So Australia by and large still holds the view that you can only keep and breed Hillstream Loaches in a river tank and that its very hard to do.
This makes getting useful answers to my questions here difficult.
I have watched and read a few guides about breeding Sewellia, and like Cory they USUALLY (if written in the last 3-4 years) say, "Temperature and current don't matter. Rock piles, good food and Good O2 is all you need and they will breed like crazy."
However I have a few questions as someone aiming to make them his first breeding project.
1) Most people use Sponge Filters for Sewellia breeding colonies, (Or most breeding projects) however since we are dealing with a Gravel Substrate is an Undergravel Filter a good idea?
On one hand the small suction could suck the eggs where the adults can't eat them, which seems like a benifit.
On the other hand, cleaning such a filter will very likely suck some of the eggs out of the tank. And the rock piles will create spots where cleaning is difficult/impossible without rescaping.
2) IMO (Note: Newbie less then 6 months in the hobby so take this with a nanoscopic pinch of salt) part of the reason we thought they were so hard to breed for so long was that by putting the egg scattering Sewellia into a river tank to breed, all the eggs were getting caught in the current (as they would in nature) and being sucked into the powerhead/river manafold/ wave maker.
Loaches.com's comments about finding Fry in filters seems to confirm that.
However while their is possibly some debate about if the guppy shaped babies enjoy such current, the adults definitely do. Its not required for them to breed but they will fight over rocks to get closer to the current source. So if I have a single powerhead or wave maker in a 55 Gallon is it possible to put it in such a way to please the adults without risk of sucking up eggs?
3)There seems to be some debate as to if plants should be added to such a setup (as in one intended for colony breeding for Sewellia). On one hand plants steal food from algae, which means you need to provide more food for the adults and fry. They also don't help hide the fry or their eggs unless they are a thick cover.
On the other hand, its a bit of extra Nitrate control and as a newbie that seems like a good idea in a tank that's meant to contain fry.
So what are people's thoughts on that. Specifically my mind goes to Brazilian Pennywart and Ambulia as those are fast growing plants with largish leaves that I have seen sewellia climb over. Can they even grow in a largely gravel Substrate?
4)Finally while the videos I have watched make it fairly clear Tempurature, GH, KH does effect Sewellia breeding, I don't seem to have an answer about pH other then "Keep it close to Neutral." Does anyone have anything more specific?
Thank you everyone who answers any question
