Help! Good or bad worm?! - Page 3

rezi · 09-23-2006, 02:20 AM

Golden Zebra Loach - Botia histrionica stays under 4" is solitary for the most part, but unaggressive towards tankmates and looks much like a Dwarf Chain.

I don't think the Dwarf Chain would have the muscle to take one of your leeches out, those are purdy large leeches!

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CardBoardBoxProcessor · 09-23-2006, 03:01 AM

will this Golden Zebra Loach fight with cories, SAEs, rummynose, angles, rams?

rezi · 09-23-2006, 03:59 AM

Not at all! They are friendly like most loaches. Tiger loach being the only semi-aggressive loach I have owned. I wasn't sure on your tank size so I suggested the Gold Zebra because it doesn't mind being alone. Loaches are sweet fish and more often then not will even "play" with tankmates. Your angels and SAE are much more aggressive. I love loaches, one of my favs because they are so darn cute and funny! I could go on and on about loaches, their sleeping, schooling with other species, the way thay swim in the water column, just super fish that add a boatload of personality to a tank. Especially a single one (one that doesnt mind being solitary of course). You'll always be looking for such-n-such loach to see what he's up to now!

ps: If you have any snails you are attached to, they will become snacks in a heartbeat. They really love snails. Grab a few trumpets from the fish store when your there (usually free..) and your loach will love you forever!

pss: If you're keen on breeding your fish, I'm not sure how well behaved a loach would be around eggs/fry. They are like an aquatic weasal.

CardBoardBoxProcessor · 09-23-2006, 04:33 AM

On other board I have hear of loach to cory combat >>

mm.. snails.. i liek my little snails >> V_V

crazie.eddie · 09-23-2006, 06:26 AM

Not sure if the loach would touch it. That thing looks big. I've tried feeding my clown loaches (largest about 4") small red worms before and they just ignored it. I even cut one of the worms in half and they still avoided it. Actually they got scared of the wriggling motion.

rezi · 09-23-2006, 06:30 AM

yes, although not directly, just because they occupy the same stratum in the aquarium. But they dont have leeches! Eeeeww X_X It really wouldn't be a problem with the slightest bit of attention... I'd be much more concerned with the bully boy SAEs than any loach hehe

I'm pretty sure the loaches would eat the leeches, my clown loaches favorite treat where some earthworms, and worms make up a large portion of their deit in the wild. Again you could never be positive about the individuals aquired tastes.

Anywho, good luck with your infestation.. eeeww

ps: I recently sold 6 large Clown Loaches all around the 6-7" mark, to do planted aquaria. Fattest gold outlined loaches I've personally ever seen in real life. To get a more "professional opinion" about compatibility, check Loaches - Botiinae they even -suggest- corydoras and it is a very knowledgable site.

XenoMorph2049 · 09-23-2006, 08:00 AM

Wouldnt the copper in copper-safe be absorbed by any substrate with any CEC at all, thus "leaching" it back into the tank over time? If you can get the current reisdents into another tank, or even isolate them in a breeder net for a bit, couldnt a shovelnose shark eliminate them faily quickly? If Im not mistaken, one of the reasons a shovel nose HAS a shovel nose is for the purpose of digging through substrate to find food. The only drawback would be the size they attain and the fact that anything that can fit in its mouth will end up there sooner than later. The only reason I suggest this is that like crazzie.eddie, Im not too sure loaches could take that guy down, or even anything close to his size. the combination of the two ( not at the same time) would be the best solution I could think of: isolate the current residents, introduce a shovelnose (if they do indeed search the gravel like Im thinking), give him a few days to clear out the "adults", remove said shovelnose, introduce loach/s to handle the "kids" and release the current residents back in the tank. Oh yeah, often times, a shovel nose shark is actually a "Shovel Nose Catfish". HTH.

rezi · 09-23-2006, 08:55 AM

Or just use a net and collect the adults as they appear, save the money you'd spend shovelnose, which arent the cheapest fish.. and get a loach to handle the "kids" hehe, which are cheap cute and a great addition! Seems rather silly to buy a shovelnose catfish just to give/sell in a week or two and it's not like a shovelnose is a real active hunter.....

some snippits from reputable pages regarding loaches........

Diet: Clowns will accept a wide variety of dry and live foods, but their preference is for live foods.. especially worms. Even earthworms can be fed to them, as long as you harvest the worms from soil that hasn't been fertilized recently. duh..

in the wild....
they eat worms, snails and insect larvae.

Omnivorous; they will eat just about everything. Worms and snails are a particular favorite. It is recommended that they be fed twice a day.

They especially enjoy live earthworms and frozen blood worms. loaches.com

Not only do loaches love worms, they are natural for the fish, worms are one of the best foods period for loaches. All the dirt and minerals in the worm are wonderful for the loach. Your guy's loaches are just "denaturalized" used to eating lean-cuisine rather than homemade beef-stew. I feel for them frankly because they do not have the chance to exercise their God given natural behavior. Like a kitty never stalking a butterfly, or a dog never sniffing his way through the jogging trail.

