Tropical Fish Forums

[Dusko]

Hallo my aqua friends
long time no see!

I am back with a new project, building a river tank set-up for Sewelia sp. Hillstream Loaches.
I decided to buy a 112 liters tank (30 galls).
Note! This is not to be a biotope aquarium.

Equipment;
Inner filter 680 l/h with a sponge
Koralia Nano 900 l/h
2x 18 watts T-8t's
No heather needed.
extra air pump during the summer time.

Substrate;
Quartz sand 0,5mm (or? )
some bigger pebbles scatered around
a few big fossilized wood rocks

Plants;
Anubias nana
Crinum calamistratum
???

Fish/inverts;
Sewellia lineolata (number?)
Sewellia sp. Spotted (number?)
10 WCMM or some other small fish which will enjoy the fast current
2 Atya gabonensis
3 Tylomelania sp. Yellow

I wonder if any of you have experiance in keeping these Loaches Any tips?
I only kept the Borneo Sucker (Gastromyzon punctulatus).

I have found this fantastic info on the net;
http://www.loaches.com/articles/hillstream-loaches-the-specialists-at-life-in-the-fast-lane
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/sewellia-lineolata
http://www.loaches.com/articles/sewellia-lineolata-natural-habitat-and-how-they-get-to-our-aquariums

Some nice river scapes on this page (scroll down);


Good to see ya all!
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[katienaha]

oooo I prefer the one with the long grass!

[deborah_claro]

Dusko, great news about the new HL tank.

On AH, Heather is the most experienced with loaches. All kinds. I hope she will join in the conversation.

I've only kept Pseudogastromyzon myersi, twice, but I don't think I had them in ideal conditions either time. Not much was known about these loaches when I first saw them in the hobby. We know much more now, especially about the fast-flowing water requirement and lower tropical temps.

Good luck! I hope we will be in store to see some of your own professional and beautiful photos in this topic soon! : You've picked a gorgeous Sewellia to start with.

I'll be following this topic.


Deborah
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[Dusko]

Hi Deborah good to see you again and thanks for joining in

Well lets see what this project will bring forth.

Quick update!
So far the aquarium is here and I started fixing the new stand;




Regards, Dusko
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[Jacko]

Looks good so far Dusko! I'd advise against putting the tylos into the tank though, they seem to do better in higher temperatures... that being said I have kept 2 baby tylos in my hillstream tank without problems until I get my sulawesi tank setup lol

As far as white clouds go, I'd try for the vietnamese ones if you can get a hold of them, I'm hoping to switch out my current school of wcmm for vietnamese far more colorful lol
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[Dusko]

Hi Jacko,
and thanks for the tip,
the ones I am to get are called Tanichthys micagemmae or Vietnamese Minnow, stays small up to 3,5cm (perfect I love tiny species)

I might skip the sulawesi snails and the Atya too and stay with the Vietnamese style instead maybe a few Malaysian Trumpets and instead of Anubias maybe some Microsorum pteropus.

We'll see

Here is my cat Alex testing the stand;


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[Jacko]

Yup, those are the exact ones I was thinking of!

I'd still get an atya if it were me, I've got an armata in my hilly tank and it's been doing great, I think the size and color of the blue atya would make an excellent contrast in there lol

And your cat has an awesome name
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[Dusko]

OK, here we go with a new stocking list;

Sewellia lineolata x 10
Annamia normani x 5
Tanichthys micagemmae x 20

After the jump start I will stock the tank with Tanichthys micagemmae and wait for the tank to mature for a month (or longer) before adding the Loaches. I would like to see some algae developing on the rocks first.

I am not sure at the moment if I will get the Atya gabonensis or even snails.

Will try to fill the tank with water tonight.

Dusko
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[deborah_claro]

Dusko, you seem to be able to switch between unusual species easily. What is your current source for these animals?

I like the way you're going for a Vietnamese theme; the T. micagemmae are beautiful. This is the first I've seen of them, but I have noticed many small "schooling" fish now becoming more available in the hobby, such as loreto tetras Hyphessobrycon loretoensis, ember tetras Hyphessobrycon amandae (named after Heiko Bleher's mother!) and many micro rasbora species, such as the Microdevario spp., to name just a few. The tiny species are great to work with.

Have you definitely decided against adding MTS?

Good luck with the tank fill, my friend.


Deborah
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[Dusko]