Alien Anna
Fish Gatherer
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2002
- Messages
- 2,087
- Reaction score
- 2
Hi,
my third pygmy chain loach has vanished (for good, I assume) but the other two are doing great.
My completely snail-infested tank now only has a few visible snails and my loaches have been hunting them at a fantastic rate. They've grown about 2mm in width and length in a week - they can no longer hide inside the filter column (too fat). I can't believe how much such little fish can eat. Watching them "stalk" the snails is hysterical - and the way they suck the snails right out of their shells is gross to fascinating. I keep finding empty snail shells floating on the surface.
They are extremely active and one is now very tame. The other hides whenever I come near the tank but he's getting braver. I want to try to make up the school but as you know, they're hard to get hold of and rather expensive. I have my suspicions about the missing loach - he was very small, a baby really, and very thin. In the part of the tank I last saw him is a very large pearl gourami. It was an awful thought, but I saw Grrrr the Gourami eating a brine shrimp today and his mouth is very large when fully open. Plus, he hasn't seemed at all hungry for a week, which isn't like him normally. It could have happened like that: "Gulp!" and 8 quid's worth of rare fish gone in a moment
Next time I introduce small fish to the tank, Grrr's in the breeding net until they've had a chance to hide.
my third pygmy chain loach has vanished (for good, I assume) but the other two are doing great.
My completely snail-infested tank now only has a few visible snails and my loaches have been hunting them at a fantastic rate. They've grown about 2mm in width and length in a week - they can no longer hide inside the filter column (too fat). I can't believe how much such little fish can eat. Watching them "stalk" the snails is hysterical - and the way they suck the snails right out of their shells is gross to fascinating. I keep finding empty snail shells floating on the surface.
They are extremely active and one is now very tame. The other hides whenever I come near the tank but he's getting braver. I want to try to make up the school but as you know, they're hard to get hold of and rather expensive. I have my suspicions about the missing loach - he was very small, a baby really, and very thin. In the part of the tank I last saw him is a very large pearl gourami. It was an awful thought, but I saw Grrrr the Gourami eating a brine shrimp today and his mouth is very large when fully open. Plus, he hasn't seemed at all hungry for a week, which isn't like him normally. It could have happened like that: "Gulp!" and 8 quid's worth of rare fish gone in a moment
Next time I introduce small fish to the tank, Grrr's in the breeding net until they've had a chance to hide.
