with a new plant to fill the tank a little and add an extra oxygen and food source for the fish.

However it seems we had a stowaway in the plant, after a bit of research it seems to be a weather loacher :)confused:). We've seen it come out of the plany a couple of times, however was wondering whether it is ok to be in there with the above fish? It seems to be fairly large compared to the other fish, all 1-3 cm's long.

This morning we seem to be 2 fish down, one we have still not found and another was found floating upside down, still alive in the plant. (I have removed him in the tank into a small plastic container using the water from the tank and some more TapSafe, with some food to see if it may help the fish).

Just looking for some advice on the above please. I am pretty new to this and have been reading around the stickys and threads on this site. But thought if I post some people's experience may be able to help.

Thanks.

E
 

eternal

eternal

Small Fish
#2
Jan 4, 2011
30
0
0
Banbury
#2
I have also had fish in the tank for 1 week now. Them being the first lot of fish, should I wait longer than a week to do the first 25% water change or stick to the once per week change?

Thanks.
 

aakaakaak

aakaakaak

Superstar Fish
#5
Sep 9, 2010
1,324
0
0
Chesapeake, Virginia
#5
The loach, if it is a dojo loach (weather loach) and not a kuhli, can grow to around 8 inches long. If it's a kuhli it should be much smaller. Both of which should be okay in your tank. They're not live fish killers.

You should also be getting a liquid test kit so you can check your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. Any one of them going off the charts can kill your fish.
 

eternal

eternal

Small Fish
#8
Jan 4, 2011
30
0
0
Banbury
#8
Picked up the £30 kit and did the tests today. My pH is out of whack, so will be picking up a balancer kit over the weekend. Nitrites seemed a bit extreme too so will be sorting that out too! Fish seem to be happy enough now that i've cleaned out the excess food at the bottom of the tank, changed the water and started turning all the tank lights out over night now.

One question though, if and when I use the pH, nitrite fixes and amonia if I ever need to. Is it ok to do all at once? I.e. All in one day. Or should I do them seperately over a few days?

Cheers :)
 

eternal

eternal

Small Fish
#10
Jan 4, 2011
30
0
0
Banbury
#10
hey

pH was at 8.0 which I thought was a too high, but reading about it seems that the guppy and tetra I have in there are tollerate to that level. I thought I was going to have to get it to 7.0. What do you think?

I haven't put anything into the tank yet as speaking to the lady at my lfs, said it was best to let the tank cycle completey as all things in the tank will peak before dropping.
Do you think I should get some stuff to sort out the amonia / nitrites spike or let the filter do it's job?

Cheers :)
 

Artemis_Psyche

Artemis_Psyche

Medium Fish
#11
Dec 10, 2010
67
0
0
Fort St. John, BC Canada
#11
Honestly eternal I would just leave the ph as is, I myself have never played with the ph but from reading other posts on it, it sounds like a disaster resulting in mass fish deaths. I do my initial cycling with fish as well, usually I will start out with 2-3 fish and do 10-15% water changes every 2-3 days to keep the ammonia down, but someone more skilled might have a better strategy?
 

eternal

eternal

Small Fish
#12
Jan 4, 2011
30
0
0
Banbury
#12
Thanks Art, i've done a lot of research tonight. Leaving the pH seems to be the way to go :). I'll keep testing the water and keep an eye on all the other things, the tank is only 3-4weeks through cycle now and fish seem to be fine.

Eventually id like to get a Blue or Red Siamese Fighter in there and or a couple of aquatic frogs. But a fair bit of research to do before I get to that point :)
 

Artemis_Psyche

Artemis_Psyche

Medium Fish
#13
Dec 10, 2010
67
0
0
Fort St. John, BC Canada
#13
You're welcome! Yeah probably the way to go, and since cycling can take as little as 30 days you might almost be done anyways. Just keep on testing! Word of caution with the betta fish (siamese fighter), they can have some pretty different personalities from fish to fish. I've had some that are totally fine being a community fish and some that get that crap kicked out of them by the other fish. Lots of people say that they can be very aggressive to other fish, so there is that side too, especially since I think (?) you have guppies? The betta could think that the guppy is another male betta and get very aggressive with them. I think the main thing with bettas is that you always have to have another tank prepared to rehome them in case things don't work out! Good luck with your tank though and keep us posted!
 

eternal

eternal

Small Fish
#15
Jan 4, 2011
30
0
0
Banbury
#15
Great news :) Nitrite levels have come down to zero. Nitrates are well within safe, amonia has come down but still not zero (but weekly water changes should help with that now I think.) and pH has balanced at a constant 8.0, and fish seem to be fine.

I'll bare all that in mind about the betta. I do have a guppy, I know I wont be able to have them both in there as guppys tend to be fin nippers and thats the last thing I want! The betta with be my prize fish ;) Gonna check their fav water conditions in a bit.

My plant is looking a bit worse for ware right now though, a few 'leaves' going dark and torn off. Should I cut/trim these ones and remove them? If these parts of the plant are dying/decaying could they be contributing to the amonia? I dont know the name of the plant unfortunately, I asked for a recomendation of a staff member at the lfs.

Ive yet to have a fish swim though the skull, which was kind of the whole idea lol. So i've converted with a red light air stone. Its eyes now glow red and bubbles come out of them. Looks amazing in the dark. But with the lights on the guppy goes crazy for the bubbles!! Chasing the biggest ones up and down the tank, he's definately the most active of the fish in there.

As for the loach, he seems to only come out once in a blue moon. Seems pretty content living in his bush.

:)
 

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lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#17
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#17
eternal said:
My plant is looking a bit worse for ware right now though, a few 'leaves' going dark and torn off. Should I cut/trim these ones and remove them? If these parts of the plant are dying/decaying could they be contributing to the amonia? I dont know the name of the plant unfortunately, I asked for a recomendation of a staff member at the lfs.


:)
Click to expand...
Yup, cut off damaged leaves - they won't repair themselves, and the plant can put all it's energy into growing new ones; and yes, if you do have leaves decaying they will contribute to ammonia.
 

eternal

eternal

Small Fish
#20
Jan 4, 2011
30
0
0
Banbury
#20
Just completed a 10% water change. Now completing them weekly.

Have noticed that the skull ornament in the tank is now a browny/orangey/greeny colour. Im thinking algae as the guppy loves to kiss that skull! ;) (eating the algae). Just wanted your thoughts, ive attached a picture.

Ive also uploaded a picture of the plant OrangeCones. I've just trimmed the dead leaves now, we'll see how it goes.

Also on the filter nozzle (ive cleaned it now) was a black/brown skin in it. Time for a filter clean/change now you think?

Trimming my bush (lol) meant that the loacher that started this thread popped out to say hello, ive uploaded the pics of him too :)

Thanks for all your feedback.
 

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