Looking for a singular loach.
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Looking for a singular loach.
I have a wood filled planted hexagon that I would really like to get some kind of loach for. The Hex is more of a short and fat then a tall and skinny. About 37-40gals. The diameter is a little over 2ft. Normally I would think it too small for most loaches but since that is 2ft in every direction I thought it may make a difference. The set up is very wood oriented, I have wood on all levels of the tank and it creates various caves all over the place. The tank has been established for awhile now and the current stock is 2 wild golden Killi fish, 5 gold barbs(getting another, these guys i have had for years(5) and they are starting to drop of old age, a BN pleco and a Clown pleco.)
My biggest concern is that there isn't many species of solitary loach that would even fit my tank. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas?(feel free to throw non-loach ideas too if you think it's worth it)
My biggest concern is that there isn't many species of solitary loach that would even fit my tank. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas?(feel free to throw non-loach ideas too if you think it's worth it)
- Jim Powers
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Re: Looking for a singular loach.
Instead of a single loach, have you considered a school of sidthimunki? They don't get very large and are very active and entertaining to watch.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ya ... idthimunki
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ya ... idthimunki
Re: Looking for a singular loach.
Actually I had considered these little guys. Them and Kuhli's. I'm not too into botine loach's though.
- Doc
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Re: Looking for a singular loach.
What about a group of Micronemacheilus cruciatus.. Similar in behaviour to the Sids but a little bit more unusual. Other than that there aren't really any suitable Loaches that will do.. nearly all are social to some extent and the ones that aren't need much bigger quarters to reside.
So many species of fish yet so little time, space and money to keep them all...
Re: Looking for a singular loach.
Dropped off some cichlids today and got a good bunch of store credit. He normally has a bunch of loachs in all the tanks but today was limited to Skunk loaches, 3 kuhlis, a bunch of HUGE queen loachs and yoyos. He is getting some zippers in so I might go that way but I also picked up a pair of gold rams.
Re: Looking for a singular loach.
Another non-botia option could be rosy loaches, they used to be tuberoschistera (sp?) but have changed genus. I have a group of 7 in a planted 20g long tank, along with a few M. cruciatus & some CPDs, the rosy's natural wild companions. They're colorful if a bit shy except at feeding time. The killies might be able to eat them, they're quite small, max 1 inch total length.
Kuhlis are great too. A group of 6 of the same species would work & are probably too big for the killie's big mouths. Which "gold barbs" do you have?
Although I haven't kept them (yet), a zipper or batik loach might be ok as a single loach. (again, what barb?)
Even though you say a mostly wood tank, some java fern attached to it can probably survive no matter how low light you have. Live plants add both color & biological pluses, I'm fond of the "narrow" & "windelov" types.
Kuhlis are great too. A group of 6 of the same species would work & are probably too big for the killie's big mouths. Which "gold barbs" do you have?
Although I haven't kept them (yet), a zipper or batik loach might be ok as a single loach. (again, what barb?)
Even though you say a mostly wood tank, some java fern attached to it can probably survive no matter how low light you have. Live plants add both color & biological pluses, I'm fond of the "narrow" & "windelov" types.
Re: Looking for a singular loach.
Anything under 2" with a tubular shape is fair game for the Killi. Mine are wild striped panchex(Golden wonder killi, except they arnt gold) and they are about 5.5" long, eat adult ghostshrimp in one bite. They arn't really aggressive though. Still, if it looks like a small wriggly worm, they will eat it (along with medium sized swordtail fry and neons).
My gold barbs are Puntius semifasciolatus, i suppose there are a few size varieties out there as I have seen, mine are about 3" long. Super peaceful fish, more so then anything I have ever kept.
The tank is actually planted pretty well. Java moss on all the wood, a huge bed of water sprite on the top and a Ocelot, Bar, Amazon, and melon sword.
I had tried Sumo Loaches when i first started the tank, I had 2. They each were extremely territorial but they did well for about a week. Unfortunately they had a issue involving exploding stomach's which has not been solved to this day (I tried them about 5 months ago), it has also not occurred again. I put it down to bad stock. Still, the tanks been treated with prazipro thoroughly since then.
The store near my house now has sumos in as well and I would really like to try them again but I would also like second opinions on them. The 2 I got originally were under the name Kuhli loach which was obviously wrong XP. I figured out what they were pretty fast though.
My gold barbs are Puntius semifasciolatus, i suppose there are a few size varieties out there as I have seen, mine are about 3" long. Super peaceful fish, more so then anything I have ever kept.
The tank is actually planted pretty well. Java moss on all the wood, a huge bed of water sprite on the top and a Ocelot, Bar, Amazon, and melon sword.
I had tried Sumo Loaches when i first started the tank, I had 2. They each were extremely territorial but they did well for about a week. Unfortunately they had a issue involving exploding stomach's which has not been solved to this day (I tried them about 5 months ago), it has also not occurred again. I put it down to bad stock. Still, the tanks been treated with prazipro thoroughly since then.
The store near my house now has sumos in as well and I would really like to try them again but I would also like second opinions on them. The 2 I got originally were under the name Kuhli loach which was obviously wrong XP. I figured out what they were pretty fast though.
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