Chinese weatherfish

[Graeme Robson]

Becuase we all know you will.

To random noise?

What? I hear the next man on the moon here? I think!

[mikev]

I see I should be more careful talking about things that I would like before researching them!

Hey, you research things by talking about them, you are doing exactly right!

(And, as you know, I was in exactly your situation short time ago...and talking things over here and getting truly exceptional help from Martin and Jim made me go ahead.)

I'd personally try my best to talk things over with someone who actually did it before step 4. is considered; and unfortunately I could offer mostly second-hand knowledge on this. Do try to locate the person from Scotland if you can, but even his post contained some useful info as I recall.

Also, it is quite likely that the best time to release a fish to a pond is spring; this way it gets properly acclimated and ready for the winter.

If you do go ahead, I'd be most interested in learning about your experience...I'm considering this idea too (but not this year)...

[shari]

Weather loaches are very tough fish. There have been accounts on this forum about people finding them in their rug, covered in slime and fuzz, still alive. Returned them to the tank and they survived just as though it hadn't happened...

[sophie]

I will do as like young lady!


Dont tell me what to do now!

don't tell me. You got possessed by the spirit of your eldest child... (could be worse. could be possessed by the spirit of my eldest child; then you'd be following everyone around WHINING. aaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggghhhhh.)

[Graeme Robson]

naw! It's the wife!

(female species of humans) for Mikev.

[Emma Turner]

Posted by Mikev: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:55 am

A small pond with these and koi should look great.

Just thought that I should point out for anyone following this thread that fish which can obtain 3ft+ in length, such as koi, should not be kept in a 'small pond'.

Emma

[TammyLiz]

Well, its looking like a pond is not going to happen for us this spring. But my husband is interested in possibly having one within the next couple of years.
I am still contemplating the loaches, though. I wanted to see if you guys have any ideas for me.
I have an empty 20 gallon and I'm thinking about picking up a bag of sand for substrate. This should be big enough for them now. They are about 5". Something larger can come in the future.
Any ideas for tankmates or should it just be them?
One more question. This group of loaches do not all look the same, and its not just their colors. One of them looks like the third picture here
http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/mi ... datus.html
Two of them look like thishttp://www.loaches.com/species_pages/misgurnus_mizolepis.html
which they say is a different species. Is that because of the lack of markings on the back? Because I am also seeing in the tank some of the grey ones without the markings and some with. Some are longer/thinner than others, and I see these same variations in the ones on the LOL page. Are these all really the same species with just different colors and markings? And if so, why is the one with smooth markings on gold singled out?

[mikev]

Tammy,

If I were in your place, I'd probably skip on them (actually, I did skip already a couple of times). If you do have a pond later, you will be able to find them. And for your tank, there are many other nice loaches (and other fish).

And if you do want to keep them in a tank, you probably need a larger one (5*5" = 25g already, and you want something else in the tank to make it interesting....). And GF may be an option to explore.

Just my 2c.

BTW both of your links point to the same page.

[TammyLiz]

Thanks, I fixed the link. You're right about being able to get them when I do the pond in the future. I wasn't thinking to get five of them, though. More like 2 or 3. I still haven't decided. Maybe that is a clue that I shouldn't. The idea of tankmates is not really gelling, you know? Even if I do plan to upgrade the size.

[mikev]

The idea of tankmates is not really gelling, you know?

Sorry, unsure what you mean here.

[shari]

You mean the idea of dojo's as tankmates for your rostrata's? Yeah, I'd go with yo yos...or sids, or striatas, other botia species.

[TammyLiz]

Oh, no I just meant that I couldn't decide what I would want as tankmates for the weather fish. So I would probably have just them unless something else caught my eye later.
For the rostrata I will be keeping my eye out for more botia. Preferably at least one more rostrata but if some darios or striata come along I will probably get those.

EDIT: I would like to know how long these guys would be OK in a tank with a footprint of 24"x12" and a height of I think 16". Anyone know how fast they grow?

[mikev]

You are looking at an unheated tank with some current in it (it would be warm enough in an average home...). Your tankmates should be of the same kind.

I'd seriously consider goldfish (there are many kinds to choose from, see what looks right).

And, strange as it sounds, Odessa's **may** be a choice too. If you Google on them, you will see very conflicting information on the right temp; one site said 60F for winter (?!). I kept them for a couple of months at 70F without any problems. The problem I see is that Odessa's don't seem to like current, so you cannot have too much of it.

An interesting question is if anyone actually did something like this.

............

As for the rostrata tankmates, of course you want more rostrata first. Yoyo's -- as Shari said -- is another option. Kubotai's too.

[sophie]

You are looking at an unheated tank with some current in it (it would be warm enough in an average home...). Your tankmates should be of the same kind.

weatherfish and dojos don't require current; they're not stream or brook loaches and come as far as I know from still bodies of water. White cloud minnows are very attractive tankmates, who also do perfectly well well in still (though well oxygenated) water.

the misgurnus available to teh hobby will actually survive far better than most loaches in poor quality water. I'm not advocating it, mind; just saying that if you chose to keep them in a tank filtered by a (biologically adequate) sponge-filter, they'd be perfectly happy. hillstreams they ain't.

[mikev]

The problem with dojos is that they will do reasonably well in almost any conditions, people kept them for years in tropical tanks.

However, it has been observed that the current is needed for them to spawn in tanks, and spawing is really the ulitmate test of happiness.

Here is a snippet from an article on dojo spawning:

Sallie Boggs, a retired professor and long-time aquarist from the Pittsburgh area, has spawned four species of loaches. Her initial success came by accident when she threw some dojo loaches Misgurnus fossilis into a pond and found fry later in the season. This discovery piqued her interest, for she had had no success in previous attempts at spawning these same specimens in her tanks. After speculating about the conditions of the pond, Boggs retried a tank spawning. The proven specimens were winterized and virtually ignored in a cool part of the Boggs' basement. Some time later she transferred the loaches to tropical conditions with frequent water changes and feedings of live worms, and the dojos spawned.

When Boggs found the loaches spawning, they were laying eggs near the output of a power filter, so she turned off the filter. Interestingly, as soon as the water flow stopped, so did the spawning. Likewise, when the flow resumed, so did the egg laying. Obviously, a strong water current provides another important requirement for dojos.

Interesting stuff, no?