Beastije
Fish Addict
So, my attempts at keeping hillstream loaches (sewellia lineolata) failed. I waited three months after a quick setup and made a lot of algae growth before adding my first batch of 5 hillstreams. I lost two in 5 months, simply stopped seeing them, never found bodies. Bought two more in June, lost one visibly - found a body.
I played in the tank, did some moss rearranges, uprooted some plants that had root tabs under them (which could have been the cause for some deaths, we had other keepers here losing sewellia once they messed in a fertilized substrate). Since then I only have one. No bodies, no nothing, I did a full rearrange and found zero evidence, not even a bone.
Either I failed in the food provision or the oxygenation requirement. Most of the year the tank sits at 21C. The filter, atman 201 sponge filter, is at 75% flow capacity, creating heavy flow. During summer I had 25-25C for few weeks, during which I pointed the filter output at the surface to provide better agitation.
Options I have now: exchange my atman for eheim 2213 extrnal filter for more flow and maybe more oxygenation. Buy an airpump and aircurtain/airstone. Obtain some pipes and hide them on the right side of the tank, maybe a shrimp pipe tower of some sorts. Try a different loach species than sewellia lineolata. Try a different species of fish.
Tank parameters - 110x40x45cm, pH 7, soft water. 7x garra flavatra (panda garra), 35x white cloud minnow, one remaining female sewellia loach. Multiple caves, nooks, hidey holes, including whole back of the tank which is covered in 15 cm large moss wall. Regarding the food I feed mostly frozen, bbs, cyclops, daphnia, bloodworms no more than once a week, mosquito larvae, live bbs, microworms. Fluval bugbites, dennerle shrimp king. I have algae pellets and recently bought repashy super green. I also will provide a vegetable once a week like zuchinni, pea, green beans,...
Thank you for any advice. I love the loaches, but dont want to risk them in case they wont pan out again. It is not fair to them. When I had the loaches they would mostly sit on the front of the glass, next to the garras, on some stones, grazing. Mostly not hiding at all, very outgoing. Not one of them spent any time on or near the filter or its output either.
I played in the tank, did some moss rearranges, uprooted some plants that had root tabs under them (which could have been the cause for some deaths, we had other keepers here losing sewellia once they messed in a fertilized substrate). Since then I only have one. No bodies, no nothing, I did a full rearrange and found zero evidence, not even a bone.
Either I failed in the food provision or the oxygenation requirement. Most of the year the tank sits at 21C. The filter, atman 201 sponge filter, is at 75% flow capacity, creating heavy flow. During summer I had 25-25C for few weeks, during which I pointed the filter output at the surface to provide better agitation.
Options I have now: exchange my atman for eheim 2213 extrnal filter for more flow and maybe more oxygenation. Buy an airpump and aircurtain/airstone. Obtain some pipes and hide them on the right side of the tank, maybe a shrimp pipe tower of some sorts. Try a different loach species than sewellia lineolata. Try a different species of fish.
Tank parameters - 110x40x45cm, pH 7, soft water. 7x garra flavatra (panda garra), 35x white cloud minnow, one remaining female sewellia loach. Multiple caves, nooks, hidey holes, including whole back of the tank which is covered in 15 cm large moss wall. Regarding the food I feed mostly frozen, bbs, cyclops, daphnia, bloodworms no more than once a week, mosquito larvae, live bbs, microworms. Fluval bugbites, dennerle shrimp king. I have algae pellets and recently bought repashy super green. I also will provide a vegetable once a week like zuchinni, pea, green beans,...
Thank you for any advice. I love the loaches, but dont want to risk them in case they wont pan out again. It is not fair to them. When I had the loaches they would mostly sit on the front of the glass, next to the garras, on some stones, grazing. Mostly not hiding at all, very outgoing. Not one of them spent any time on or near the filter or its output either.
