Dojo loaches and cleaning overwhelming

55 g tank. They are about a yr old. I got 3 when they were littles. Had to remove substrate, plants etc. They ate the plants and sand was impossible to keep clean. Only tank mate is a female albino bristlenose. She has a hidey cave.

So I feed sinking pellets and a wafer every day. Wafer mostly for pleco. I also feed at night but no wafer. I feed about 1/4 teaspoon of pellets. The debris in the tank is overwhelming! Having to clean more than weekly.

Running 2 Marineland Emperor 450’s and using pre filter sponges. Have a new canister but it won’t fit in cabinet. Toddler w autism means it has to be hidden. I’m at a loss here! The farting they do is funny but the pooping is not! How do I keep this tank clean? Btw, one is normal sized, one chunky, and one morbidly obese! I wish I were kidding. Oh did I mention they ate all my snails (full size apple snails) and killed my Cory cats? Yep. Lovely creatures. They enjoy pets and sucking on fingertips. Lol help please!!!!

 

A thick three to four inch bed of river gravel substrate, saturated with benificial bacteria would significantly break down the excessive Loach waste.
I have the described substrate in my tanks along with three varieties of Botia Loaches. I never gravel vac. Only 35% - 50% weekly WC. Nitrates are <20.

 

River gravel substrate okay. Sounds good. Saturated w beneficial bacteria??? Explain like I’m a dummy please! How does one do that? I use bio balls in each 450 filter and successfully run the bio wheels in both. That kind of bacteria? I’m confused. Photos of your set up if possible. Thank you!

 

Benificial bacteria will establish itself in the substrate gradually. It might take several months for the substrate bacteral bed to mature.

 

Beautiful tank and fish! So the river gravel is easier to clean? You don’t have anything mixed in? I know they love to play in sand but I was sucking too much down my sink. I used the tube from a standard siphon and then used electrical tape to add the cover of a bic pen to that. The tip of the pen cap would hold the siphon above the sand which was great till the loaches came here! Lol their poopers were too much for my pan cap. So that’s when I went bare. I miss the plants. My pleco misses them! Thank you!

 

Although I like the look of sand, I'm not a big fan of it. Too many potential problems.
Years ago when I kept Discus, I briefly tried a bare bottom set up. Too much visible poop & waste resulting in constant maintenance. It's been rounded river gravel ever since. Never a problem.

 

I have read river gravel sold in pet shops leech calcium or something raising ph extremely high. I mean I could go to the river once it warms up here. So to clarify coz I’m going through an “am I old enough to have dementia” stage or “is it from toddler grandson” that’s causes mental blocks. I can put gravel down and maybe anchor some plants in the gravel and it will create its own beneficial bacteria down there? As I said I have the wheels and balls. I wish I could get the canister going too! Cabinet doors not wide enough! Thank you again. You’ve been very kind.

 

Rounded river gravel or Pea gravel is usually inert & won't raise or lower PH. no worries.
Be a lot cheaper to avoid buying it from a pet store.
Rockyards sell river gravel for pennies per pound. Home Depot and Lowe's sell Quikrete All Purpose Gravel, which is Pea gravel, in the lawn & garden dept. Very cheap. Good luck.

 

I have read river gravel sold in pet shops leech calcium or something raising ph extremely high. I mean I could go to the river once it warms up here. So to clarify coz I’m going through an “am I old enough to have dementia” stage or “is it from toddler grandson” that’s causes mental blocks. I can put gravel down and maybe anchor some plants in the gravel and it will create its own beneficial bacteria down there? As I said I have the wheels and balls. I wish I could get the canister going too! Cabinet doors not wide enough! Thank you again. You’ve been very kind.

You’re thinking how I was with the bog filter for my pond.

And by thinking I mean way over lol.
Think like field of dreams. If you build it, they will come.

Just provide a substrate with a surface for the bacteria to colonize. That’s it. More surface area equals more cleaning bacteria. I use landscaping lava rock in my bog filter. Tons of surface areas inside and out.

What I would do. Ok, what I did do lol
I have a grow out tank for my Endlers. The substrate is sand and small pebbles so the corydoras can sift (much like loaches do). The plants I have in there (vallisneria and Java ferns) are planted in 2 or 3 inch hydroponic net cups. The cups are weighted using lava rock which the plants happily root through and out. This gets the plants a couple inches up and out of the substrate and provides great cover and grazing for fry.

In the pond I have a supersized version of it. 2-3 in river cobbles, pea gravel and a couple inches of natural detritus. I assume the fat loaches like it because they’re fat loaches lol



Different tank (the described tank is a hard storage tub) but same setup for plants.

 

Nice set up. My daughter bought her house 4 yrs ago bc it had a pond outside back door. Thing has leaked and she put so much money into trying to fix it. Lol hates her house now. I’ll go to Lowe’s. Thank you!

Rounded river gravel or Pea gravel is usually inert & won't raise or lower PH. no worries.
Be a lot cheaper to avoid buying it from a pet store.
Rockyards sell river gravel for pennies per pound. Home Depot and Lowe's sell Quikrete All Purpose Gravel, which is Pea gravel, in the lawn & garden dept. Very cheap. Good luck.

Thank you again!