Is my Dojo lonely?

[MoonPye]

Well after that awful ich / disease outbreak in my one tank, I have three healthy dojos left out of 8.

The good news is, the remaining 3 look great and appear to be very, very happy in the 55 gallon.

The bad news is, two of the them have paired up, and I feel like the other one (I believe is a female) is like a third wheel. She doesn't come out in the open as much as the other two. Also, the two that paired do that wonderful loachy dance, wrapping around each other, and swimming the length of the tank looking like they're connected to each other. I love watching it! But, they pretty much ignore the third.

I just happen to have a cycled empty tank available.. I'm thinking of getting a couple more dojos and put them in the empty 20 to quarantine them for a few weeks, and add to the 55 and see if that makes the lonely girl happy.

Any opinions? Any suggestions of how many I should get? Currently the 55 has about 7 dither fish (danios) and my corydoras catfish (3 of them). I have 6 tiny rasboras in there right now but do not yet know if they will be permanent residents. They get along with everyone in the tank, so it really just comes down to if they thrive in there. I have a strong current in one half of the tank and a very gentle one in the other half. Lots of plants (real & fake) and lots of hiding spots, sand substrate. The temp has been in the low 70's and everyone seems fine with it.

Yes, it is possible for me to move some fish out of there if they really don't belong together, I would just use the empty 20, they are all tiny fish (except for the dojos of course, the 55 was set up specifically for them), but I would use the 20 as a Q tank first with the new dojos before I went moving a bunch of others around permanently.

[MoonPye]

Interestingly, the night after I posted this (last night) the "lonely" Dojo was actually participating in the Loachy Dance with the male. (I'm guessing I'm sexing these right from Emma's gorgeous pictures http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... xing+dojos )

I would still like to get a few more dojos.. just not sure what's a good number for the 55 gal (4 ft long).. how many do you think is too many?

I'm thinking of moving my Corys out of there to see if I can get any fry of any sort (be it dojos or danios).

[MoonPye]

I just was reading about Corydoras temperature requirements and found out they shouldn't be housed with dojos! Yikes! I moved them out of the 55. They are now residing with my betta.

I've lost an Oto and a Kuhli. Cannot find them *anywhere*. So bizarre. They are not in any filters or behind rocks. Has this happened to anyone else?

[helen nightingale]

i remeber reading on here how people have lost large clowns, only to have them reappear from nowhere. hopefully yours will do the same. sorry to be morbid, but you have checked the floor behind the tank? i lost a couple of rasboras when i planted a load of new plants, and they jumped out the back of the tank without me seeing.

best wishes

[MoonPye]

I FOUND MY FISH!!!

The kuhli had dug into the sand UNDER a rock.. LOL

The Oto just appeared out of nowhere, literally. I have no idea where he'd been hiding.

*whew*!!!

Over the weekend I got everyone divided up properly according to temp requirements.. now just have to decide how many more dojos to get.. I currenly only have 6 danios and 3 white clouds in there with 3 dojos (55 gallon, 48 inches long). My tank looks so empty now without the corys in there ~ there was always so much activity with them in there.

[Diana]

There are many species of Cory, and some can handle temps into the upper 60s. I have kept Pepper Corys with Dojos @ 72*F.
Other fish that prefer the lower temperature are American Flagfish, Rosy Barbs, and the fish you have already, Danios and WCM.

[Felhad]

Pimelodus Pictus is another attractive catfish that can be kept with Dojos.
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... ies_id=276

Heres a picture I managed to get of mine in his hiding-hole.

[MoonPye]

Today I find myself completely obsessed with GIANT danios.. because of the post I read this morning.. http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=9767 (thanks alot Vancmann for showing off those pics, you really got me going.. LOL.. oh yea, forgot.. this is Temptation Central, right?)

Are giant Danios ok with a lower temp? I would LOVE to get some for my 55 to swim over the Dojos.

On another note, my little Danios were spawning again this morning in the Java Moss. I was thinking how great the Corys are not in there anymore to eat all the eggs... then several hours later, what do I see.. one of the Dojos in there sucking up all the eggs that might possibly be in there. Oh well.

I read some posts online (on the internet, not here) that people keep Danios with Giant Danios.. is this ok to do or not a good idea?

My local Petco is getting a bunch of Dojos in tomorrow.. might go up to take a look.. still trying to figure out how many to get, especially now if I go for any Giant Danios..

[MoonPye]

Pimelodus Pictus is another attractive catfish that can be kept with Dojos.

I absolutely LOVE pictus catfish, but I just don't know what I am doing wrong with them.. how come I can keep Otos alive forever but my Pictus drop like flies??? I have had 4 of them in the past 3 months, all dead. I don't know why they seem so fragile in my tanks.

[Felhad]

I've had mine for a couple months now, he mostly stays to himself in his cave, but then at night he darts around the tank like hes on fire

[starsplitter7]

How big do these pictus catfsh get? What is their general nature? I know I can look it up, but I like hearing from actually owners.

[Felhad]

They get to around 4", and they're very excitable. They defiantly require a good hiding space, which is where they spend most of their time. I hear that in groups they are out and about more often, and when they are out they're funny to watch, tearing around the tank rather quickly.

[MoonPye]

Went to go look at the new arrival shipment of dojos at Petco today and they looked HORRIBLE. They were SUPER skinny and two of them had ich. I passed. She girl that works there seemed pretty confident she could get them in much better shape in a few days, but I told her I don't know how long until I'm back again (considering it's a 30 mile drive and I'm about to give birth like any moment now.. LOL)

So I asked my small LFS to order some dojos for me, I know at least she will be honest with me and tell me not to even bother coming to look at them if they look bad.. but it might take 2 or more weeks for her to get them. Well, good things are worth waiting for, right?

[MoonPye]

How big do these pictus catfsh get? What is their general nature? I know I can look it up, but I like hearing from actually owners.

Well I think I may have discovered why my Pictus died.. someone just told me they don't do well in well water, which is pretty much what I have here. She told me no matter how many I buy, they will probably all die. So I am giving up on trying to keep any as long as I live here.

So if you have hard well water with a higher pH, you may not want to get any.