Some info on horseface loach, please

[kimby]

Hi!

I keep a few loach species. They're right at the top of my list as favorites.

I've got a 7 member school of B. Striata, 6 or 8 kuhli's and a gold dojo. Not much for a loach lover!

So today I broke down and picked up one of these characters and I'm having a heck of a time finding any comprehensive information on them.

I know they burrow in the sand, his tank has a nice thick layer of playsand. I actually had the pleasure of seeing him dive into it shortly after he went in, one minute I was looking at a loach on the sand and then, in a blink of an eye, there was no loach!
I also know that may be the last time I see him for a while, lol!

I'm concerned about a couple of things though.
Do they desire company of their own kind? I bought one thinking that they're solitairy but I don't really know. I can get him a friend or two if need be.
Will he eat packaged dry foods or is frozen/live it?
How quickly do they grow? I read that they can get to 8".

Any info or stories you want to share would be appreciated and enjoyed.
Thank you!
K

[Tery]

Mine eat both. They really like frozen bloodworms ,shrimp pellets, and what I bought as tetra prime ( its a coarse granule that sinks pretty fast & everybody likes it). My old guys stay buried most of the time. I've had them several years and mostly just see their heads as they suck up the food. They are hard to catch. I've got 2 youngsters that I've only had a couple of months in the other tank and they haven't buried themselves yet, They are seious chow hounds.

[mamaschild]

Hi Kimby

I have just gotten some myself a couple of months ago, so I can only give you my experiences.

I LOVE THEM Ok, now that that's off my chest

They are real characters. Mine eat just about anything I put in the tank, so I don't think you need to worry. Bloodworms are the favorite, but mine even eat flake with gusto.

I have 2 (bought 3, one died), and only saw one for the LONGEST time. I knew they burrowed, but I expected to see SOMETHING. Then one day the second popped up, and now I see both of them almost constantly. It's been great I do see them together quite a bit, but I honestly don't know if they are as social as Clowns??? They don't fight, I know that

[kimby]

thank you both, I'm relieved to know he'll eat anything.

I actually got to see him again this morning and he didn't dive when he saw me so that was cool.

one more question..he's in an unheated ( at the moment ) tank and it's around 74 right now, we have a heat wave coming however and with no ac I expect the tanks to be pushing 90 by the end of the week . Ever seen any particular sensitivity about temp?

I sure hope my dojo manages to make it through the heat...

BTW, Shari, it's me, Kim from badmans.

[mamaschild]

Well, Hi Kim Good to see you over here

The tank mine are in has high light, but cover plants, so it does get warm in there. I think it runs about 80 most of the time. In the summer I have to turn out the lights and open the lids to get some air in to cool it some. No, I haven't noticed any problems with that temp. Higher I'm not sure about??

[newshound]

I have a 5" horse face and a small 2.5" false horse face (horse nose?).
I love them both but I see the false horse face alot.
some of my faves for sure!

[Tery]

I keep mine in a heated tank, but about 78 F, so don't really know how they fare outside of that. Before I got so pansy,in the summer I used to float ice cubes in my tanks when they got over warm. The fish loved it, acted like kids running through a sprinkler.

[kimby]

lol! I always thought the cubes would be bad for them but it sounds like they like it or they'd stay away from them.

On a very uhappy note I lost my dojo last night. The tank is only around 82 degrees so I don't know if that was a factor. I've had a series of seemingly random deaths in this tank in the last several weeks, mostly symptomless...

The happy thing today is that my horsie (different tank) has been out quite a lot and doesn't seem to mind me looking at him.