Botia Siesta shock

[Azmeaiel]

Pakastani loach have only just been allowed into australia, naturally I went and bought a few as soon as they came to my state. I have kept clowns, khuli, dojo and a few others but wasnt prepared when I looked in the tank and saw one of my new little friends lying completley upside-down on a rock (when it had been feeding minutes earlier) I went to fish it out but found it alive and well. Minutes later it was in the same position. Now it does it same time every-day at 1pm to 4pm

[Mark in Vancouver]

Must be a very comfortable spot! Congratulations on experiencing loach siesta shock - it's like a rite of passage. Cheers.

[mamaschild]

Just wait until one of them decides to "sleepwalk". That's the only way I can describe what mine do. They lay down, like in your pic, but in the open. Then let the current push them around. It's like watching a dead fish get pushed around in the current. VERY nerve wracking

[cybermeez]

I've been keeping Botias for several years, but last week was faked-out by a sleeping Striata doing just what Martin described. Nerve wracking indeed!

[Azmeaiel]

Once you know this habit it is quite funny to watch. they spend quite a while getting comfy, lying against different rocks untill they find just the right spot, a bit like a fussy person with a feather pillow. I wonder if they do this in the wild?. I suppose a potential predator would be less cautios about approaching a 'dead' fish as opposed to a resting one.

[JD]

To this day, 15years after getting my first loach, they can still make my heart skip a beat. Especially when I see my 10 year old doing that!

I will think you never truely get used to it.

JD