the quandary... it's @mattW's fault

[Magnum Man]

in a private discussion we talked about clear water fish, that may eat wood... in this case a quandary, as hillstream's are from clear fast flowing streams, yet there may be species that eat on sticks and branches that fall into the stream, or roots and woody parts of plants that grow out of the edges, while the volume of flow prevents any accumulation of tannins...

I don't put any wood in my hillstream tank, as I can't replicate the flow of a fast flowing stream, and doing so, would build up more tannins than the fish would experience in the wild...

I've had exceptional luck with many species of hillstream's, yet there are several species I haven't been able to keep long term... a lot of these are like the rare saddle back lizard type species , and maybe that is because they eat some wood, as well as aufwucks, and I don't want wood in the tank, changing my water conditions...

so we can't keep all the species out there... or can we??? this morning, with this past conversation in mind, I went looking for food that contains wood... I'll admit, with time available, I found one... to me this seems most like a hillstream problem, but perhaps there are other fish native to clear clean waters, that require some wood in their diet???

I'll admit. I hadn't given this a thought before, and thanks to @MattW ... for giving my already full brain, something more to think about...

but this is the food I found... admittedly, if it was just for a pleco, I would just put a piece of driftwood in the tank... maybe there are some clear water plecos or Otto species, that need some wood in their diet??? anyway I have a jar of this in my shopping basket, and will devote a little more time to the subject... anyone ever buy this stuff, or something similar???

https://www.amazon.com/Xtreme-Aquatic-Foods-2167-AA-Scrapers/dp/B091NG7YH3/ref=mp_s_a_1_4_maf_1?crid=311H09LYI1GUB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vJfbIPlJ697xGH36RKQtwEyyJ4pX6beJMU7_9LFWGmxEo7jGl07TgedzaokZDlXxBpuNp-wVQ2Abl_aPmDLluWCirbSPrmMfScLCSkc9NA2OvT90hbOw0oGyMuU-qSQRuwf_71PgdNn_wpfvn3SZz0tgQpAK4jYKYnPhREEhtBj8LQjzZphfH4YyfcwiHzF8-nLWRhAwOrzEz_2kH-FqcA.uDdcAHxxZBp7OagJo8zXM3nsmpjXTwics8UV7730CFA&dib_tag=se&keywords=fish%2Bfood%2Bfor%2Bfish%2Bthat%2Beat%2Bwood&qid=1770813386&sprefix=fish%2Bfood%2Bfor%2Bfish%2Bthat%2Beat%2Bwood%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-4&th=1&psc=1

 

[GaryE]

I would take a look at this. Wood eating cats are very specialized, and I don;t think these loaches share the body structures necessary.

An Algae eating loach, the Hillstream loaches, Balitoridae & Gastromyzontidae: Dietary Ecology

While my fascination is largely with Loricariids, rasping species are interesting. Unlike the majority of fishes who are limited in what they can eat by the size of their mouth rasping fishes are n…

thescientificfishkeeper.co.uk

 

[Magnum Man]

I'll admit that I've not seen visible teeth on the species I've not been able to keep long term... and since I have a large variety that are thriving, I assume I'm not giving the short timers something they require ( likely dietary )... it's also not unrealistic, that the "lizard type" and the " sting ray" types may have different dietary needs ...

I'll likely still buy a food like I listed above, to try a couple disks, each feeding just to see if a specific type of fish is more likely to eat it...

 

[Magnum Man]

reading the cellulose part of this package... I do have plant roots in this tank, and coincidentally my dwarf red saddle back ( which I haven't seen for a while ) spent a good portion of it's time grazing on the pothos roots in this tank... I assumed it was getting algae growing on the surface, but perhaps was actually after the roots themselves...

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Just put some wood in your tank and keep up on your water changes. I can't speak too much of Asian hillstreams, but around here, the water in the mountain creeks gets downright amber-colored in the summer. The trout don't seem to care, as long as the water stays nice and cold, with plenty of oxygen and good bugs to eat.

 

[Magnum Man]

I try to keep up on my water changes... and I used to put repashi on sticks, however I had to keep them in the water all the time so they would sink enough to stand up in a corner, and it got to be too much hassle, so only pothos roots in the tank right now

 

[MattW]

I'll admit. I hadn't given this a thought before, and thanks to @MattW ... for giving my already full brain, something more to think about...

Sorry about that

I just remembered that I do have some small spiderwood branches that I got from Superfish a while back. I may put a couple in and see how my Loaches react. This won't affect my parameters as much as other wood types that I have currently available. I need a pH above 7.0 minimum for my Sawbwa and loaches, as my tap is around 7.2 avg which could be affected by larger pieces of wood.

I'm also looking into expanding my group by 2 more. Probably leading to overstocking, but I have a good rhythm of 20L weekly water changes, minimum now. Plus, the setup has reached the age, which I think is appropriate for it to be classed as mature (4 months), with its filter well over 1 and a half years mature too. The pothos and plants also do heavy lifting with nitrates as a safety net.