Panda loach / Yaoshania pachychilus

[atmichaels]

I just picked up 6 of these little guys, emphasis on little. They're only about 15mm SL at the moment. I'm looking forward to watching them grow and seeing their adult coloring/patterns develop. Here are a couple pics.

[Jim Powers]

Cool! Keep us posted!!

[bookpage]

I really like the Panda loach, but they tend to loose some of their appear when they become adults.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/ya ... chychilus/

[atmichaels]

So far, so good! These guys eat anything and everything I offer and are filling out nicely. They've also gained at least another 5mm in length. Not bad for only a few weeks. They're very active and definitely social.

[Jim Powers]

Good to hear they are doing well. Keep us updated.

[atmichaels]

The lateral line is starting to develop.

[atmichaels]

Patterns are starting to merge.

[TrebleClef84]

That's a lot faster than I would have expected.

[atmichaels]

Crazy fast but very cool to watch. Some of them appear to be changing faster than the others although their growth rates appear fairly equal.

[Diana]

What are you feeding them? They sure are coloring up fast, too!

[atmichaels]

Food wise I've been throwing everything I've got at them to see if they have a preference. They are voracious and haven't turned down anything yet. So this is where I'm at now:

Daily - mix of crushed cobalt flake, plecocaine and spirulina
1-2 times a week - Repashy soilent green
1-2 times a week - frozen mysis shrimp, brine shrimp & bloodworms
Once a week - NLS Thera +A
The occasional crushed snail
Also tried earthworm sticks, hikari algae and carnivore wafers
*edit* and fresh zucchini
With all this food I've also been doing 30-40% pwc's twice a week

[atmichaels]

They are up to about 30mm SL so have doubled in size over one month

[atmichaels]

Been a few weeks so here are some more pics. They're about 35mm SL now. These guys are very entertaining and fun to watch. They don't sit still so getting good photos is quite the challenge.

[atmichaels]

I also noticed that this species doesn't have a profile on the main site so I cobbled together the below. Mostly from seriouslyfish.com.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Scientific name: Yaoshania pachychilus

Common name: Panda loach

Synonyms: Protomyzon pachychilus (Chen 1980)

Distribution: Dayoa Mountain (Dayaoshan) in Jinxiu County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region, southern China

Sexual dimorphism: undocumented

Maximum size: 2.5 inches (60 mm)

Similar to: ?


Care: A demersal species inhabiting small mountain streams. As with all sucker-type
Hillstream species, care is broadly the same. All need excellent water-flow and
aeration, numerous rocky hiding places and smooth pebbles and boulders to
graze over. Lighting should be bright to encourage algal growth in the aquarium.
Plants are not necessary as the fish do not normally encounter them in the wild,
but they will help with water-quality. Suitable plants for high-flow environments
are Anubias and Microsoreum. These will grow on rockwork or driftwood.

Feeding: The natural diet is likely to consist of benthic algae and associated micro-
Organisms but will accept good quality dried food as well as live and frozen
foods such as bloodworm, daphnia, and brine shrimp. Although excessive
protein should be avoided as it may cause digestive issues.

Water parameters: pH 6.5 to 7.5, hardnes 2-15°

Temperature: 68-75°F (20-24°C)

Breeding: undocumented

Notes: Although categorized on the IUCN redlist as least concern based on a 2007
assessment, little information is known about the species. Presumed to be
found throughout the Dayoashan Mountains which is protected forest park and
no major threats are known.

[ch.koenig]

Hi
Just as information: Gerhard Ott has done some work on this species. Sexing is possible a he shows in an article. My way to to this is documented on www.seriouslyfish.com. The species has been bred lately in Germany. Article if required.
Cheers Charles