The loach's 29 gallon tank journal

[Goldfish loach boy]

My tank is about three weeks old

 

[dragonfisher33]

My tank is about three weeks old

then you should definitely hold off the rams for at least a month. my tank was 4 months old, and the rams still died. after almost 6 months of cycling and what-not, i got myself more rams and this time, they're here to stay. Also a word of caution, German blue rams are VERY SENSITIVE, hence the NEED of an ALMOST PERFECT TANK, if not PERFECT, is an absolute MUST.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

:/, ok, I'll hold off for how much, was it three months, I still need to add the other fish, like my neons, pleco, otocinclus, Cory's dwarf gourami, I still have a good way to go, so I can probably wait

 

[dragonfisher33]

for your stocking, i would avoid pleco esp when you have otos already planned. plecos just poop too much. i thought it would be cool to add pleco in my tank when i started this hobby, but i've been regretting it ever since because my substrate is filled with its poop. i've an albino pleco that does nothing but stay under a piece of driftwood and poop. you can literally see him pushing out poop and the length of the poop is twice as long as his body. as soon as i saw that, i regretted my decision of getting it. Since my otos are taking care of the algae issue in my tank nowadays, i really don't see the reason of having a pleco in my tank, except the fact that i bought it. it's really nothing but cleaning up after pleco every time i think about it.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Ok, so if I take out the pleco, can I add two more otos to make 4?

 

[dragonfisher33]

Ok, so if I take out the pleco, can I add two more otos to make 4?

IME, you can have as many otos as you desire. Just make sure there's plenty of algae, algae wafers, or live plants that they can suck off. other than that, they don't bother other fish and usually mind their own business, not to mention way less bio-loads than plecos. and let me tell you something, i have brown algae blooming in my tank before because i was running CO2 injection irregularly. My tank was brown and covered with hair algae and i went to Petsmart and got 3 otos. they cleaned up the ENTIRE tank overnight, i was so impressed by their job. definitely a keeper IMO for any tank.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

!!!!! Ok, now I'm definitely getting 4 otocinclus, but will there be enough algae for them in a 29 gallon, I'm waiting until algae starts coming out of course, but I've heard that they don't take wafers

 

[dragonfisher33]

!!!!! Ok, now I'm definitely getting 4 otocinclus, but will there be enough algae for them in a 29 gallon, I'm waiting until algae starts coming out of course, but I've heard that they don't take wafers

they're vegetarian, so make sure you get the algae wafers, not the other kind. sorry to disappoint you a little bit, i would also hold the otos for a little bit. contrary to popular belief, algae is a sign that your tank is established or in process of establishing. i would get the otos when there's some algae in the tank.

 

[dragonfisher33]

i can't contain my excitement when i talk about otos. Although they're not as pretty as my other fish in the same tank, but when it comes to cleaning up the tank, they're second to none. Nowadays, i don't even feed them algae wafers. They just munch algae off from the plants that I have in my tank. The last time i drop a few wafers in my tank was probably two/three months ago. Talking about maintenance free

 

[Oohitsae]

Be careful with the oto's. some don't take to eating wafers or anything and will need for there to be algea in the tank at all times. Oto's eat a lot so with 4 you're likely going to have issues with not being able grow enough fast enough. I know my oto's refuse to eat anything besides true algea off the plants and tank walls, they won't even eat fresh/blanched veggies.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Man, now I really want them, and what I like is that unlike plecos, they actually swim across the tank!, man, I'll have to wait until some algae starts to grow!

 

[dragonfisher33]

Be careful with the oto's. some don't take to eating wafers or anything and will need for there to be algea in the tank at all times. Oto's eat a lot so with 4 you're likely going to have issues with not being able grow enough fast enough. I know my oto's refuse to eat anything besides true algea off the plants and tank walls, they won't even eat fresh/blanched veggies.

that's why when you go pick out the otos, you go in during the feeding time. you pick off otos that eat off from the feeder food that the store workers drop in. That's the only sure way to tell whether or not the otos are doing well and have an appetite for manufactured food. but of course, in their natural environment, they graze off the algae or what-not. This method is good for any fish since only the healthy and stress-free fish eat. i have had fish that looked good in the lfs but died within days because they're not eating because the lfs just got them and the fish are stressed out from the transportation.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Be careful with the oto's. some don't take to eating wafers or anything and will need for there to be algea in the tank at all times. Oto's eat a lot so with 4 you're likely going to have issues with not being able grow enough fast enough. I know my oto's refuse to eat anything besides true algea off the plants and tank walls, they won't even eat fresh/blanched veggies.

I am going to have a huge piece of driftwood, another decorations, and a lot of plants, will that be enough for them?

 

[dragonfisher33]

I am going to have a huge piece of driftwood, another decorations, and a lot of plants, will that be enough for them?

if you say you're going to get a lot of plants, then it should be good. i have nothing but natural stuffs in my tank. namely plants, a lot of plants, and driftwood. I've amazon swords, java moss, ludwigia, java fern, water sprite, and others that i can't remember. just get those plants growing and you should be fine. look at my last post for advice when picking out otos.

 

[dragonfisher33]

another thing about plecos is that as they age, they become more aggressive. they will go after your slow moving fish. the more mature they're, the more the craving for meat rather than plant matter.

poop too much, sit there doing nothing, eat your fish when they mature, doesn't look that attractive, just a small list of things why i don't like pleco.

 

[Oohitsae]

Huizheng1988 makes a good point and a lot of sense, I've never thought to go in during feeding time! That would definitely help out a lot when picking out your oto's

In my 28, my oto's really didn't last too long, I have 1 left, I'm not sure if it was because they didn't have enough algea, or what, but 3/4 didn't last longer than 2-3 months. I'm just trying to say be careful and have an established tank with plenty of algea before you put them in if you don't watch them feed and see them taking algea wafers readily.

 

[dragonfisher33]

also another thing to lookout for when picking out "vegetarian" fish is that look at their stomach region. All plant eating fish have a certain strain of bacteria in their guts that aid in the digestion of plant matters. What happens during the long transportation is that these bacteria die. If that's the case, the fish would have curved or sunken stomach and wouldn't eat anything. even if they do eat, they eat very little because the bacteria isn't there to aid in the digestion. And you should always wait a week or so before getting any fish because a lot of them die due to stress. unaware hobbyist buy fish without taking consideration of the stress level for the fish during transportation. when fish is not eating, you shouldn't get it, PERIOD.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Ok, thanks for all these tips! I'll wait until some algae comes out, and I will go in during feeding time, thank you!

 

[dragonfisher33]

Ok, thanks, will they be ok with my stock, do they need to be in pairs?

here's the picture of my dwarf puffers that i promised. Note: these pictures don't do them justice. They're wayyyyyyyyy cuter in person and they're very camera shy. Took me more than an hour to take them

 

[dragonfisher33]

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