Loaches Online Forum

Hi, I have a 25 gallon coldwater tank which has a shoal of 6 White Cloud Mountain Minnows in it and nothing else. A friend suggested I get some bottom dwellers and recommended a Weather Loach. I've taken a look at these and have been told that they grow to over 10 inches so they're far too big for my tank. I was wondering, Is there a smaller coldwater loach that someone could recommend? Hoping you can help

very best wishes

Harley

if you add a heap of current eg powerheads hillstream loaches would be good

Thanks for replying. May I ask, how many would you recommend? Do they prefer to be in groups, or a pair or would one be happy on its own?

What is the mean temp of this tank? "hillstream loach" covers a wide range of species.

Hi, I've taken a look at what's required for Hillstream Loaches and its river bed style with lots of fast moving water is a bit too elaborate for my simple sandy set up. I think I'll have to give Loaches a miss. Thanks so much for your help all the same and best wishes.

Dojo (weather) loaches only grow that long in larger tanks. They'll stay smaller in your tank, and should do okay, if you don't get too many. I would say two, three at the very most, would do fine in a 25-gallon. I kept three in my 20 for a long time, and they did fine. I've since gotten two more and am keeping all five in my new 65-gallon tank. Mine range in size from four-inches down to about two.

In the open waters of the wild, they've been known to get up to 20-inches long, but there they have all the space in the world to grow.

-- Dojosmama

Just saying....

A 25 gallon aquarium is 'about' 24x12x20. A Dojo loach has a average length of 9" to 10".

A average room in a lot of homes is 12'x8'x10'. In the US, men (on agerage) are 5' 10" in height.

Fish in too-small tanks are smaller, but not healthy.

In the wild fish that are temporarily in a smaller puddle produce hormones that make them not grow temporarily.
When the rains come, these growth hormones in the water are diluted and the fish start growing again.

If you do enough water changes to keep the hormones properly diluted then the fish will grow to their proper size in spite of the small tank. Then there is not enough room for them to move around properly.

Other good bottom species for cool water, small tanks:
Certain species of Corydoras (Planet Catfish is a good resource for catfish information). Many of them handle temps as cool as the high 60sF and almost all are fine in the low 70sF.
Certain Gobies and some Tetras that behave like Gobies. You might see them listed as 'Humming Bird Tetras'. They are solitary, and perch on the bottom the same way Gobies do.