20L has been upgraded to a 55g

[Laeris]

If you zoom in, everything is coated with brown yuck Those plants are supposed to be pink, red and bright green. I'll see about a better pic when I get home. Just got done picking up Osmo+, air stones, 1" pipe, more black sand, more black kuhlis for current black kuhli and a larger net. Gonna practice my two net fu tonight.

Depending on how I feel, I may be whip stitching some moss on ss mesh for that right back corner.

 

[Laeris]

These are AFTER vacuuming and dirtying an entire roll of quilt batting.

 

[Laeris]

....well then.


Seems I didn't get dojo loaches. I got terrier loaches digging up my garden!! ? I didn't think it was like THAT. Ok, a little digging. No biggie. Until they realize there's fun dirt below the sand and keep going! No wonder we can't keep up. ? This is going to be hilarious later.

 

[fish wrangler]

Lmao!!!

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[Fresh2o]

Are the loaches going to be re-homed? I figure they would reek havoc on any new planted smallish plants. I used toothpicks to hold some plants down (feisty MTS).
I have a terrier (a white one at that) so I completely understand the loach behavior description.


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[Laeris]

Oh, no. The way I have it planted gives them plenty open space to dig in, and they are using that space. It's where I drop their food. They haven't uprooted anything except marislea minutia, which pops up if you look at it from the wrong angle too hard if it isn't buried good and deep and a japonica that I had the nerve to plant in their run.

So long as I don't plant anything in the spaces they've designated as their territory (the inch or two in front of the glass), we're fine. Else they fix it for me. I brought them home, I gave them that tank to live in, I'll work around them.

When I was pulling up the marislea, one played in my fingers and nibbled my thumb. Dunno if that was affection, play or "leave my stuff alone!".

They like digging so much, I might tweezer/shallow bury some granule type food for them to dig up since I'm taking their fun dirt away.

 

[Caliban07]

How come you turned the soil btw? Did you cap and replant in a cloudy tank? Just trying to figure out what would cause that gunk.


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[sinibotia]

I've found they like to dig in sand a lot too, although I haven't tried dirt with loaches! May just have to stick that in my future project notebook.... Hmmmm, hey caliban how do you think a dirted hillstream tank would go?

SO EXCITED FOR BABY SNAKES!

 

[Fresh2o]

I've found they like to dig in sand a lot too, although I haven't tried dirt with loaches! May just have to stick that in my future project notebook.... Hmmmm, hey caliban how do you think a dirted hillstream tank would go?

SO EXCITED FOR BABY SNAKES!

Loaches and dirt:

I imagine they (the more snake like benthic varieties) would be quite comfortable in a setting that might not be too aesthetically pleasing.
Dojos are no-no's in VA due to their adaptability to cool temps and low oxygen. I have seen them in local, stagnant, muddy ponds.


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[Laeris]

How come you turned the soil btw? Did you cap and replant in a cloudy tank? Just trying to figure out what would cause that gunk.


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I got a load of trimmings from Fresh and fish wrangler, didn't want to replant/rescape a full tank, also wanted to level out everything. I thought I posted a pic of how I did it ?
See? Drained and capped, then I planted and filled.
This is how it looked after getting filled. Not bad, a day or two should've had it clear.

Yesterday, I realized the terrier loaches were digging down to the dirt and spraying it up in clouds. They had to get down more than an inch to do it, I put a pretty hefty layer of sand down.

 

[Laeris]

Theresa, here's a pic of one of the dream blues I got yesterday. They all look pretty much the same.

 

[TheresaM]

Wow, very nice color! Glad they've settling in well for you.

 

[Laeris]

Replanting done. Pics later once everyone is home and settled in. Possibly tomorrow.

 

[Bpophoto79]

Fts after completely taking down and Doing all the things.

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[Bpophoto79]

Baby snake! Too bad a plane decoration would look out of place in this tank.

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[Fresh2o]

Wow, what a transformation!
And I get that reference. ???


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[Bpophoto79]

More pics after the re-do

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[sinibotia]

OOOO BABY SNAKE! They're so cute! Looks like regular pangio kuhli to me Although nearly impossible to know for sure. Congrats

 

[Nils]

More pics after the re-do

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Lol the kuhli hanging out of the cholla wood is awesome

I've always wanted to have kuhlis, just with the fish I have right now I couldn't fit them in anywhere. Maybe in a few years time I can fit them in the 16, turn that into a community tank. You're tank looks good, keep it up!

 

[Laeris]

Here's a decent shot of one of the celestial pearl danios that has colored up ok.
Full tank pics are kind of upsetting as the terrier loaches keep me busy replanting things I've unwisely planted in their way. No, still not going to be rid of them.