Loach availability in Australia

[Carla G]

Hi everyone! I'm new here....come to do some research. I've recently purchased a 30 gal tank and am researching what to put in it. I'd love to have some loaches but clowns grow so big. I'm considering Zebra loach, Burmese loach, Polkadot loach or Bengal loach as an alternative. The dwarf loach would also be ideal exept that it is endangered.

I am considering also keeping dwarf gourami's in the same tank.

Any advice on the above choices would be greatly appreciated.

I also need to know the availability of the above species in Australia. This country is a super bureaucracy and may have import laws against almost everything. I live in a rural area and my local fish store looked a bit blank when I asked about zebra loaches. Her suggestion was to get clown loaches and they would stay small if they were in a small tank.

[Emma Turner]

Hi Carla, and welcome to Loaches Online.

Would you be able to give us the actual dimensions of your tank? This will help in deciding what loach species may be suitable.

There are quite a few LOL members based in Australia, who I'm sure will be able to comment on species availabilty.

Emma

[Graeme McKellar]

Hi Carla and welcome,
Where do you live ?? What dimensions is your tank?? I live in the Gold Coast area but have never seen Botia Striata (zebra) available - I think they are restricted imports. We have available
Botia Almorhae - yo yo
Botia Kubotai - Burmese Border or Polkadot
Sidthimunki - Dwarf Chain
Clowns
If your LFS can buy through "Bayfish" they can order these except for Kubotai's who were imported by The Aquarium Warehouse at Southport.
Will check for reply after work.
Cheers Graeme.

[Carla G]

Emma, my tank is an Aqua One 620T. It is 620mm (25")wide x 390 (16") x 600 (24'). I know the height is not ideal for loaches. Wider would have been better, but too late now.

Graeme, this is great info and precisely what I was looking for. The availability of a Sid surprised me as it is critically endangered, but then I looked again at the species list and I see that it is being bred in captivity, a big relief! Wouldn't want to loose such a lovely species. It is the one that I think should be ideal at only 2.5".

I think I will ask my LFS to check on this one. I don't want to get them until my tank is fully stabilized.

Thank-you both.

Carla

[Emma Turner]

Hi Carla,

Unfortunately, the dimensions of this tank are not ideal for loaches. As you have already come to realise, they do better with a much larger footprint (length & width) to explore. Even the dwarf loaches (Y. sidthimunki) require larger quarters than this long-term.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,

Emma

[Botia Robert]

G'day Carla G and Welcome to LOL.
Loach availability in Australia is something which depresses me greatly.
I agree with your comments regarding bureaucracy. I would like to persuade the authoraties to relax their import regulations.
You have good taste in Loaches! As Graeme said you should be able to get Clowns, Yo Yos and Sids in most places but Kubotai will only pop up in selected places.
BTW what part of Oz are you from?

[Carla G]

Hi Robert

I'm from NSW Central West. I went back to my two LFSs today. I did find one of them had Botia kubatai in stock.

I had them check with "Bayfish" and they are able to get Sids. 3 cm long ones for $16 each by the time they are shipped to NSW.

Emma, I'd like to have a 12 acre block with a manor, but I'm managing on a 1/4 acre block with a cottage. I think this is roughly proportional to a 2 1/2 " fish in a 30 gallon tank. Not ideal, but they have some elbow room. I would like to get a nice big loach tank later on. They are my favorite fish.

The second fish store I visited today told me that they are breeding Clown loaches in captivity in Germany and selectively breeding for a smaller size which they have achieved, and the largest Clown he had ever seen was around 9" at 10 years old. Does anyone know about this?

Regards, Carla

[Martin Thoene]

Carla G wrote:

The second fish store I visited today told me that they are breeding Clown loaches in captivity in Germany and selectively breeding for a smaller size which they have achieved, and the largest Clown he had ever seen was around 9" at 10 years old. Does anyone know about this?

Hi Carla and welcome to LOL. I would consider the "smaller size" statement there to be total bunkum. Selective breeding for smaller size would have to be done with fish that have had no restrictions on growth that you know are at their full growth potential. It's not like dogs or horses or something that has no restriction on growth related to the living quarters.

They are certainly breeding Clowns in several countries and Europe is one continent where a lot of loaches are being bred by some artificial method. The Czech Republic is one of the notable places.

Any Clown that is "only" 9 or 10 inches isn't as a result of selective breeding. It's just a fish that hasn't reached the full "in the wild" growth potential. Most Clowns kept in aquaria are effectively stunted because any home aquarium can never get close to true wild conditions.

The onus is on us to keep them to the best of our ability. That requires a true commitment to investment in the tank, filters, etc and regular high-quality maintenance and feeding.

Martin.

[Carla G]

Thanks Martin, for your knowledgable and astute reply.

The points you make, make a lot of sense.

Carla

[Carla G]

I've found someone who will swap my Aqua One for a larger tank, giving me full credit.

Now I just need to figure out what I want to put in it.

Carla

[cashmart35]

Hello
I am interested to buy a Oriental Weatherloach. It will be helpful if anyone suggest me about the size of the tank.

[loachlover77]

Clown loaches get about 20" in the wild. In captivity they get about maybe 12" to 16". Clown loaches will not stay small in a tank that is less than 125 to 250 gallons, not sure if there is a 250 gallon tank out there or not. I have three clown loaches in a 55 gallon tank and I will need to get a bigger tank when they get bigger. They do grow slowly so you will have time to save up to get a bigger tank when they get bigger.

[ClownLoachSharky]

that might be soon for you with your big loaches. They will neee a 6x2x2 foot or bigger eventually. 171 gallons.