Clown Loaches and BN fry

[JKemp]

I have some nearly hatched BN fry. They have just started to leave the males cave. The parents and fry are in a 2' tank on their own. I have a couple of clown loaches I would like to add to the tank. They are only 3-4cm size. Would they pose a threat to the BN fry?

The reason I wish to add the loaches is that until recently this was a community tank. I sold off the community fish a couple of weeks ago. Since then I have had an explosion of small round whiteish insects in the water. I don't know how they have gotten into the tank unless eggs were amongst the flake or frozen foods I've used in the past. The tank water is well filtered. The LFS advised me the loaches will soon get the problem under control.

Thanks

Jeff

[Anita_ozfish]

Hi Jeff,

Yes, I think your clownies would love the baby b/noses. If you are adding them because of the 'white stuff' in the tank, do a search on 'google' for planaria. I think this is probably the stuff you have in your tank. It comes from excess food in the tank. Cut down food, increase water changes and they will disappear in about 2 weeks. They are harmless and can appear every so often in you tank from excess food. It is not known where they come from or how they get to be there ...... but they are lol If that's what you have in your tank, you won't need the clownies at all.

Hope this helps

[JKemp]

Thanks Anita. When we had our first BN fry just before Christmas it was a big surprise. There were gourami's and a ghost knife also in the tank. We didn't even know we had BN eggs. We found 6 fry. I suspect the Ghost Knife had a good feed previously. This time we could see loads of eggs in the cave. We haven't seen too many fry out of the cave yet but when I disturbed the cave (its actually an ornamental castle) there were fry buzzing everywhere! They don't seem to like the light at this stage. They look to have used up all their egg sacks so hopefully they will not be so shy soon. I'll put the clowns into my community cichlid tank which already has 2 others in it.

I did as you suggested and checked google. I found a site with pictures of various water creatures. The creatures I have may be Daphnia. They seem to get a bit darker in colour as they mature. I'll have a closer look at them tonight when I get home. With the parent BN staying in the cave all the time these creatures are rampant.

Thanks again for your expert help Anita.

[Anita_ozfish]

No worries Jeff, just my opinions

Daphnia??

That would be most unusual in a tank situation.

Daphnia usually lives outside in the sunshine and lots of green water and they are tiny little orangey spots the size of pinheads or smaller. I don't think I have ever heard of them appearing and living in an indoor tank but if that's what you have, then that will be great for all your fish - live food on demand

The planaria I was referring to are little white wormy looking things that stick to the glass and sort of let their short bodies float in the current. They are probably about 2-3mm in length.

Sounds like more research is in order lolol

Happy hunting

[JKemp]

I might bring a sample with me to the April meeting. They don't seem to be causing any harm to the BN population at this stage anyway.

Jeff