You really should investigate your fish's natural enviroment and try to recreate some of the features in your tank.. like a live worm or a round rock, or a place with strong current. These fish evolved over millions of years to specific habitats and something like a round rock might sound insignificant, but just watch how a loach will bask on one right infront of a powerhead. Not only will you have longer lived, happier more interesting to watch fish, you will be humane.

K, thnx bye-bye sorry this got off topic

ps. shark? heh.. remove as many adult leeches as possible and get a loach.. or nuke the tank.

Hope I didn't come across as abrasive, it just struck me as odd hearing of loaches that wouldn't eat a worm.. like a bird who has never flown. Also, I had a rather depressing trip to a LFS w/ terrible living conditions so I'm in a bit of a freedom fighter mood.

XenoMorph2049 · 09-23-2006, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rezi

Hope I didn't come across as abrasive, it just struck odd hearing of loaches that wouldn't eat a worm.. like a bird who has never flown. Also, I had a rather depressing trip to a LFS w/ terrible living conditions so I'm in a bit of a freedom fighter mood.

Not a problem, nice to know that theres some out there who believe in enrichment for their fish.

The only reason I suggested the Shovel Nose ($20-$30 around here, NOT cheap) is the fact that leeches are "aggressive" if you will. Noted: not all of them apparently). Worms are also a part of there natural diet, and I would think that, due to the size difference of there mouths, a Shovel Nose would be at less of a risk (if it were a species harmfull to fish) to injury/death. I concur, not the best option, but I would rather that than adding pretty much ANY copper based meds (or any meds for that matter, unless absolutely necesssary) to a tank. Ive heard horror stories of meds coming back to haunt.
As for removing them manually (adults), this would be much prefered to a $30 expense (some shops allow "rentals" of fish to help controll one pest or another), But are the adults active enough (to be found) to get them all?
I am by no means a fish "expert", or a leech "expert", so the loaches might be just the thing to eliminate them. If so, great, if not, I offered a means that I thought might be of assistance, not the cheapest nor smartest, but one I felt might work in the event all else failed. If something I stated offended you, I appologize. Kudo's on the loach info

. I for one never keep them, I like my MTS's too much!

Sorry if this got off-topic due to my actions.

rezi · 09-23-2006, 11:02 AM

nono, I'm sure it's mostly me

(re-reads his post) although its still relevant to fish keeping in general.

Please read my post in local fish clubs stores/washington "RE-Review QT Aquariums"

(not written all that well as usual)

Yeash, I'm fin nippy tonight lol

I forget most people on this board are plant-folks w/ fish but I'm still a fish person w/ plants. Haven't quite set roots so to speak. I think I'll just sit back and read and do less posting. I must say people's knowledge of plants, biology, chemistry and fish on plantedtank is very impressive and I look forward to learning as much as I can and with any luck making a few friends

09-23-2006, 06:26 AM	#35 (permalink)
crazie.eddie Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (8) Join Date: May 2004 Location: Illinois Posts: 1,645	Not sure if the loach would touch it. That thing looks big. I've tried feeding my clown loaches (largest about 4") small red worms before and they just ignored it. I even cut one of the worms in half and they still avoided it. Actually they got scared of the wriggling motion. __________________ 125 gal (473 liter): Low Tech (1.5wpg PC for 10 hours, no CO2/ferts, gravel substrate), Equipment (72" Coralife PC, Eheim Pro II 2128 w/built in heater, FilStar XP3 w/Hydor ETH201 inline heater), Fish (6Discus, 2Angel, 5Clown loaches, 4L-018 Gold Nugget pleco, 1L-260 Queen Arabesque pleco, 7Cories, Farlowella cat)

09-23-2006, 08:55 AM	#38 (permalink)
rezi Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 29	Or just use a net and collect the adults as they appear, save the money you'd spend shovelnose, which arent the cheapest fish.. and get a loach to handle the "kids" hehe, which are cheap cute and a great addition! Seems rather silly to buy a shovelnose catfish just to give/sell in a week or two and it's not like a shovelnose is a real active hunter..... some snippits from reputable pages regarding loaches........ Diet: Clowns will accept a wide variety of dry and live foods, but their preference is for live foods.. especially worms. Even earthworms can be fed to them, as long as you harvest the worms from soil that hasn't been fertilized recently. duh.. in the wild.... they eat worms, snails and insect larvae. Omnivorous; they will eat just about everything. Worms and snails are a particular favorite. It is recommended that they be fed twice a day. They especially enjoy live earthworms and frozen blood worms. loaches.com Not only do loaches love worms, they are natural for the fish, worms are one of the best foods period for loaches. All the dirt and minerals in the worm are wonderful for the loach. Your guy's loaches are just "denaturalized" used to eating lean-cuisine rather than homemade beef-stew. I feel for them frankly because they do not have the chance to exercise their God given natural behavior. Like a kitty never stalking a butterfly, or a dog never sniffing his way through the jogging trail. You really should investigate your fish's natural enviroment and try to recreate some of the features in your tank.. like a live worm or a round rock, or a place with strong current. These fish evolved over millions of years to specific habitats and something like a round rock might sound insignificant, but just watch how a loach will bask on one right infront of a powerhead. Not only will you have longer lived, happier more interesting to watch fish, you will be humane. K, thnx bye-bye sorry this got off topic ps. shark? heh.. remove as many adult leeches as possible and get a loach.. or nuke the tank. Hope I didn't come across as abrasive, it just struck me as odd hearing of loaches that wouldn't eat a worm.. like a bird who has never flown. Also, I had a rather depressing trip to a LFS w/ terrible living conditions so I'm in a bit of a freedom fighter mood. Last edited by rezi : 09-23-2006 at 11:19 AM.

