Loach Love

[Autumnsky]

Hey all I am working on adding a few kinds of Loaches and want the m to be healthy and happy in my tanks. I know I am not the only keeper who likes Loaches so what better way than have some general discussion to get the questions answered and get people more interested in keeping them?

I have questions about 3 types atm.

Clown Loaches I know from previous research that they get huge. In most tanks I have seen them at about 12" - adult size, though understand they can get even up to 18".

I have a 72G tank for now (upgrade to come) and have one adopted guy, and will be getting about 3-4 more. How long can they be comfortable in a 72G with good swimming room (no pic - rescaping atm)?

Reticulated Butterfly Loach aka Hillstream Loaches, and all the others that are similar... Does it matter to them which kind of Loach they get to hang out? The more commonly available ones are different colors and not specifically Reticulated they like cooler water to around 75F How many keeping them above that maybe 77F. My fish will be good with that water temp.

 

[sinibotia]

"Loach Love" is a thread title I can get behind

A 72 gallon is a 4 foot tank right? They can be in a 4 foot tank for a long time. Depends on how fast yours grow. Typically they are slow growing so I would say around years. A better metric is to upgrade them whenever the biggest/alpha loach reaches 7-8 inches. Happy healthy clown loaches are very active so make sure the upgrade has as much footprint as possible! A 4*2*2.5 150 gallon is worse than a 6*1.5*2 125 gallon.

Hillstream loaches aren't necessarily schooling like botiid and cobitiid (kuhli) loaches, in fact most of them are territorial towards other hillstreams so you should do research on each kind for compatibility. They can't really hurt each other the way they fight but it's still good to check. Typically you can keep a few kinds together. But what other fish you keep with them should be tailored around their needs.

IMO the temperature you keep hillstreams at depends on the rest of the setup. Hillstream loaches come from incredibly high-oxygen environments- cool, turbulent water. Cold water is physically capable of holding more oxygen than warm water, and the turbulence keeps the water mixed and increases gas exchange much like an air pump in an aquarium. If you have a ton of water turnover in your tank (as in, massive air pump and tons of filtration) you might be able to get away with higher temperatures. But really, hillstreams are so specialized that I don't believe they should be kept in anything but a specialized setup built around their needs- water temp less than 75 degrees and extremely high water turnover. Outside of these conditions they're typically sluggish because they just don't quite have enough oxygen.

 

[Autumnsky]

The 72G bowfront is 4'. Good to know about the 4 vs. 6 foot.

This tank has a Fluval FX-5 (~600 gph) with a huge blasting flow and added air bubbler as well. Previously had one Reticulated Hillstream and it seemed really happy, stayed on the out flow side of the tank, on the glass and on 1 particular smooth large stone most of the time. (he died during a PH crash)

How about Loaches for 75-77F Rainbow Fish tank (they prefer that temp) which will probably end up being the 72G after the upgrade.

Clown Loaches will go to the upgrade sized tank for Discus (whenever I find the right tank). I think I will go with the total of 5 Clown Loaches and be willing to adopt more into the shoal.

Thought this would be a thread to "hook" your interest Sinibotia!!!

 

[TMRC Exotics]

I'm keeping my hillstream loaches at 69° and cramming all the oxygen I can in, air intake on the powerhead and 2 air pumps. They graze on green algae so I'm running a 16 hour light schedule to grow it. They prefer a unidirectional flow as in nature so a hillstream manifold is a good idea, I've built one in my hillstream loach tank build thread and sini has a good link to building one.

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[sinibotia]

Botias and rainbowfish are a great mix, any of the smaller/medium botias (kubotai, almorhae, histrionica,etc) would work in a 72 gallon and go well with rainbowfish at that temp. Believe it or not, 600 gph on a 72 gallon would actually be on the low end for hillstream loaches. 15x turnover per hour is ideal IMO. But it would be perfect for botias.

 

[Autumnsky]

I'm keeping my hillstream loaches at 69° and cramming all the oxygen I can in, air intake on the powerhead and 2 air pumps. They graze on green algae so I'm running a 16 hour light schedule to grow it. They prefer a unidirectional flow as in nature so a hillstream manifold is a good idea, I've built one in my hillstream loach tank build thread and sini has a good link to building one.

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What is a hillstream manifold, and what does it do?

