Recent content by ShinySideUp

My own are fifteen years old. Two of them are about 8" long and very fat (the shape changes as they get older and bigger), the other five are smaller in steps.

Please, do not buy Clown loaches as a cure for snails. They get huge, I know, I have seven of them in a six foot tank (which is probably still too small but my house isn't big enough for a bigger one). It is a myth that Clowns grow to fit the size of the tank, the only reason they appear to do...

I was just having a look for websites for my local fish shops here in Cornwall to see what they had, just out of interest really. What I found was...precious little. It seems that almost all of the fish shops in the area rely on Facebook pages for their promotion. It is fortunate that my nearest...

My seven Clown loaches are all about the same age but wildly different sizes. The two largest are about 7 inches long but the smallest two are no more than three inches -- nose to base of tail. I have heard that in an established environment, the largest female in a group will emit hormones that...

Further to my post above. I put the crushed oyster shell in the filter that same evening and by morning all trace of the lesions on the bodies of the Clown loaches had gone. PH is now up to 6.8 so just acidic enough. The Clowns themselves are like they have a new lease of life, active, eating (a...

Can't see it clearly but I'm assuming it is a pleco from your comment. I used to live in Maidenhead and was very near the original shop of Maidenhead Aquatics, they used to have a large, floor-level, tank in which they kept the plecos that people had handed in. When fully grown, they are...

Like it or not. you'll need at least six-footer eventually. They grow bigger and they get uglier!! :) For smaller tanks I would heartily recommend Zebra loaches, they do much the same as Clown loaches without the problems of large tanks and seemingly almost as long lived.

I had them for years. I should have had them for decades. It's something I repeat, so you can put me on mute, but why plan for failure? They will grow if you you allow them to. And as social fish, they will outgrow your tank. The only way you can avoid that is if you expect them to die young in...

Old thread I know but just seen it as don't get here very often. I have six Clown Loaches in a 6 foot, 700 litre tank and for years they have been absolutely fine: no ammonia, no nitrites and enough nitrates to keep the Vallisnaria going for years too; weekly water changes. I haven't added any...

A long time ago I looked for a male and a female BN catfish and eventually found a suitable pair. Now for one reason or another the two original catfish have disappeared leaving behind their offspring, and their offspring, and their offspring -- I now have over forty BN catfish in my tank. Now...

I keep bees. Today I was only stung twice so that's good. I have five hives and last year I managed to get 136 1lb jars of honey out which I sold for £6 a jar. Seems like a lot of cash? Not really, had to buy a new hive -- £340, plus anti-varroa mite treatments. I also have to buy jars, labels...

One other thing for your info, when you put in the sand don't be tempted to have a mix of sand and gravel as the gravel will rise to the surface with the sand underneath and you will have gained nothing. :)

How long has your old gravel been in? If it is a long time and you disturb it you will release all sorts of nasties into the water which may be detrimental to your fish. Are you just adding gravel or are you changing it? You have a khuli loach there and they prefer sand so they can burrow into...

I can't really answer that question fully as firstly, I've only just got the lights and secondly, the only plants I can grow in my tank are Vallisnaria as the Clown loaches will eat everything else. Vallisnaria grow long fronds (mine are pushing six feet long) and they float so are very near the...

Going back to the bathroom analogy. If you were forced to live in your bathroom but were unable to tell anyone what you felt and were fed, watered and every now and again they brought a woman (or man dependent on your gender) so you could procreate to relieve the boredom or because you had...