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09-23-2006, 02:20 AM	#31 (permalink)
rezi Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 29	Golden Zebra Loach - Botia histrionica stays under 4" is solitary for the most part, but unaggressive towards tankmates and looks much like a Dwarf Chain. I don't think the Dwarf Chain would have the muscle to take one of your leeches out, those are purdy large leeches!

09-23-2006, 03:01 AM	#32 (permalink)
CardBoardBoxProcessor Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (3) Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 864	will this Golden Zebra Loach fight with cories, SAEs, rummynose, angles, rams?

09-23-2006, 03:59 AM	#33 (permalink)
rezi Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 29	Not at all! They are friendly like most loaches. Tiger loach being the only semi-aggressive loach I have owned. I wasn't sure on your tank size so I suggested the Gold Zebra because it doesn't mind being alone. Loaches are sweet fish and more often then not will even "play" with tankmates. Your angels and SAE are much more aggressive. I love loaches, one of my favs because they are so darn cute and funny! I could go on and on about loaches, their sleeping, schooling with other species, the way thay swim in the water column, just super fish that add a boatload of personality to a tank. Especially a single one (one that doesnt mind being solitary of course). You'll always be looking for such-n-such loach to see what he's up to now! ps: If you have any snails you are attached to, they will become snacks in a heartbeat. They really love snails. Grab a few trumpets from the fish store when your there (usually free..) and your loach will love you forever! pss: If you're keen on breeding your fish, I'm not sure how well behaved a loach would be around eggs/fry. They are like an aquatic weasal.

09-23-2006, 04:33 AM	#34 (permalink)
CardBoardBoxProcessor Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (3) Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 864	On other board I have hear of loach to cory combat >> mm.. snails.. i liek my little snails >> V_V

09-23-2006, 06:30 AM	#36 (permalink)
rezi Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 29	yes, although not directly, just because they occupy the same stratum in the aquarium. But they dont have leeches! Eeeeww X_X It really wouldn't be a problem with the slightest bit of attention... I'd be much more concerned with the bully boy SAEs than any loach hehe I'm pretty sure the loaches would eat the leeches, my clown loaches favorite treat where some earthworms, and worms make up a large portion of their deit in the wild. Again you could never be positive about the individuals aquired tastes. Anywho, good luck with your infestation.. eeeww ps: I recently sold 6 large Clown Loaches all around the 6-7" mark, to do planted aquaria. Fattest gold outlined loaches I've personally ever seen in real life. To get a more "professional opinion" about compatibility, check Loaches - Botiinae they even -suggest- corydoras and it is a very knowledgable site.

09-23-2006, 08:00 AM	#37 (permalink)
XenoMorph2049 Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (2) Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: NW Florida Posts: 132	Wouldnt the copper in copper-safe be absorbed by any substrate with any CEC at all, thus "leaching" it back into the tank over time? If you can get the current reisdents into another tank, or even isolate them in a breeder net for a bit, couldnt a shovelnose shark eliminate them faily quickly? If Im not mistaken, one of the reasons a shovel nose HAS a shovel nose is for the purpose of digging through substrate to find food. The only drawback would be the size they attain and the fact that anything that can fit in its mouth will end up there sooner than later. The only reason I suggest this is that like crazzie.eddie, Im not too sure loaches could take that guy down, or even anything close to his size. the combination of the two ( not at the same time) would be the best solution I could think of: isolate the current residents, introduce a shovelnose (if they do indeed search the gravel like Im thinking), give him a few days to clear out the "adults", remove said shovelnose, introduce loach/s to handle the "kids" and release the current residents back in the tank. Oh yeah, often times, a shovel nose shark is actually a "Shovel Nose Catfish". HTH.

09-23-2006, 11:02 AM	#40 (permalink)
rezi Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 29	nono, I'm sure it's mostly me (re-reads his post) although its still relevant to fish keeping in general. Please read my post in local fish clubs stores/washington "RE-Review QT Aquariums" (not written all that well as usual) Yeash, I'm fin nippy tonight lol I forget most people on this board are plant-folks w/ fish but I'm still a fish person w/ plants. Haven't quite set roots so to speak. I think I'll just sit back and read and do less posting. I must say people's knowledge of plants, biology, chemistry and fish on plantedtank is very impressive and I look forward to learning as much as I can and with any luck making a few friends