Skunk Loaches or Corys?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Punkymom

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
517
Location
Maryville, TN
Ok, here's the scoop. Mr. Scary Dragon Fish died the other day. I'm kind of sorry he did, but then again I'm kinda glad I don't have him anymore. The girl at the LFS convinced me to buy him...but I didn't really want to. I knew they got large and all that. Anyway, I'm not sure why he died, the water was near brackish, and he was eating every day. Not that I care why he died, but that does sound terrible now, doesn't it? Anyway, now I have extra room and I was thinking about either a school of Skunk Loaches or Corys. I've kept Corys before and I absolutely adore them...I've never had the Skunks before but I saw them in the LFS and find them precious as well, so, which should it be? If you've kept Skunks, what are they like? I pretty much know about Corys, so it's the Skunks I wanna know about. Are they sensitive to water quality? Aggressive? Skittish? TIA
 
I saw skunks for the first time at the good lfs on Monday and fell in LURVE! Omg they're pretty babies.

So I asked the lfs guy about them; are they aggressive, will the school with clown loaches (I have 3), any difference between them...He told me they might school with the clowns but weren't aggressive. I restrained myself, and looked them up on loaches.com. Hah! Good thing I did restrain myself. Apparently they are REALLY agressive and really should be kept in a species tank. I was so bummed; I was really hoping they wouldn't be *sigh*

You can read about em here: http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_morleti.html
 
Sorry about the dragon fish. I'm kinda glad my g/f forbade (well, advised...) me to get one, coz they are kinda scary looking. But still pretty cool. I think seeing them in the store made me realize just how scary they do look. Online they look kinda cooler...

I put a vote in for the cories, but also advise you to look up Gangetic loaches (Botia rostrata) on loaches.com. They're a beautiful mottled black and white, and the two I have, though timid, are a great pair to watch at work. They grow to 4 inches.

Good luck deciding. There are also many other cool species of bottom dwellers out there that you should consider, so don't limit yourself to cories and loaches if you don't know about these guys. E.g. Farlowella Cats, whiptail cats (get fairly large, but are neat looking, and twig-like).

Also, Allivymar... This liveaquaria page strikes a middle ground between your LFS employee's rec and your discoveries on the net: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=1586
 
Neat madasa! I do see they list them as semi aggressive; its a shame because body wise they look SO much like my clowns (not pattern wise tho obviously) and my clowns are a peaceful happy bunch of campers (except when fighting over a sinking wafer LOL). Heck, they even click like the clowns do. I really wish they weren't so aggressive and would school together with my clowns *sigh* that would look so great in my 55g.

I do tend to stick with www.loaches.com 's recommendations; besides the fact those are all personal experiences, the folks there are incredibly knowledgeable about loaches. Most of em have kept loaches for many years and I have yet to see them steer me wrong (if you want to see some amazing loach pics, check here: http://www.bobd.lunarpages.com/loaches/index.html and click on to the galleries. I am blown away by Bob's collection of loaches, as well as the size of his adult clowns; these guys are HUGE!).
 
Well, I got 3 little skunk guys. They are SO cuuuuute!!! All the fish I have in my 55 gal are semi-aggressive, so hopefully they will do ok. My Tiger Barbs are tough suckers. I couldn't resist them. I spent 30 min going back and forth between corys and skunks corys and skunks. Oh woe is me. But I gave in to cuteness and newness and now my 3 cutenesses are acclimating to my water. If these guys croak (or if they deserve to be put down for meaness...but I couldn't do that) I'll try and find some of those zebra looking guys you talked about, Madasas...those are pretty, too!!! Man, it took the lady 20 minutes to catch all 3 of them. They were in with the dragon fish, and she picked up a decoration and 10 of those things fell out (dragon fish). I was like DANG!!! Then a little skunker fell out and she caught him. But not before he fell on the ground and poked her little girl's finger with his spine. She ran around going he bit me he bit me!!! She was only like 7 years old. It was cute. So here I go I'm off to play with my fishes.
 
I wish I had a digital camera that works! I'll have to see if my dad will let me borrow his. Unfortunately, that means I have to talk to him... :roll: because he doesn't live with me. I'll do my best!!! Fish Scout's Honor!!!
 
Back
Top Bottom