New weather loach owner

[newloacher]

Hi,
new here and new to being a loach owner. I bought a 15 gl fresh for $25 and the guy had a buck with 2 inches of water and a ell-lookin thing inside. I felt sorry for it, so I took him in. Turns out he is a weather loach and I have no idea how to care for him. He is now in my 75 with 5 aurlius barbs, 2 tiger barbs, 1 rainbow shark, a common pleco (small, but soon to be gone) and 7 rummynosed tetras. he is not being harrassed and is comfortable. I changed the substrate to pool sand and he loves burrowing around in it. I have heard that he will be unhappy unless in a group of three. Is this so and will my tank be able to handle that once the pleco is gone? also, he is not competeing for food and at night even the other fish steal the sinking pelets I drop down. He has gotten some, and some flake food but we need more ideas! I was thinking pond snails or live worms for him to find in the sand. All imput on this wily little guy would be appreciated!!!

[soul-hugger]

Hello...

Welcome to the forum, and to the world of Loach Keeping!

I am also the owner of weather loaches, and they continue to be my favourite of all the fish I have. I now have three of them, they are three, five, and six inches long. The two large ones I got first, and they both eat out of my hands. The smaller of the three I introduced more recently, but it only took him a few minutes, once he saw the other weather loaches, to figure out that he was one of them, and not a kuhli, which I bought him with. I actually find them quite intelligent and curious about us humans, if given the chance to settle in.

When I got mine, I was also told they could be alone or together, and I only got the second loach on a hunch that they prefer to be together. It would, in fact, be better for him to have at least one or two buddies to keep him company. He won't care if they are small or large, gold or brown, as long as they are all weathers. In my experiene, they also seem to enjoy being with kuhlis. Another thing is that weather loaches don't like their water too warm, in fact, they can be kept with coldwater fish like goldfish. I keep my heater set in the mid to low 70's, and that seems to be ok. As far a food, they are not picky. Mine have even begun to eat flake food. Try feeding them some frozen defrosted bloodworms as a treat. Shrimp pellets are good, becaue they sink, and they like algae wafers too. I'm sure your little guy just needs some time to feel at home in his new surroundings, and then you will get to see just how fun and active they can be!

Good Luck..,
soul-hugger

[newloacher]

yes, i agree. with the stock i mentioned do you think i can support 1 or even two more loaches. I believe he would prefer it and get more food.

[raecarrow]

I don't know about weather loaches, but every other variety of loach that I have had enjoys being with its own kind. I know I used to have a single Black Kuhli loach that would hide all the time, I got him two little buddies and now I see all three of them all the time. I intend to get more buddies for them in the future.

[Martin Thoene]

Plenty of excellent info:

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/we ... licaudatus

http://www.loaches.com/articles/weather-report

Martin.

[starsplitter7]

Everything you need to know is in the articles Martin posted above.

I would recommend getting at least two more and then adding some floating plants like anacharis or hornwort (if you don't have lots of light hornwort drops its leaves), and you will find your weather loaches hanging in the plants, and then floating foods like freeze dried blood worms and frozen blood worms get caught in the plants and give the Dojos a fighting chance to get at them. Mine eat from my fingers, like eating "worms", but don't seem fussy about food. Mine dogpile, so I know they prefer company. And they do not care if you mix the golden version with the regular. Mine all hang together in the plants.

Thanks for rescuing this one. Sounds like he had a terrible environment before.

The Dojos are one of my favorite fish. I love them. They are like puppies. They are just so friendly and fun.

[Stitch051707]

I also have dojos in my tank. I don't hand feed but they will rub against my hand when I have cleaning. I would say get at least one more. If your tank can handle it, get a couple more. They love to hang all over eachother. Mine did not like the live plants that I put in the tank. They totally broke them and stripped the leaves. I also have kuhlis but I think the dojos have more personality. I have heard that they will escape the tank but I have not had this problem. My kuhlis give me more problems with this as they do sometimes swim up in the filter.

You might want to try some "plain" dojo loaches. I have two goldens and several regular dojo. My regular ones all seem to be more active and personable.

[newloacher]

Thanks everyone on the info! I will put one more in there to see if the tank can handle it and if so maybe a third. The trouble now would be to find a place I can get them!

[starsplitter7]

I am pretty sure Va would have PetSmarts, and they regularly carry both regular and Gold Weather loaches. I don't recommend PetSmart, but some are btter than others, and they regularly carry the more common fish like Dojos

[newloacher]

All the Pet-NOT-SO-SMART carries so far is clown loaches...but thanxs tho.

[starsplitter7]

Mine usually carries Dojos, Kubotai, Yoyos, Horseheads and Clowns. But they are seasonal, and of course finding them healthy is another matter. I have also found Kuhlies there, including Eel Kulies mixed with Oblanga. I have found Dojos at Wal=mart, which breaks my heart. Luckily they are seasonal there.

I wish you luck in finding more. They are one of my favorite fish, and enjoy their antics.

[soul-hugger]

Hello again...

I hope your little guy is settling in. I'm sure he is entirely relieved to be out of that horrible place he was in before. In my experience dojos are very aware of what is going on around them. I have also read they are more likely than some other fish species to be mistreated because they are a food fish in some countries, they don't readily breed in the aquarium, and are usually wild-caught. That being said, it is very important to quarantine the new ones before they are introduced to the new tank. Even a 10 gallon will do as a quarantine with a simple filter, heater, and an air stone. If the LFS has their weather loaches in cold water, just make sure you float the bag for at least half an hour in the new tank. Or you can keep the heat low in the quarantine, and very slowly turn it up to match the temp in your main tank. Under good conditions, a weather loach can live many years, so they can become an excellent pet.

