Loaches Online Forum

Hello

I recently got a 60L aquarium with:

2 female and one male Sailfin Mollies
10 small neon tetras (they really are small - 2cm max!)
3 male guppies
2 Botia Kubotai (Angelicus Loaches)

I have done hours of research on all of my fish as I love them all a lot and I found it very interesting. However, I have read that Botia Kubotai need to be kept in groups of at least 3 minimum, preferably about 5, but for 5 you would need about double the size of my aquarium! My two loaches are very active in the morning till afternoon, but always in the evening they just lie down together in a corner of the tank and don't move. If I move in close to the tank to inspect them though they will shoot off to the other side, so they are still able to move then, and I also read that sometimes they lie down to rest or nap, so this is fine.

Should I get another Botia Kubotai for my tank so they will be happier? Plus, at the moment I don't have many hiding places for them but I plan to buy some very soon, so if I did would they be happier and less stressed?

Please answer as I am a British person living in the Netherlands, and I can't go to many places to get help about this as most of them do not speak fluent English.

So could you answer my question-

Why are my loaches never active in the evening, and should I get another one?

Thank you very much to whoever does reply!

PS. I have a proper filter which keeps the water moving a fair bit, a heater, 6 live medium-sized plants and a small light house figurine which the loaches occasionally hide in. My fish all live in harmony, with the exception of the odd chase between the two female mollies.

Mollies are too aggressive to keep in that small a tank. You may see a little chasing now and then, but it can get worse.

Kubotai Loaches get too big for this size tank. To get more, a socially good thing, would cause too much waste, and be a problem.

60 liters is about 15 American gallons. I have some Zebra Loaches (B. striata) in this size tank with some Guppies. That works OK.

i got some baby kubotais recently. i have 6 total. and they are having a good ole time with each other. its very entertaining. they are fun fish!

loaches are always more entertaining in groups. together, they make quite and entertaining show. the kubotais are a little goofy as well.

ive got baby kubotais in a 10 gallon quarantine tank now. once they grow a little bigger im going to introduce them into my 90 gallon. right now they are about 1" to 1.5". maybe the biggest one is 2". but they are happy as can be in the 10 gallon now. sand, pvc pipe and a rock with 2 big holes has made them very happy compared to what they had at the fish store. they really like digging as well. i find them burrowing under the tube and fighting for the favorite spot. its very hillarious.

the fish store had 6. although i initially didn't want this many, i can't leave one or two so i buy the group as a whole when i see em.

My baby Kubs (some question about ID) are also in a 10 gallon. They are maybe 1" or so, and are getting fatter now they have been treated for parasites. The tank is planted. There are no other fish in this tank, this is the quarantine tank. They might stay in here for a while until they are big enough to handle one of my larger tanks. At that point I would have half a dozen, perhaps 2" or less in a 10, though I could move them into a 20 gallon at that point. Better to move them up ahead of need. Not wait until they are too large for the tank.

I have a juwel 125 (125l). I have 8 botia stiata. Can i keep 4 botia kubotai too?