A tale of love and acceptance...in my fish tank

[SilverSage]

Once upon a time I bought two little loaches at PetSmart because I had room in my tank and they were STINKIN cute! Sadly, when we moved one of the little guys died. I had been told by a fish lover and then observed in my own tank that they liked to lay on one another (supposedly to sooth themselves) so when mine died I felt the need to get the remaining loach a buddy. However I searched high and low, and could not find another loach that looked like him! So I asked an employee at a local fish store, and he informed me that what I had was a Black Kuhli Loach, and while they didnt have that exact kind, they had some normal (stripy) Kuhli Loaches and that they should serve the purpose. Since I was upgrading my tank and the loaches were so adorable, I got four.

My little Slim was so excited! He immediately tried to snuggle them, but they rejected him! They made their own little Loach pile and left Slim to his own devices. Whenever he would approach, they would leave him and scatter. He had to snuggle inanimate objects like the stone hippo

I went away for a month over Christmas, and when I got back I noticed that now all 5 loaches were snuggling in the same pile! Somehow, over Christmas, even though they had rejected him for several months, the snotty loaches learned about acceptance and love and befriended poor Slim.

And for the fun of it, Here are a couple of tank pictures of a couple of my tanks, including a snapshot of one of my Dojo Loaches. Just because lol.

 

[SilverSage]

 

[littleredhen77]

aweee they are adorable! makes me want to set up a tank again at my house, i have several i had retired because i was thinking my house just has too many windows and it was causing the algae to grow out of control!

your tanks are beautiful though and i just love those little loaches! XD

 

[Kiwibird]

How nice the other loaches finally accepted Slim They are cute little guys, are they more like fish or eels?

BTW, I really like your aquarium decorations (the hippo and rhinos)! Very cool/unique!

 

[Piasa]

What a cool story! Your tanks are beautiful. I used to have a tiny planted aquarium that brought me lots of joy.

 

[ToMang07]

I really like your tank setups!

I'd *like* to decorate mine more.... but our fish are just to big and destructive, lol

Mine in particular like to play excavator all day/night with the rocks, the like to scoop them up and swim to the corners and "spit" them out at the glass, stacking them as high as they can. When I clean the tanks I always level the rocks out, and they have ~1-1.5" of rock base. Right now they have the corners stacked up ~6+/-" in all 4 corners, lol

Here's a video for fun...that's my brother narrating, and me breathing loudly, sorry about that, had the phone too close to my face, lol

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iavMKCT958M"]Feeding Goldfish to a Couple Oscar Fish - YouTube[/ame]

 

[chris-md]

Really neat! I used to have a kuhli loach when I was in grade school, cool little things.

 

[Allee]

Sweet story, Dani! It's nice Slim has finally been accepted by his peers. Very pretty tanks, thanks for sharing.

 

[RavensGryf]

What a cute story Dani ! I'm glad the striped guys finally accepted Slim, so that he no longer has to snuggle inanimate objects like the stone hippo LOL!

I used to have some of the striped Kuhli Loaches when had tanks. I also thought they were cute with the tiny little eyes. Every now and then, Dojo Loaches will have extra pigment, and have a dark spot on the eye like some dogs have. It's adorable.

I miss having tanks, but don't miss the cleaning/maintenance... I had both saltwater, mini reefs, and freshwater. Maybe someday again.

Your tanks look great! I always liked the look of black rock in freshwater aquariums.

 

[SilverSage]

How nice the other loaches finally accepted Slim They are cute little guys, are they more like fish or eels?

BTW, I really like your aquarium decorations (the hippo and rhinos)! Very cool/unique!

I was told that the difference is that loaches have fins and eels do not. However there are loaches out there, or at least things labeled as loaches at the pet stores, that look like fish to me. I really don't know a lot.

As for my tank decor... my husband hates knick knacks, but I am a sentimental person. The rhinos, hippo, and elephant are all stone sculptures brought back from Botswana by my grandfather when he taught economics there for a year. I grew up around these statues and ended up with them after the death of my grandparents. My husband thinks they are stupid. He thinks fish are stupid. I compromise by combining the things that he thinks are stupid lol. He actually thinks they are cool inside the tanks...

 

[SilverSage]

I had to majorly overhaul my main tank when i got back because I had a run in with black beard algea after buying from a shady source of aquatif plants Also my house sitter unplugged what he thought was a lamp but was actually my filter leading to the deaths of 2 of my sword tails, so I rehomed my remaining sword tail (who had switched genders over vacation) to a friend with space in her enormous tank, and now my rhino tank has guppies in it with my Dojo Loaches instead. I took the picture before I restocked it though.

I need more plants, I plant slowly but obsessively lol.

 

[Kiwibird]

How nice the other loaches finally accepted Slim They are cute little guys, are they more like fish or eels?

BTW, I really like your aquarium decorations (the hippo and rhinos)! Very cool/unique!

I was told that the difference is that loaches have fins and eels do not. However there are loaches out there, or at least things labeled as loaches at the pet stores, that look like fish to me. I really don't know a lot.

As for my tank decor... my husband hates knick knacks, but I am a sentimental person. The rhinos, hippo, and elephant are all stone sculptures brought back from Botswana by my grandfather when he taught economics there for a year. I grew up around these statues and ended up with them after the death of my grandparents. My husband thinks they are stupid. He thinks fish are stupid. I compromise by combining the things that he thinks are stupid lol. He actually thinks they are cool inside the tanks...

Interesting little animals! Are they very active or do they hide a lot like most fishes seem to? What a shame your husband doesn't like those statues. I think they are cool. What a neat way to display them too! How big are those aquariums you have them in?

 

[henpecked]

I miss living in Hawaii and using black rocks in my tanks.i keep some for about 30 yrs and just gave them away not long ago. Nice set ups you have. Swordtails we collected from several creeks for free, seems like around Aiea Heights.

 

[SilverSage]

My tanks are small. I need to put a picture up, I have a Beta in a big bowl, he is purple and blue and was rescued. I thought he would die quickly but apparently with consistent clean water and food he bounced right back and seems very happy! He lives with two Ghost shrimp to help keep his environment clean.

My 5 gallon tank has one beta, 5 loaches, 4 shrimp, and a common plecostomus.

My 10 gallon has two dojo loaches, three guppies, 1 pleco, and 3 shrimp.

All my tanks are planted, but I am adding slowly.

I have recently bought a rock polisher, I am really excited to include polished rocks as well!!