Botias and rainbowfish are a great mix, any of the smaller/medium botias (kubotai, almorhae, histrionica,etc) would work in a 72 gallon and go well with rainbowfish at that temp. Believe it or not, 600 gph on a 72 gallon would actually be on the low end for hillstream loaches. 15x turnover per hour is ideal IMO. But it would be perfect for botias.

See, these bits of information are why a thinking learning thread is so valuable.

I have a AC 110 I was planning on adding but it was used in my tank with copper and I have to clean it out really well first and may just get a new one. It says about 500g/hr.

 

[sinibotia]

A hillstream manifold design is basically a filtration system built using powerheads and PVC to achieve a strong unidirecional flow. Here's a link: River-Tank Manifold Design — Loaches Online

With those two filters you'd be at 15x turnover per hour (although not unidirectional) so it could work. Not sure how the rainbowfish would like it though.

 

[Delapool]

OP, would you consider yoyo loaches at all? Slimmer build I would assume at 5 inches or so in my 4ft which suits the plant/ornament layout.

My lfs owner is very keen on clown loaches

Edit - missed the bit where you have a clown loach.

 

[sinibotia]

OP, would you consider yoyo loaches at all? Slimmer build I would assume at 5 inches or so in my 4ft which suits the plant/ornament layout.

My lfs owner is very keen on clown loaches

Edit - missed the bit where you have a clown loach.

Yoyo loaches are a little bit of a surprise.... typically around 6-7 inches, but some never break 4 (depending on what you believe about botia rostrata ) and others get as big as 10.

Yoyo's are what I would do with the rainbowfish- or kubotai or hiostrionica (all 3 are fairly interchangeable)

 

[Delapool]

What other common loaches are there to look out for? Here I know clown, yoyo and kuhli and er, that's about it.

 

[sinibotia]

Dunno what's available to you dela. But botia kubotai and botia striata aren't too uncommon. I see skunk loaches around a lot as well (yasuhikotakia morleti) but they're mean. Then there's sidthimunkis which are available sometimes. And dojo/weather loaches are very common. Those are all at least somewhat common loaches in my experience. I wish they were more common considering some (kubotai, striata and sidthimunki) would be the absolute best introductions to loaches if they were as common as clown loaches.

 

[Autumnsky]

Golden Zebra Loach looks pretty nice. I like loaches of all types.

As a kid we had horsehead now seemingly more often called Horseface loaches and Striped Kuhlis. They make you happy!

 

[sinibotia]

I've heard great things about golden zebra loaches (histrionica) but never had them. I've never even seen them for sale. But allegedly they're as good or better than kubotai in temperament, roughly the same size. If you can find them definitely get them.

 

[sam180]

I love my kubotai's. Always playful and active. Would highly recommend them.

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[sinibotia]

I love my kubotai's. Always playful and active. Would highly recommend them.

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+1. If I could replace every clown loach in every store in the world with a kubotai I'd do it in a heartbeat. Such awesome fish.

 

[Autumnsky]

Wow, I have seen those but didn't know what they are. Sini that's saying alot!!!

I also have found Petruichthys sp. Rosy “Rosy loach” which are said to come from the area that Celestial Pearl Danios come from. They are painfully shy and I am wondering about those as good tankmates. Anyone have them?

 

[Laeris]

I was going to get them to go in the 40, but they're not the kind that'll stay towards the bottom so I went kuhli/dojo/emerald cory instead.

They are sooo adorable, but active in mid level.

 

[Coursair]

Wow, I have seen those but didn't know what they are. Sini that's saying alot!!!

I also have found Petruichthys sp. Rosy “Rosy loach” which are said to come from the area that Celestial Pearl Danios come from. They are painfully shy and I am wondering about those as good tankmates. Anyone have them?

My friend has these. I'd give them a dark background. Plenty of plants and other Nano fish tank mates. She has about 9. They do come out for food [emoji1360]


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[Delapool]

I was going to get them to go in the 40, but they're not the kind that'll stay towards the bottom so I went kuhli/dojo/emerald cory instead.

They are sooo adorable, but active in mid level.

Is mixing loaches ok? Also wondering if they hang out together?

I was looking at kuhli loaches on weekend and wondering if they would go with the two yoyo loaches I have.

 

[Autumnsky]

My friend has these. I'd give them a dark background. Plenty of plants and other Nano fish tank mates. She has about 9. They do come out for food [emoji1360]
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I am tired of hiding fish.