Loaches

[itafx]

I have been considering getting some loaches to fight snail outbreaks. I even wanted to consider beeding them I went on Loaches.com and my findings so far have included:

1. Most loaches seem to grow too big for tanks: Clown loach: 16 inches, Weather loach 10 inches, Yoyo loach 6 inches, etc.
2. Most loaches have never been bred in captivity. Kuhlii was the only exception I saw.
3. They all seem to be schooling fish requiring at least 5 more for normal community dynamics. This could overwhelm smaller tanks where I wanted a loach for clean up and not as the main attraction of the tank
4. Many are billed as quite aggressive (blue botia, angelicus botia, skunk loach) with clown, dwarf, and zebra loaches as exceptions.
5. They tend to be extra susceptible to Ich due to their smooth skins, although I couldn't ascertain whether they have different levels of vulnerability based on species.

I was just looking for a nice, available, relatively undemanding peaceful loach I could add to the community and breed if I wanted to. Is there such a thing?

 

[Zagz]

IMO depending on the tank size, yoyo's are great. I kept 3 yoyo's in a 29 gal for 2 years. Currently I've moved them to 135 gal. I have also got clown loaches in a 125, kuhli's in a 75. I don't think you will have much success breeding them unfortunately.

 

[itafx]

That sounds interesting. Did the yoyos school or were they more or less independent? How big did they grow in the 2 years? Do you know if kuhli loaches are effective on snails?

 

[theotheragentm]

Unless you really want loaches, I'd handle the snail problem by manual removal. Getting fish That being said, loaches are great fish.

Tank size is definitely one major factor to consider. What size tank do you have?

 

[itafx]

For the past week I've removed approximately 100 snails per day in my 55 and 150 gallon tanks and they just keep coming. At first, I thought the snails were cute and would be ok, but one day I looked in my 150g and it looked like a lawn mower had been through mowing the plants and leaving zillions of clippings. Is there an issue with how well or how fast, or how thoroughly loaches remove the snails?

 

[Zagz]

My 75 gal is overridden with MTS due to plants. I manually remove them and have 8 kuhli's in there. The kuhli's don't touch the MTS. Other than my clown loaches, nothing seems to touch my MTS. And even my clowns can't keep up with them. So if it is MTS you have, you will have to keep doing manual removal.

My yoyo's did and still do school. There were about 4" in 2 years. They are an absolute riot. They are still about 4" and they have been in the new tank for 6 months.

 

[patryuji]

What else is in the tank?

Peaceful and loaches are somewhat mutually exclusive terms (in my experiences) with the exception of clown loaches.

Yo-yos are one of the least aggressive (and stay smaller) but most loaches do settle into the 5" to 8" size and tend to be fin nippers. I have never had any "dwarf chain" loaches but I have read that they are peaceful and stay under 3".

Skunk loaches get no bigger than about 3" to 4" but they are moderately aggressive.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I just wanted to add that I wouldn't keep the more active loaches, like Yoyos, in with Cories, as they can outcompete the Cories for food. My Yoyos would run over the Cories and were quite boistrous, so I had to get rid of them. I have had some Cory deaths in the past and I attribute them to the Cories not getting enough food.

 

[Zagz]

I have cories and yoyo's in a tank. Mind you it is 135 gals so there is a lot of room. My kuhli's are in with discus and cardinal tetras, and my clowns are in with my Africans. My clown loaches are 5-6".