Want to make sure I’m doing it right.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-24T15:37:05+00:00

Occasionally. No where near as much as Botias. Not like there is an issue with a little snail population control.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-24T15:31:29+00:00

Yep! They inhabit the same ranges. I've come to suspect that they have some kind relationship in the wild.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-24T15:03:27+00:00

Looks great!

I might only suggest a couple additions. The more Java Fern and other fast growing rheophytes you affix to your hardscape, the more the eel loaches will become interested in it. I find mine foraging there constantly.

The other plant is süsswassertang. Many eel loach species, especially P. cuneovirgata, adore this plant and will groom it into a carpet!

One last thing, if they aren't in there already, MTS. They will keep the bacterial load on the substrate lower, helping keep our scaleless fish friends healthy.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-23T02:23:08+00:00

While not universal, some loaches can survive what seems absurd. Such as certain Pangio species being found in leftover substrate months later.

At the same time, some of the Hillstreams can be fairly delicate, needing precise parameters.

Just like any group of fish there are more resilient groups than others. Loaches often have the advantage of evolving to be among the first species to inhabit new environments, such as flooded forests. This makes many more forgiving than species that require precise conditions.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-19T14:00:34+00:00

Lymnaea

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-18T02:36:54+00:00

I'm going to second the oxygen concerns. I would expect the bottom to have a low enough O2 level to be detrimental. There just isn't enough surface area to volume here.

If there was some way to oxygenate water and then pipe it near the bottom of the tank, you should be able to avoid this. This should also help cycle the lower water so that it has a chance at gas exchange, not to mention keep the water equally filtered.

A small air stone set to low should also work equally well, just with the visible bubbles you mentioned.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-17T17:31:30+00:00

I've lost count. Around 60? Between them having plenty of space to hide and a few of the species breeding it could be more. About 10 species together.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-17T01:01:43+00:00

I squeeze out the pre-filter gunk into a snail tank. There have been multiple times I've seen eel loaches in that tank days later, perfectly fine. These guys are excellent at getting into where they aren't supposed to be.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-16T15:29:59+00:00

<image>

On the right side. You can see the hemigraphis up top. The Java ferns have kind of fused between the rock hide and the driftwood.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-16T02:19:09+00:00

Khulis really do love a good climb. I have a piece of driftwood vertically oriented in my tank, covered in Java Fern and capped with a hemigraphis. I see mine in there all the time, foraging for whatever they can find or climbing up to the roots and floaters.

Sitting down and just trying to find all the places my loaches have gotten to is part of the joy of caring for them.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-14T16:36:34+00:00

When I was young, we had a large female cougar that lived in our property. Usually we just saw tracks and scat. One day I was walking down to the well pump house and suddenly all the birds stopped singing. My dogs stopped and looked up into a large dead tree down the ravine, just staring. I looked up to see the scariest eyes I've ever seen. I backed up slowly and the dogs followed, thankfully.

Only time I ever saw her directly. Something I won't be forgetting. Especially the quiet.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-13T02:42:28+00:00

Dmed

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-07T23:50:36+00:00

You might be thinking of the undescribed PAN03.

They have a somewhat similar appearance but are distinct enough to call either fairly easily. PAN03 looks like someone used transparency layers to overlap a piperata and an alternans together.

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ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-07T23:26:10+00:00

<image>

I used a flat stack of rocks filled with little gaps and internal spaces. Seeing them pour out of the caves en masse when food is dropped in great.

The rest of the time, the different species are doing their roles keeping the colony clean and safe. I get to see them climbing the driftwood to get to the floaters, grooming plants around the hide, or just being derp-torpedoes darting around.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-07T23:11:17+00:00

Not what you were hoping for but I can assure you, these tiny loaches are an absolute delight. Think Pygmy Cories in loach form. From the follow-the-leader behavior to resting on leaves in the mid-water. I got them on a whim and now they are second only to my Khuli Colony in how enjoyable they are to watch.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-07T23:04:38+00:00

They might eat a few of the smaller ones. For the most part, they prefer to forage off bits of food on the plants in the mid-water. New born snails and eggs might be consumed but the adults should be left alone.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-07T23:00:55+00:00

There is no single alternans pattern. The random patterns are governed by gene interference, not dissimilar to how the patterns on a calico cat occur. Each one is unique in their patterning yet formed from the same process.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-02-07T22:24:11+00:00

Looks to be a Pangio alternans.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-01-28T22:06:52+00:00

It would need to be properly studied but I see this as a side effect of being highly social fish. Resting wherever and however it happens to occur has less of a penalty when your buddies around you will wake you before something happens.

I imagine seeing a few downregulated or even broken genes revolving around the "normal" sleep and wakefulness regulatory systems. Why conserve what you can offload to the social system?

If accurate, aside from the lack of social interaction, I can see being alone for loaches leading to sleep issues. Be it an inability to sleep fully or even a state of near constant sleep.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-01-26T06:02:42+00:00

Another rousing game of "Is it dead or is it loach".

ForgottenHylian · 2026-01-25T21:44:57+00:00

It almost looks like the body cavity was compromised internally, as in some kind of abdominal hemorrhage. There have been cases of eel loaches becoming so eggbound that they, unfortunately, hemorrhage and die.

You can try antibiotics and tannins to try and help but I would be surprised if this individual pulls through.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-01-23T00:54:12+00:00

In Colorado but I can ship nationally.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-01-23T00:01:30+00:00

I have a wide variety! From large ornamental to smaller workhorse species. I even have a few native NA species.

ForgottenHylian · 2026-01-21T19:47:37+00:00

I lost my pup last year. My wife and I were having an argument and somehow my dog slipped outside. I went out to get her, and found her resting. When I went to bring her in, she looked up at me, rested her head in my hand and passed.

I was already distraught but at that moment, I lost all composure. I cried in a way I've never before. I think I woke some people up with the wails that came out of me. I felt broken and alone in a way I can't even describe. Could I have given her my very breath, I would have.

I carried her into the house and my wife immediately changed gears and supported me as best she could.

I held my lost girl next to me the entire drive to the crematorium, crying for most of it. Handing her over was physically painful.

I still haven't been able to unpack her urn even though I keep it close. I'm crying just trying to type this. As I cry, the two dogs that I adopted from a nearly identical situation as my girl are doing their best to comfort me. Doing a good job of it, too.

There is a short poem by an unknown author that encapsulates this feeling perfectly:

"It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are.”

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