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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

sucking loaches

  • karen84 (karen84)
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16 Nov 2005 16:44 #1 by karen84 (karen84)
sucking loaches was created by karen84 (karen84)
Hey all
does anyone know if golden sucking loaches are any good for
gettin algae off plants?

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  • campo (campo)
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16 Nov 2005 19:45 #2 by campo (campo)
Replied by campo (campo) on topic Re: sucking loaches
go to the trop shop and ask ken he is good for all that.he has help me out lots of times

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17 Nov 2005 14:33 #3 by Dave (Dave Fallon)
They arnt effective algae eaters. Try and get hold of some True Siamese algae eaters or ancistrus species that will aid algae eating.

Qui Vivra Verra.

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  • georgina (georgina)
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21 Nov 2005 12:11 #4 by georgina (georgina)
Replied by georgina (georgina) on topic Re: sucking loaches
Hey Karen,
I had really bad algae on my plants. I tried to get a Siamese algae eater but couldnt so got the "golden version" and he's doing a great job. The plants look a lot better since he arrived. I cut away the really bad leaves and he's keeping the rest and new ones that come up in really good condition...I'm well happy with him. If the True Siamese are better as Dave suggests then you'd be on a real winner. But I find the golden one does fine too..
G

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  • karen84 (karen84)
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21 Nov 2005 15:51 #5 by karen84 (karen84)
Replied by karen84 (karen84) on topic Re: sucking loaches
ok great thanks

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07 Dec 2005 09:15 #6 by Pablo (Pablo -)
Replied by Pablo (Pablo -) on topic Re: sucking loaches
try adding some shrimps... :D

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  • georgina (georgina)
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07 Dec 2005 09:43 #7 by georgina (georgina)
Replied by georgina (georgina) on topic Re: sucking loaches
do shrimps keep the algae down....they can obviously go in a fresh water tank the??? Wgat are they compatible with..or is there anyting they cant be with!?

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14 Dec 2005 08:27 #8 by AndyT (Andy Taylor)
Hi georgina, shrimp can be good for controlling algae alright....will work in a freshwater tank, may end up as food depending on your fish. Mine generally don't last too long.
You're better off trying to find the cause of your algae and dealing with that because the shrimp or 'algae eaters' are only treating the symptoms and not the cause.
Be careful of the 'golden version' algae eater, these fish are often misidentified in shops and may be a chinese algae eater after all, these fish lose their taste for algae as they get older and become aggressive towards other fish.
A good alternative is ottocinclus affini, they stay small and love algae

170L Bowfront Community Tank : Heavily planted : CO2 : T5 lighting

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  • georgina (georgina)
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15 Dec 2005 03:28 #9 by georgina (georgina)
Replied by georgina (georgina) on topic Re: sucking loaches
Thanks for that Andy,
What could be causing the algae...Too much light or what?

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15 Dec 2005 04:16 #10 by Pablo (Pablo -)
Replied by Pablo (Pablo -) on topic Re: sucking loaches
Yeap, light is the main factor.... is the tank close to a window?... Tank should never be directly in front of a window!... how much time do you leave your light on your tank???

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16 Dec 2005 03:23 #11 by AndyT (Andy Taylor)
Generally speaking, too much light causes algae. Direct sunlight is always going to cause algae to grow but your tank light will too.
Your tank lights should only be on for about 8 hours a day.

In very simplistic terms, because i don't know what your setup is.....
If your plants are growing strongly enough and you don't have too much light, you won't have algae problems.
You need to make sure that the plants are getting all they need to grow or else they will stop and algae will take over. So, if you have lots of light in your tank then your plants will need fertiliser of some sort and probably co2 or they won't be able to use all the light you're giving them and they'll stop growing. That's when you'll see algae.
Having said that, some types of algae are 'normal' in a newly setup planted tank...

This article will help you identify the type of algae you have:
www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9

There are many more factors in the growth of algae, check out the latest edition of Practical Fishkeeping mag for the start of a series of articles on algae in the planted tank. Easons should have it....

170L Bowfront Community Tank : Heavily planted : CO2 : T5 lighting

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  • georgina (georgina)
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16 Dec 2005 06:21 #12 by georgina (georgina)
Replied by georgina (georgina) on topic Re: sucking loaches
Thanks a million lads, I will have a read off that! As far as I know its brush algae in my tank. I think my lights are on too much, its not near a window so I'll try reducing the amount of time the light is on!

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  • conor (conor)
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13 Feb 2006 14:42 #13 by conor (conor)
Replied by conor (conor) on topic Re: sucking loaches
Hey andyT, any pics of your tank?

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16 Feb 2006 03:49 #14 by monty (monty)
Replied by monty (monty) on topic Re: sucking loaches
Over time I've had ancistrus and Otocinclus in different tanks. The Ancistrus is great at cleaning algae but not off plants, usually just the decor and glass. A small group of Oto's though will keep the plants as well as everything else pristine.

You need to watch the Oto's in terms of acclimatising them to your tank - they are not great travellers and expect to lose 1 - 2 over the initial couple of days.

I've never had a siamese algae eater as everything I've read on them suggest that as they get older they don't eat the algae as much, can become aggressive and that they have been known to suck on Discus - which I keep.

Cheers,

Monty

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  • conor (conor)
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16 Feb 2006 12:00 #15 by conor (conor)
Replied by conor (conor) on topic Re: sucking loaches
I can confirm that sucking loach (siamese algae eaters) are good (not excellent) at clearing algae, and are very aggressive when they get older.

However I had one in a holding tank for a month while I readied my new tank, and the only things it bothered were corydoras. It completely ignored the four discus and two angels.

The tank was too small for the stock of fish, and still had no hassle.
In my experience, nothing beats amano shrimp and regular water changes.

regards
Conor. :shock:

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17 Feb 2006 03:54 #16 by monty (monty)
Replied by monty (monty) on topic Re: sucking loaches
Hi Conor,

Good mention of the regular water changes. :!: Often get missed when people are discussing algae eating fish. The fish only treat a symptom which you can fully control with proper tank maintenance and keeping the nitrates under control - oh and that light thing :wink:

Monty

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17 Feb 2006 04:57 #17 by conor (conor)
Replied by conor (conor) on topic Re: sucking loaches
You just cannot beat water changes. As we speak, I am mixing salt for my marine tank in its usual 25 litre bucket, and the RO pump is working away filling another 25 litres for the discus tank upstairs!

I always change 25 litres per week in each tank. (well, the marine one anyway, discus sometimes get overlooked)

Water parametres _prior_ to weekly change):

Marine : Fitration (Live Rock only, two powerheads & external cannister filled with Live Rock, will be adding Live Sand to the cannister soon....Live Sand will convert nitrate to nitrogen gas, aswell as ammonia - nitrite - nitrate conversion)

Nitrate - 0 (sweet)
Nitrite - 0.15 (this rises and falls after daily feeds, to be addressed by adding a protein skimmer when I get paid, (tested _every_ day))
Ammonia - no idea, never test for it. 8)

Discus - Filtration (internal jewel filter, thinking of adding the "spare" (from the other jewel) today for additional water circulation))

Nitrate - 20PPM (needs to be addressed, as I say, I sometimes skip the water changes, I also need to remove some dying leaves)
Nitrite - 0 (rarely tested)
Ammonia - 0 (rarely tested)

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