Loach advice

[redlum777]

'ullo - new to the site, lots of great reading so i decided to join.

i was thinking of doing a tank (maybe 5-10 gal) for my betta and some loaches. for that size of a tank, any recommendations on what type of loach (and how many) i could put in it? i'm quite charmed by the weather loach, but i'm assuming they'd need a bit more space. i am curious though since they'd virtually have the tank to themselves, if they'd be fine. granted, i've never seen them in their adult form - might be an obvious answer to that question!

many thanks in advance!

 

[dkpate]

Welcome to AA!

They can't be kept together because the loaches are cold water, and the betta is tropical. And they can reach 9-10 inches, so the 5-10G would be too small.

 

[mgamer20o0]

no loach that i know of off hand that will fit in a 10 gall on tank.

 

[dkpate]

Yeah, the brown loaches would be fine. They only get about 3-4 inches.

 

[flippergonzo]

Kuhli loaches?

Please don't take this as a definitive answer, but what about a couple of Kuhli loaches? Any thoughts from experienced keepers?

If you can keep them from hiding all the time, they're fun to keep...

J

 

[HN1]

IMO, a 10G is too small for any loaches other than possibly dwarf chains and those would need to be the only fish pretty much. The preferred water temp and flow unfortunately kinda rule out bettas with loaches. Get a betta and save up for a bigger tank, one is never enough!

Welcome to AA!

 

[meegosh]

I have three kuhli's in my 10g with playsand and they are doing great. They are quite the experts at hiding, like others have mentioned. With that being said, they do come out as soon as the lid opens and I drop some flakes in. They will not burrow well in sand but seem to like burrowing in gravel. My three usually wrap themselves around one of my nana petite and hide under the leaves.

I have three of the striped ones and they are about 3" long. I've had them for almost a year. They have grown about an inch in length since I've had them and they have certainly gotten fatter!

 

[dkpate]

+1 Meegosh. I have 6 brown loaches in my 20G, but they are out ALL day doing hot laps around the bubblers. They crack me up! Especially when they are digging in the sand with their "whiskers." Hilarious! And they also run into the other fish and that's pretty funny.

 

[meegosh]

When I was cleaning my 10g out last night the loaches started doing their laps around the outside of the tank. They were moving pretty good and ran right into the side of a neon. I've never seen a neon jump so high! I had the water down about halfway since I was doing a water change and the neon almost cleared the top. I couldn't help but laugh when I read your post dkpate.

 

[dkpate]

HAHAHA! And I laughed at yours as well, because I know EXACTLY what you are talking about!

 

[redlum777]

thanks for all the good advice everyone! i hadn't thought about kuhis - they sound like so much fun. well, i'm not in a hurry - just in the research/brainstorming stage (which i find is half the fun anyway).

any recommendations on other type of fish that would go well with them? (tank size aside, that's a decision yet to be made - yeah, i should just save up for something big - lol! save myself the heart ache of wanting to expand but then can't!)

 

[dkpate]

I think pretty much any fish will go with them.