Loaches Online Forum

I have a Bengal Loach (Botias Dario) and would like to get him some buddies. I have a few questions:

1. Do Bengal Loaches eat snails? I've got a bunch of Malaysian trumpet snails and would like to keep their population controlled.

2. How many more bengal loaches should i get? Can i keep him with other loaches?

3. Are Bengal loaches hardy? this one has lasted for a long time.

You've got a great loach in your tank. I love these little characters. If you have the option, and your tank is large enough, go for a bunch of them. I have four, with other Botiine loaches in a 75 gallon tank. If I were choosing to do it again, I might only keep darios and keep more of them. They are social and peaceful. They grow to about three or four inches long and then stop for at least several years, IME.
B. dario is very resilient in the tank. They take all sorts of food, they live a long time, and they are active - to a degree. They're good companions for smaller clown loaches, but clowns get very big. I have my darios in a tank with yoyos, clowns, histrionicas, kubotais, and striatas. Best fish tank in the world, but I wonder how much cooler it might be with only B. dario as the bottom level fish...

Add a bit of current with a low level power filter, if you can. Best of luck!

I only have a mature one about 5 inches, I received about 4 months ago.
Nice looking thick fish.
Lives with kubs and stratas in a planted and over filtered tank.
The boss of the tank hands down.
Very nippy at feeding time but seems okay otherwise.
O ya I bought 4 smaller ones in Ottawa about 2 months ago and now live with a small Yoyo. Two of the Darios didn't make it.
I think they would eat any snail they could find. They haven't cause my other loaches have beaten them to it
the large guy is hard on my dwarf sag (foreground plant). I couldn't figure out why this easy plant wasn't thriving in my tank until I noticed that my Dario likes to tear off the blades. Doesn't eat them though.

I have 2 darios with 1 kubotai and 4 sids and they all get along just fine! The darios are shyer than my other loaches, but that is because I only have a pair (I had another, but he/she died). They come out at night to feed and are the kings of my tank.

I would reccomend having a minimum of 3 darios, and more is better (if you can get your hands on them). You will see more of them if you have a school.