New Loach, what to get?

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ahmandi2
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Location: Northeast Pennsylvania

New Loach, what to get?

Post by ahmandi2 » Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:39 pm

We've got a well established and healthy 55G. We have 2 Praecox rainbows, 1 danio, 6 neon tetras, 1 bn pleco, 2 dojos and 2 khulis.
We also have a billion uninvited guests :). I was wondering what type of loaches I can get that do not get big, but will eat the snails? I know, clown loach, but those get too large :(.
Any suggestions? Maybe a few zebras?
Opinions would be appreciated.
Thank you!
"I'm not *THAT* kind of hunter"

HSTurning
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Location: New Hampshire

Post by HSTurning » Wed Dec 01, 2010 3:17 pm

My zebras do seem to like snails. My kubs and yoyo on the other hand love them. They play "catch me if you can" with the empty shells. YMMV
I need more tanks, more more more

sh79
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Location: Austin,MN

Post by sh79 » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:17 pm

:idea: i would do yoyos forsure.
SKOL VIKINGS!!!!

Diana
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Location: Near San Franciso

Post by Diana » Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:37 pm

I have had Dojos that eat snails, and others that do not. Too bad yours seem not to be interested. Try this:
Pop some snail shells and leave the snails in the tank. Perhaps the Dojos do not know that there is a tasty meal in that hard shell.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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ahmandi2
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Location: Northeast Pennsylvania

Snails

Post by ahmandi2 » Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:52 pm

Hi all,
what is a "kub" loach? I'm a newb with all the loach terminology :).
Diana, I actually do squish the snails I can reach and let them fall to the gravel; the loaches now know that smell, and they're happily horking them down every time I can do that. My other fish are learning how tasty a "cracked" snail is as well! Problem is still that none of them will eat the unsquished snails. They do not recognize them as food (no smell perhaps?).
So, it seems that yoyo's are a good possibility.....thank you guys so much!
"I'm not *THAT* kind of hunter"

mattyd
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Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:55 pm
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Post by mattyd » Thu Dec 02, 2010 12:41 am

kub is short for Kubotai.

:-)
5ft long rocky hillstream tank - Sewellia lineolata and spotted... and lots (and lots) of spotted fry
8ft Clown loach tank: 30+ clown loaches, 10+ Yoyos.
6ft tank for 16x botia kubotai, 13x Striata, 6x Sidthimunki - I need more sids

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ahmandi2
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Location: Northeast Pennsylvania

*doh

Post by ahmandi2 » Thu Dec 02, 2010 5:58 pm

I always learn something here :).
Thanks Matt for the explanation on "Kub" :D
"I'm not *THAT* kind of hunter"

mattyd
Posts: 103
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:55 pm
Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Post by mattyd » Thu Dec 02, 2010 7:51 pm

They are a really cute little loach. I like mine.

I would agree with some of the others above: get 4-6 kubotai loaches (sometimes also known as golden band loach or angelicus loach) or maybe get 4-6 zebra loaches (botia striata). Or similarly, get 6-10 dwarf loaches (sidthimunki).

I had a dozen kubotai and 7 zebra and 5 dwarf loaches in a tank together, and I never noticed snails. As soon as I moved the fish across to a much larger 6ft tank the snails started up again within 2 days. Now I have to set a trap for them, and I dump the snails every two days into my clown loach tank.

If you get small, young fish of any of the above loaches then they won't go for your larger snails. You will have to remove them yourself. But they'll keep most of the small snails under order. If you get the dwarfs then you'll enjoy their antics far more than the other loaches (clown loaches are the only ones I have that come close). But the dwarfs are so much smaller that they won't really do much to your larger snail population (hence why I suggest getting more of them).

Here in Australia you can frequently get very small 5cm (2") clown loaches for $5 each, but zubotai, zebra or dwarf loaches fetch in the order of $20+ each. Our government has strict laws on quaranteen and allowable species, and unfortunately whilst they don't carry the particular pathogens or viruses that can harm our local fish the government only allowed 5-6 species of any sort of loach to be an allowable import. As such, if a bunch of baby yoyo loaches come into the country and pass quaranteen and the batch contains a few zebra or kubotai babies then the extra loaches are seperated out by the observant fish-importer and sold for a much higher profit.
5ft long rocky hillstream tank - Sewellia lineolata and spotted... and lots (and lots) of spotted fry
8ft Clown loach tank: 30+ clown loaches, 10+ Yoyos.
6ft tank for 16x botia kubotai, 13x Striata, 6x Sidthimunki - I need more sids

Mike Ophir
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Re: New Loach, what to get?

Post by Mike Ophir » Fri Dec 24, 2010 5:31 pm

my advice would be to diversify your porfolio and get a few of each of the following:

1. B. striata
2. B. dario
3. B. kubotai
4. B. rostrata
5. Y. sidthimunki

M. Ophir
A proud member of LOL since 1998

Diana
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Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Re: New Loach, what to get?

Post by Diana » Fri Dec 24, 2010 7:06 pm

I would not get 'a few' of each. Stick with one species and get more. They are social fish and are better with more of the same species.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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Jim Powers
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Re: New Loach, what to get?

Post by Jim Powers » Fri Dec 24, 2010 7:07 pm

Hey, Mike, good to see you posting again! :D
Good choices, as usual. :wink:
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Dojosmama
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Re: New Loach, what to get?

Post by Dojosmama » Tue Jan 04, 2011 3:02 pm

How warm is your tank? If you have Kuhlis, it must be quite warm. Dojos prefer colder water. Could be why they aren't interested in eating the snails. Water which is constantly above 70F will shorten the life of a Dojo. Just thought you should know ...

-- Dojosmama

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