14 inch Gold Dojo Loach

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McSlay

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 17, 2023
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Hi everyone! I bought a gold dojo loach 1.5 years ago when it was about the size of my pinky and my how it has grown. It’s roughly 14 inches now which is bigger than what they’re known to be in captivity. Anyway I think it’s pretty cool and thought you would too so here are a couple of pictures :)
 

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Hi and welcome to the forum :)

That's a decent sized loach :)

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you have a number of fish in that tank that will get big and become aggressive when they mature. A number of them also come from water with different chemistry.

You have a Haplochromis venustus or livingstoni, which grow to 8-10 inches and are predators. They come from Lake Malawi and do best in water with a GH around 300ppm and a pH around 7.6.

You have an Oscar cichlid that can reach 12 inches plus and is a predator. These fish come from soft acid water (GH below 150ppm, pH below 7.0) in South America.

You have a lovely red cap goldfish, some Melanotaenia splendida rainbowfish, and a swordtail, which do well in water with a GH around 200ppm and a pH above 7.0. Both the goldfish and rainbowfish need lots of plant matter in their diet.

You have a couple of tetras and these come from soft acid water (GH below 100ppm and a pH below 7.0). These fish need to be kept in groups of at least 10 or more. One appears to be a coloured widow/ skirt tetra and the other looks like a Buenos Aires tetra. Both are renown fin nippers and might damage the goldfish's fins.

When the Oscar and venustus cichlids get big they could eat the smaller fish and attack the goldfish. Ideally, you would get a second tank and have the Oscar in one, the venustus in another, the tetras in another and the goldfish, swordtail and rainbows in another.
 
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