Loaches Online Forum

mickthefish wrote:i'm surprised they have attacked and killed fish especially the bristlenose as they are like armour plated?.
i have the bigger brothers to the A botia and i've never had any problems with them, and they're all over 4 inches SL?.

mick

Me neither, and I have mine in with fairly mild tempered fish



Ashleigh

helen nightingale wrote:sorry to hear about your problem Mack. that doesnt sound good.

Thanks all for your sympathy. I think I have the problem liked. If found out these fish are better of with one fish per tank. So I shifted them out between my 4 running tanks. I wished my other 5 were up and running.

i am afraid your water test readings dont look perfect to me. you should be seeing some nitrAte, even if its a very small amount. how old are your test kits (and did you follow the instructions exactly right? its easy to time the wait wrong, or not shake the test for long enough, which will give the wrong reading)? last time i was unsure if my tests were reading right, i got the water tested at the LFS too to check.

good luck with catching the fish!

Yes In know. The tank was not properly cycled. I could not get the cycle finished. My 50 gallon had some trouble with other fish and I had to move things fast. So I shifted them into the partially cycled tank. Some times their will be the odd Nitrate readings. other wise everything else is 0.

mack

Ashleigh wrote:

mickthefish wrote:i'm surprised they have attacked and killed fish especially the bristlenose as they are like armour plated?.
i have the bigger brothers to the A botia and i've never had any problems with them, and they're all over 4 inches SL?.

mick

Me neither, and I have mine in with fairly mild tempered fish



Ashleigh

I know it is quite strange. But I found out as I have said in my last post that these fish can become killers when kept in a group in a too small tank. And A real pain is my 100 gallon is not built yet.

I must say I am really gutted. It was a Female Bristle Nose to.

Anyway I will keep a eye on the Loaches and if they don't stop their old ways when separated then I will sadly have to kill them.


Cheers,
mac

Are you sure these are 'zipper' loaches and not a Schistura sp? Behaviour sounds a lot like Schistura-I have seen mine pull whie clouds from the upper part of the tank-I now keep them with large barbs they can't pick on. Ive had zippers in a 2ft for treatment for a month before the 4ft and never seen aggression and that was with 10 individuals.


Ashleigh

thats what i was thinking Ashleigh, Mac could you put a pic of your fish up please.
you know what were like about seeing pics up.

mick

I wonder if this is a case of mistaken identity? They could be the Acanthocobitis rubidipinnis, these can be nasty Loaches.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ac ... bidipinnis

I believed mine to be A.botia until they were identified as A.rubidipinnis on the forum. I think its A.rubidipinnis Mick has aswell


Ashleigh

Graeme Robson wrote:I wonder if this is a case of mistaken identity? They could be the Acanthocobitis rubidipinnis, these can be nasty Loaches.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ac ... bidipinnis

Mine look comply different to this pic. Similar body shape but that is all.

I will try and up load a pic for you guys.

mack

This pic may not be clear enough. But it was the best i could get of these fast moving little Loaches.

mac

Hi Mack,

This is a Mesonoemacheilus guentheri, this genus has a similar teritorial behaviour like Schistura

I've experience with M. trianguilaris and they were aggressive to other loaches and other fishes like danios.

Thomas

I second Mesonoemacheilus guentheri Beautiful fish there as well.

So these Mesonoemacheilus guentheri, need a more Hill-stream type tank.

And Accordingly they are suppose to be less territorial than other types of it's species, right?

So what is up with mine. Why where they killing fish fast and hard??

They have stop since I separated them all and placed them in other tanks.

But could they start things up again.

mac

No Mack, they are a territorial species. I don't keep these, I think Graeme and Emma have these, hopefully they can give you some insight.

What way do you have the decor in your tank setup. Best way I have found with Schistura is to have many cobbles pilled up all over the tank, high and low, creating many barriers. I assume the same approach may help disperse aggression in one tank. One or two large bits of decor won't do-you need loads of it!

From what I have read, you had 5 in a 30g-They should get a long with a lot more barriers, you have a good number tho so that all aggression isnt towards one specific individual. Although as tank mates go (Harlequin Rasboras and 4 Red-Line rasboras), they are not ideal. I would only keep them with tough barbs, little rasboras don't really stand a chance.

This is one of my smaller tanks with cobbles, I have the same applied in a 4ft with slate as well, and it works surprisingly well, just to give you a few ideas. Very nice specimen you have there, it would be a pity not to keep them




Ashleigh

This is the tank lay out.



I can turn the currant up more but the rest of the fish can't swim very well in it. And the Plants don't live.

So I cam stuck. I can return the fish. I cant set up a spare tank. So what to do?

mack

I have both guentheri and triangularis and have not had any serious problems with them. They do chase each other around some and will occasionally chase the rainbows in the tank, but that's it.
It looks as if there are plenty of hiding places in that tank so I haven't a clue as to why you would be having such trouble. It sounds as if your only real choice is to return the fish. That's too bad since both species are very interesting to keep.