the 75 gallon hi rise loach habitat renovation

[sir fresh]

Hope you enjoy these I decided to renovate my exsisting loach tank here are a few pictures of the work in progress. With pictures of the new towers. the right hand corner tower houses a aqua clear 420 with a filter the tower is based on a triangular counter display that were being thrown out. The tower is on acrlic jewlery stands that also keep the slate off the glass and make a sub basment for the loach's. As a precaution the tower is fed by a small fountain pump which cycles water from the tank into the tower. All the wood is on slate base's. Lowes has a clearence on small slate tiles at the moment . I will post more photgraphs as I have the fish and plants in the tank.

 

[fishorama]

Looks interesting, what loaches will you keep in there?

 

[sir fresh]

I have 5 clowns, up to 4 inch's then 3 botia helodes and 4 botia morleti ( skunks) and 3 wonderfull botia almorhae (yoyo) the dither fish are bueno areies tetras which spend more time in the caves than the loach and for bronze cory's also have 3 small octolinctus cats. the filteration is a fluval fx5, 2 420 power heads with filters and a emperor bio wheel.

 

[Lupin]

I will never recommend mixing the Syncrossus helodes and skunks with clowns and yoyos. Tigers and skunks are ridiculously nasty and will harass the other loaches to death. These are not community fish either. They could work with feisty dithers such as Buenos Aires tetras, arulius and filament barbs, but not with catfish and other loaches who cannot defend themselves effectively against constant harassments.

 

[sir fresh]

thanks

I will never recommend mixing the Syncrossus helodes and skunks with clowns and yoyos. Tigers and skunks are ridiculously nasty and will harass the other loaches to death. These are not community fish either. They could work with feisty dithers such as Buenos Aires tetras, arulius and filament barbs, but not with catfish and other loaches who cannot defend themselves effectively against constant harassments.

Thanks for the concern the fish have been together for 6 months to a year and in the new set up they have no dissagreements the tank is in front of my desk at work so I can observe them all day .....and a intresting observaton is that the clowns and the buenos aires tetras tend to hang under the central cave which is under the the left tower. There is apecking order and the larger clowns are at the top of the food chain. I think what helps more in this tank as well is there are so many places for the fish to hide.

I will post more photo's of the tank now it is planted.

 

[H3D]

The decor doesn't seem appropriate at all for a botia loach tank.

 

[sir fresh]

I will post more photographs of the finished tank what you do not see is the high volume of water going through the tank .............. and belive you me the water cycles fast and as I have said I have some very happy fish.

 

[Jeremy Smith]

Great looking tank.
I do have a concern going along with what H3D said. Slate is a very sharp rock I would worry about any Botia and most loaches being cut as they slide around the slate. And I do have to agree with Lupin any of the adult Tigers can be very nasty to other tank mates, in my own experience and what I have read from other keepers expierences.

 

[sir fresh]

more pictures of the tank with plants

sorry if the quality is not up to scratch I am working with a new camera. The first picture is the right hand tower with the aquaclear 420 inside I took the air tube off for the picture. Underneath this is a natural cave for the fish the area from the right hand tower 2 the centre tower is allmost a whirlpool effect from the powerhead and the fx5 return, where as the right handside has a back water calmer area to it, 3rd picture and in the right back corner is another 420 that push's the water down the back wall off the tank, I have been in the hobby since I was 10 and I am now 48 so guess I am a older junior member.

 

[sir fresh]

I agree about the sharpness of slate but again what you cannot see is that I sanded the edges down and if I have problems in the future with the mix I have more tanks that I can move them 2