General Aquarium Talk NO SELLING Swaps go in the Fish/Plant Swap Sticky

Yeah. Loaches are sensitive souls. They can be crafty too, smart little buggers.
Once they get to know you and are comfortable they'll be far more interactive

But they are need to be in a troup, they get stressed out if they're the only one of their kind in a tank. Can highly recommend getting at least 5

 

So roller filters are expensive



Halfway through the roll. Installed 2/3/25.
Water definitely stays cleaner inbetween changes each week.

Expensive but can recommend

 

What's the benefit over good old filter wool that you can get for free ?

 

All the poo and other particle matter is removed from the water and is up and out where it can't break down and add ammonia etc to the water.
Means the water quality is a bit higher.

It's 50 micron equivalent so when I've had super fine poly or mat it's clogged in 1.5 days max.

This never clogs. Well it does but it is wound up and out introducing fresh material into the path.

I hear the motor every few hours and it runs for 2 seconds maybe. It's not an annoying noise at all, which I was a little worries about when considering it.

 

Algae wafers are weird. They start going all fuzzy after a day - I assume this is normal but I didn't think they were meant to promote growth. I thoguht the fish were just meant to eat them. I'm going to stop using them as they have put out too much fuzz and don't look great.

So I should get at least 1 more?? There's already quite a few fish in the tank. I might get 1 or 2 more loach then split the rasboras. Would 2-3 loaches and 2-3 bristlenose catfish get along?

 

i think like any food it needs to be eaten straight away or it turns to mank

i dont know about kuli loachs specifically, but in general any of the botia are very social critters and are best in big groups.
clowns need numbers to feel safe while yoyo's (paki) loachs will hammer each other so you need at least 5 to spread the 'love'

i imagine its much the same with kuli's, i'd recommend at least 5 but if you dont have the room maybe you get away with 3. they arnt a big fish thou so the bio load isnt a lot. (and they're cheap enough )

 

Algae wafers are amazing for the right creatures like bottom feeders and shrimp.
It should never last a day, too much.
Just break it up and put a small bit in and they will last longer too.

Sans Vertigo delivered me some awesome shrimp from Vic to North QLD.
Good shop. They have other things.
Cheapest Bloody Mary's I could find too

 

Well I had a loach die in both tanks over night. Really strange. Turns out I had high nitrite in my tank so I did a huge refresh of water and will do another on Friday. No feeding until Monday as I'm away for a few days so hopefully they calm down a bit.

Anyone recommend a nice air pump stone thing that's not loud as fuck? Also, do you guys put lamps on a timer? Any suggestions as well?

 

I have a few Philips hue lights at home so I put the tank light strip on a smart switch and run that on a schedule.
No idea in air pumps/stones though sorry

 

28/4/25 and that original roll is still going strong
Must be only a couple of weeks left on it now

 

I've got 4 air pumps. This is the best and most quiet one, and cheapest as well, comes with all you need.
https://amzn.asia/d/fcAfWJE

The air volume control works heaps better than the others too, great variability.

I also bought a cheap LED light that spans two tanks, very long one, nothing fancy but the in cable switch has 6 8 or 10 hour buttons. So I pressed the 10 hour one at 8am one morning and everyday it goes on at 8am and off at 6pm.

 

Gone one of these and works great thanks!

Can anyone recommend critters that eat the hair algae and little snails that don't eat all the other fish?

 

Not much will eat hair algae.
Siamese algae eaters will, but they get aggressive.

Don't ask me how I fixed all my algae issues but the tanks just settled in after a while and for some reason now without any maintenance just perfect clear glass and no algae.
Although I only kept 2 of the 4 when I moved.

 

I'm happy with my 2 Kmart tanks now. (20L)
Gone are the big tanks when I moved house.

Just shrimp, a couple micro green raspboras and snails.