Loaches Online Forum

newshound wrote:if I was to have only one species of loach it would be Kubs.
So up front and active and so darn good looking.
BTW- I have at least 12 species of loaches currently.
No one has mentioned Skunks yet. Nippy buggers but active too.
What ever you do get as many as possible (for your tank).
They will be far more active and you could lose one or two and if you don't no problem just get a bigger tank

Excellent...Kubs are in the lead so far. Being their only tankmates will be a Bristlenose pleco and shoal of tetras, hopefully I can stock a dozen or so of the little fellas...

Should be an interesting tank to say the least.

Do you have Petsmart stores in Kansas? They sometimes have kubotai. They're a little pricy and were originally $19.99 ea. but although they haven't had them in stock at the one near me over the past couple of months, I've heard from someone on a forum that the price has gone down.

Almost as cute and not quite as pricy are the striata, but you can't get them at Petsmart. I've seen one once in an LFS around here. He's in my tank now

If you're set on something you can't find you could always order some online.

TammyLiz wrote:
If you're set on something you can't find you could always order some online.

I went to petsmart and petco today all they had were clowns at petsmart, and no loaches at petco at all.

I think I will order online, I know about the site liveaquaria.com, are there any other sites you can recommend to purchase high quality loaches?

i have B. histrionicas and a solitary B. kubotai, id recommmend either of them as they are stunning little fish who are always active and exlporing.

get at least three kubotai instead of solitary and theyre great i love histrionicas too

Rubix wrote:get at least three kubotai instead of solitary and theyre great i love histrionicas too

originally i bought 6 Histrionicas, it just happened that one of them grew up to be a Kubotai. im looking out for another 4 kubs at the momemnt but the only shop nearby that has Kubotais has ones that are much larger and very skinny indeed. i will keep an eye out for something a little healthier looking i think.

seeing as im moving to London in a couple fo months im even thinking of making a trip to Emma's in Peterborough to see if i can track some donw there

You could try Franks Aquarium. Has lots of neat stuff and I've heard good things about his fish. He also posts here from time to time.

http://www.franksaquarium.com/brookstreamloaches.htm

Bless you Shari2...thanks for the link.

Are Schistura balteata compatible with Botia kubotai and/or Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki?

I think I have a problem...I could be becoming a loachaholic myself!

Yes, beware of Franks site!

Every time I look at what he has available I end up putting enough on my wish list that I'd have to set up at least three more tanks. One of these days I'm going to make an order from him.

There is almost never anything half as interesting available locally for me.

For the schistura you could set up a fast flowing cooler water tank and have some danios as dither. Frank often has interesting danios in stock as well. The schistura do not keep that amazing color as they age, though, if I am not mistaken. Emma has kept some and they became darker as they got older. Many colorful loaches do this in aquariums and it has been speculated that it could be because something in their natural diet causes the spectacular color.

TammyLiz wrote:Many colorful loaches do this in aquariums and it has been speculated that it could be because something in their natural diet causes the spectacular color.

Fascinating...I think I am going to have to study these fish further...with say...two or three further tanks in the future.

Are there any particular recommendations for a Kubotai tank? I am planning on heavy filtration and a well aerated tank...what about this blue light I hear about, would that be a nice touch for a Kubotai tank?

If so, are those lights available for purchase online?

I hope my wife is okay with 5-6 tanks in our home...

Here is a thread with some pictures of Martins and Emmas balteata

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php ... 2a62d9794c

Yes, blue lights can be purchased online. Often they call them "moon lights".

Martin made one by stuffing a string of blue christmas lights into the plastic shell of a broken strip light. Good idea, if you ask me. He'd probably be able to post a picture of it for you. I don't feel like searching through the old posts for it.

Here's a link to Keith Wolcott's new setup. His moonlights are a light string from Home Depot.
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=6154

yea i was reading about keith's setup yesterday and i remembered i have a ton of thos blue string lights from when i was a kid, prolly in my parents attic. think ill find those next time im up there visiting them thanks for the GREAT idea!