A few pictures

[Aaandyyy]

Apologies for the picture quality, not up to Emma's standards just yet!

Tank is an 8x3x3 and fish are as follows:
6x Leptobotia elongata approx 6-7" (15-17cm)
2x Leptobotia taeniops approx 5" (12-13cm)
1x Triplophysa siluroides approx 6-7" (15-17cm)
3x Sarcocheilichthys sinensis sinensis approx 3" (8-10cm)

Need some midwater fish desperately, this is a vast aquarium which looks empty. Love the Sarcocheilichthys sinensis sinensis (thanks Emma) and looking for some more but any other suggestions appreciated.

Regards, Andy

[Jim Powers]

Very nice fish!!! Thanks for sharing!!

[ClownLoachSharky]

nice.

[starsplitter7]

What really cool fish. Thanks for sharing.

[piggy4]

Great looking beautiful fish their condition is wonderful .

[NancyD]

Very cool unusual fish, they look great!

[zenins]

Need some midwater fish desperately, this is a vast aquarium which looks empty.

I have some suggestions for companion fish, some nice schools of barbs, could be tiger, odessa, striped or rosy barbs.
Also spanner or "T" barbs, but they do get larger than the other barbs.

Barbs are mid-water fish and come from waters in South East Asia the same as many loaches

[Joao M]

In that big tank, I would add tinfoil barbs (Barbonymus schwanenfeldii).

p.s.: Love the elongata !

[Aaandyyy]

Thank you for the comments.
There are two potential problems with this tank:
1. The Leptobotia elongata and Triplophysa can reach in excess of 60cm and will take anything small.
2. The temperature is maintained at 16 - 22C as these fish are from cool fast flowing waters in China, otherwise the Tinfoil or Lemon fin barbs would have been ideal.
I've wondered about a shoal of Pimelodus? I know they prefer cooler tropical tanks around 20-22C but not sure about as low as 16. Any thoughts?

[Joao M]

I think it would be complicated to keep pimelodus under 20º...

Although much smaller (up to 15cms but generally 10-12) have you considered Rosy barbs (Barbus conchonius)?The elongata could eat them... but then again they grow fast and you could try a shoal.

Or, if you wnat to go "massive", either a few Mycocyprinus asiaticus (don´t know the English name) or even some mahseer...

[Graeme Robson]

Superb!!

[loach_mommy2012]

Beautiful fish! I think most of the pictures turned out pretty good

[Aaandyyy]

I guess as it has been a year it's time for some updates. Sorry to all the devout loach fans, I'm afraid there are few pictures amongst these that will interest you but hopefully this shows the tankmates I eventually settled on:

6x Leptobotia elongata
2x Leptobotia taeniops
1x Triplophysa siluroides
5x Acrossocheilus fasciatus - Chinese Railway barb
1x Pelteobagrus fulvidraco - Amur or Yellow catfish
8x Acheilognathus macropterus - Giant bitterling
8x Opsarius pulchellus - Mackerel barb
9x Sarcocheilichthys sinensis sinensis - Amur barb
3x Channa sp. Moonbeam Galaxy
Approx 75 Chinese, Odessa & Rosy barbs - there were about 200 but disappeared at about the same time the Triplophysa had a growth spurt!

I'll try to get some more loach orientated pictures when they emerge in the evening but as I'm sure you all know, loach photography is a waiting game!

[Jim Powers]

Very nice mix of species. Keep the pics coming!!

[bookpage]

Like the pictues a lot. Nice fish. Could you get a full length tank shot?