Loaches Online Forum

I really need some help. Today I went to a fish wholeseller where they sell fish by appointment. I had asked for Horsefaces, but none arrived. I also wanted to pick up a quartet of Red Lizards (catfish), so I went for a visit. The woman working there was very excited, because in the Kuhlie batch, there was a tiny, wormy little fish -- turns out it is a horsefaced loach -- less than an inch long, almost clear with two black eyes. Spunky and very active. What can I do to increase his chances of living?

What do I feed him? I have powdered fry food and black worms. The worms seem too big, the powdered food too small. Should I try some hard boiled egg, crush fish food, froozen Brine shimp or frozen daphnia?

I thought to put him in my BN Nursery tank -- I have BN fry 1/2" to 1.5", cherry shrimp, 3 1" B. straita and 2 1.5" Yoyos and a 4" yellow tailed spiney eel (pretty much full grown). It has a sand and gravel bottom, the filter intakes are covered and it is planted. Would the fish be safe here? I am afraid that someone may eat it. I have a 1.5 gallon. Should I set it up with sand, planted with a small filter? Right now he's hanging out in a breeder basket, but I don't wantt o keep him there.

Any advice is grately appreciated. This guy has been traveling around the world for three days, and I don't want to lose him under my care.
Pictures to follow.

Thanks.

Does it look like this?

This is a kottelatlimia hypporhincos, just a little more than an inch, that i recently bought. they've been showing up quite a bit lately.

I will post some pictures when I am not so tired. It is actually so small, I do not know what it is. Looks like a worm with two black eyes and the general shape of a horseface. It could certainly be the fish you posted. I think it is pretty cute. What are you feeding yours?

I would remove the 4" eel from the nursery tank. Any fish may eat another fish if the smaller is about 1/4 the size of the larger, and predators may eat food that is as much as half their size.
Other than that, several fish roughly an inch or so in length are generally safe with each other, and will all eat food that is about the same size.

Try the frozen daphnia, shrimp and other things. I have even seen baby (or at least small) frozen bloodworms.

Try the other baby foods you listed, too. Keep rotating the foods until you see what all those baby fish like.

Feed often, and clean often. Baby fish need frequent meals, and this can foul the water pretty fast. Baby fish are more sensitive to toxins, including nitrate, than adult fish. I would keep the nitrates well under 10 ppm.

Live plants are very good for baby fish. Many microorganisms live among the leaves so the baby fish can snack all the time. Also, the plants will help with water quality.

These like bloodworms, of course. For small fish i shave the frozen chunk with a sharp knife to make tiny pieces, easier for them to eat. Competition can be tough, if it's not too shy try a turkey baster or tube.

Here's a picture of my little loach. He jumped the breeder tank tonight, so I don't expect to see him again until he's 4". He's a seriously spunky little guy for such a tiny fish.



This is my tiny eel. Note the size in comparison to the BN fry.


I have the eel in here, because it is my Quarantine tank. I don't want to expose my main tank to this new fish. That's why the baby B. striatas and the Yoyo loaches are in there too. They are very young and new.

Here's a pictures of 3 BN and 1 B. striata.

I hope the baby loach is too big for the eel's mouth. they are waiting for dinner.

Hi Tanja, from the top it looks like more a Lepidocephalichthys or Kottelatlimia than a horceface to me.

The caudale looks a bit forked, isn't it? If it so, we could limit the possibilities. Only a few loaches of this genera (L. and K.) have forked tailfins. I think Kottelatlimia has never forked tails, but a few Lepidocephalichthys.

A pic from side would be good.

Cheers, Thomas

Unfortunately, he jumped the hatcher and is in a main tank, so I won't see him for a while (or be able to take pictures -- I took many pictures, that was the only one that turned out). I agree from the picture it looks like he has a forked tail. I didn't notice that by looking at him.

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I didn't realise that any spiny eels stayed that small... *starts to plan another tank*