In a 75 Gallon, and with the stocking parameters you mentioned, I see absolutely no problem with you getting two or three more. I have my three in a 4-ft-long 55 Gallon with 3 oblonga kuhlis and 3 blushing tetras. I am still working on stocking the tank, and may even end up with a larger one some day, but for now they are great. As long as they each have a place to retreat and hide, they should thrive in your tank. You also have them well-matched with the other fish, because barbs come from the same part of the world, and like cooler waters as well. You may have to check with the rummynoses though, because they may like their water a little warmer, but all enjoy a lower pH. I don't even see a problem if you were to keep the pleco. I had my weather loaches in with a clown plec, before I moved them from my 20 gallon to my 55, and there were no problems. Although some adult plecos can become territorial, mine is very placid and doesn't bother anyone.

I live in Canada, and we have PetSmarts here as well. It was Petcetera I was most unimpressed with. I actually got my first two weather loaches from Wal-Mart. They were quite large when I got them and very healthy. In fact on that trip, I purchased several fish from them and every single one of them is still alive. I am most certainly not an advocate for Wal-Mart, because I think we should, whenever possible, support our local aquarium shop, but it really depends. It seems to be different every time I visit one of the big box chains, some days are bad, and some not so bad. It seems to depend who's working, and how recently a shipment has arrived, and it differs by individual store. For example, I would only buy fish at one out of the four Wal-Mart locations in my city, because it keeps up with the care and maintenance of the tanks. We can look at it two ways: either we can look at it as rescuing the fish from a bad situation, or just decide not to support those types of stores at all. I have largely chosen to stick with the two aquarium stores in my city that are locally owned, and I will do whatever it takes to help them and support their business, even if it means being honest with them about what I find at the other stores, asking if I can have rare species ordered in, or offering constructive criticism, if due. This can really help your LFS, rather than do harm.

I think I have been rambling for long enough, but I would like to offer one more suggestion. Try giving your little guy garden peas. I use the frozen ones, if you can't get fresh. After defrosting them in a little warm water, I grab each pea and firmly rotate it between my fingers, separating the pea from its outer skin, which I throw away. The rest of the inside of a pea is something my loaches seem to relish. You may find your barbs may pick at them as well, but the others should leave them alone. Chick peas (garbanzo beans) work really well too. If you buy the canned ones, rinse them, and then you can remove the skin in the same way as the green peas. My loaches enjoy these as a treat. I also heard they really go crazy for spinach, just quick-dipped into hot water and then you can pin it down using tank decor or plant stakes. I have heard a slice of cucumber can also be pinned down, but I haven't tried this one yet!

I have several differnt kinds of fish in two different tanks, and even my three-year old daughter loves the dojo weather loaches the best. She calls them the "Snakey Fishies," (she made that up all by herself), and she talks about them all the time. I find they are so friendly, curious, active, social, clever, and their funny antics are amusing. Once you have him in a group of his own kind, you will get to see that they really are a special kind of animal that deserve good lives. Someone said they are quite like puppies, and I would certainly have to agree!

Have fun choosing his friends Wherever you go, the main thing is that you will be bringing home a fish that will brighten your little guy's life, and I'm certain, yours too

[newloacher]

great response soul-hugger! Thank you. I found a little golden weather loach at the LFS. He is very tiny compared to my other one. While I was there I got the greatest idea from the fish guy who worked there. he gave me this long, skinny clear tube. I put it down near the loaches, drop some food in and it goes down right to him! The other fish try to snag it on the way down, but they can't. HEHEHe. anyway, after only one day he already knows that the tube means food and he sits patiently under it until food pops out and he gobbles it up! Great idea! anyway, i will also try the fresh veggies, although all my fish do nibble them.

As for the petsmart, the reason it looks good somedays is because the shipment probably just came in and few are dying. My local ones are always grossly overcrowed with fish and many die. Sometimes you get lucky, but the fish I got from Animal Jungle (large store here) are either dead or sickly now. The others, even from petsmart, are healthy and thriving. It just depends. anyway, thanks again!

[starsplitter7]

Glad you found a Golden Weather Loach. I have about 5. They are great.

[soul-hugger]

I'm so glad you found a little buddy for him! My smallest dojo I bought at Petcetera. I have been mostly unimpressed with the place, but when I saw they had black kuhlis in with a single baby weather loach and goldfish, and were labelling them all as weather loaches, I couldn't help myself. I told them right away that those were not dojos, they were oblonga kuhlis, and they aren't supposed to be in cold water. I told the girl working there that I would take four of them, but I was really hoping the poor lonely dojo would be one of the ones she would catch, and he was. I only had two of them, and wanted to increase their numbers. At the time, he was barely distinguishable from the kuhlis; he was about the same size, and close to the same colour. Now, after less than a month, he is much larger and longer than the kuhlis, and lighter in colour. He follows the bigger loaches around like a puppy, dogpiles with them, rests with them, eats with them. Both my larger loaches, and my smaller seemed to benefit from the union. Don't worry, your little goldie will grow. They do seem to grow quite fast. I am also hoping to get a couple of gold dojos, but I have never seen them offered for sale.
I really like the idea of the tube! I had never thought of that before! I'm glad you have found a good way to feed him. Loaches are very smart, and it doesn't take them long to figure out where the food is coming from, whether it's from a tube, or out of your hands!
Take Care,
soul-hugger