Getting Ready For The Clowns! [some Missing Posts In Thread]

Given the price of play sand it might be worth swapping it out for peace of mind... bith from a bacterial and a sharpness point of view. How are the cories barbells?

Very sorry to read about this. I've had no personal experience with clown loaches so unfortunately can't comment on their behaviour. However, all species are certainly capable of fighting (and this may include to the point of a fatal injury or stress-induced death), and indeed my male x-ray tetras have acquired a lot of injuries over the years through their frequent spats (eg their longstanding eye injuries, marks on their spine which do heal), and rogue individuals exist even in the most timid and peaceful of species.

I agree that there is no need to do a treatment. If there were a sign of finrot, fungus or other infection pre-death (some of these can occur post-mortem), then yes. However, for parasites, eSHa 2000 wouldn't be the treatment of choice. Also, without anything to pinpoint what was wrong and therefore which treatment would be required, treatment is rather pointless and more likely to cause undue stress and further problems if not actually required. Additionally, unless you had a hospital tank to move the fish too, you'd be risking disrupting the cycle in the quarantine tank - a risk that is far greater than the very small (if any) benefit of treatment in this case.

Hope that helps.

Best of luck with your clowns.
Sometimes the little smaller ones of any species can be quite feisty (I'm 4ft 11  )
I went for a drive around a few LFS in my new area on the weekend. One had a display tank that included a group of clown loaches. I have to say that they were big fish, with one being particularly huge. They had such stunning colours & markings. Very impressive. 

I often get water ready the night before because I run the water through a nitrate filter, which slows the whole process. I also have several large tanks, so am getting back into the routine of doing one a night during the week, so I don't have to do them all on the weekend.

If I wasn't renting I think I'd look at getting an RO unit, so I'll be interested to hear what sort of units you look at.

It's amazing that so much information is picked up without realising when you start learning about fish, water parameters, nitrogen cycle, etc. Learning anything new is always an exciting challenge. 

It's amazing that so much information is picked up without realising when you start learning about fish, water parameters, nitrogen cycle, etc. Learning anything new is always an exciting challenge. 

Hi @Littlefish

And that last sentence says it all for me. The day that I stop learning about things that interest me is not something that I can envisage happening. Long may it stay like that!

JPC