Royal Banded Loaches
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2013 10:04 am
Hello all. I'm new to the forum and would love to get your advice on an issue.
I currently have 6 clown loaches, 5 blue red tail loaches, and 2 Royal Banded Loaches. I added the RBL's a couple of weeks ago, and in the time since the RBL's have killed 3 angelfish, 2 catfish, and taken nips out of the tails of several of my rainbow fish.
My question is this: are they being so territorial because I only have 2 of them? If I added 4 more, would that balance the other two out so they aren't so aggressive, or would I just be creating a "wolf pack" that would decimate the remaining non-loach fish population?
They get along with the other loaches beautifully, but man are they mean to the other fish. They are particularly nasty when I turn the lights out. Seems the other fish can defend themselves fairly well when the lights are on, but once they are off the RBL's attach relentlessly and the other fish can't see them coming.
I've tried netting them, but my tank is 38" tall, so I've not been successful. I'm trying to avoid draining half the tank since I think I'd lose more fish to the sudden change in water conditions than I would to the RBL's. I've taken to leaving half the tank lights on during the night. That seems to have helped, but I'm not sure that is a viable long term solution.
Any advice or information on RBL's would be greatly appreciated.
Dan
Sarasota, FL
I currently have 6 clown loaches, 5 blue red tail loaches, and 2 Royal Banded Loaches. I added the RBL's a couple of weeks ago, and in the time since the RBL's have killed 3 angelfish, 2 catfish, and taken nips out of the tails of several of my rainbow fish.
My question is this: are they being so territorial because I only have 2 of them? If I added 4 more, would that balance the other two out so they aren't so aggressive, or would I just be creating a "wolf pack" that would decimate the remaining non-loach fish population?
They get along with the other loaches beautifully, but man are they mean to the other fish. They are particularly nasty when I turn the lights out. Seems the other fish can defend themselves fairly well when the lights are on, but once they are off the RBL's attach relentlessly and the other fish can't see them coming.
I've tried netting them, but my tank is 38" tall, so I've not been successful. I'm trying to avoid draining half the tank since I think I'd lose more fish to the sudden change in water conditions than I would to the RBL's. I've taken to leaving half the tank lights on during the night. That seems to have helped, but I'm not sure that is a viable long term solution.
Any advice or information on RBL's would be greatly appreciated.
Dan
Sarasota, FL