Best Buddies

[marg]

Knife Fish and Clown Loach - always together.

[duck]

You might have some little knife loach :lol:

[DR.V]

They're shy , always hide behind rock or driftwood

[weird]

Thats funny. Who goes towards who ? Do they seek each other out or is there only one hiding place ? Very interesting behaviour.

[marg]

They are a really strange pair, and I say pair because they are always together.

The large rock is not far from the side of the tank - Knifie always goes in closest to the rock, then Loachie moves in right next to him and closest to the glass.


I have had them both for about 18 months now and they always stick together. When I put food into the tank they will come out of their spot and feed together, then they go back to their possie. You never see them in any other position, they are always in the same spot, facing exactly the same way :roll: :roll: .

You can go right up close to the glass and look at them - they just stay there snuggled up together. I guess they're in love :? . Like Duck said, I might get some little Knifeloaches :lol: :lol: :lol: .

I'm glad the picture turned out - I wasn't sure if it would as I'm not real smart when it comes to anything technical - now I just have to remember what I did so I can post some of my Discus.

[Woll]

Do you only have one clown loach?? If so, its probably schooling with the knife fish?

[oldschoolculture]

That is so cool. I love my ghost knife, just wish that it was nicer to my discus.

[discusguy]

anyone familiar with a fish called commonly a "fruit salad tetra"? I have some and was wondering if they would be suitable tankmates?

[kevkoi]

:lol: More interesting common names... First time I've heard of Fruit Salad tetra.... Would like to know what they are though, so a picture would help.

[discusguy]

here is a pic

[dkfennell]

The "fruit salad" tetras appear to be painted tetras. They often go under the names of strawberry, blueberry, etc. (depending on color). They are I believe Black Skirt Tetras, artificially colored by food dyes. The colors wear off (the blues faster than the pinks). Despite the conventional wisdom that they die easily, in my case they have been through hell and back (excess iron fertilizing, enormous pH swings, this summer water temps in excess of 95 F, etc), and appear none the worse for wear.

I bought 4 before I knew they were tampered with on the insistence of my 6 year old twins (who argue over everything, including their favorite colors, blue and pink). I was quite embarrassed to discover later that they were artificially colored, knowledge of which would have prevented me from buying them. Now, what am I supposed to do? So I keep them in a 10 gallon planted tank, in which I did all my experiments on DIY CO2, plant fertilitzation, etc. In the process I made some truly stupid mistakes, such as over-dosing iron by a factor of 10, injecting CO2 at a level of about 90 ppm, etc. As Mengele-like as this may sound, I never consciously tried to injure them (much as I wish they were not "artifiicial"). But I must say, I am glad I made these mistakes on painted tetras and not discus. The tetras, however, seem unfazed. These mistakes had one benefit: They caused me to get compressed CO2, and to work out (and double check) the correct doses for my big tank.

Cheers,
Darrell Fennell

[marg]

I used have another Clown Loach and another Knife Fish however sadly both of them died (due to my inexperience).

I always meant to replace them and get each fish another partner, but about 3 months ago Clownie and Loachie decided to sort that problem out themselves, so I don't think I'll bother - like duck says, one day I might get some little Clownloachies lol. :roll: .