Loaches Online Forum

They were already coloured up when they arrived (see pics at the beginning of this thread when we were acclimatising them in the actual bag they arrived in). Some are naturally paler than others though. Give them a few days in good water, with lots of hiding places and a good mix of foodstuffs and hopefully they will settle in.

Emma

Emma, thanks. They are already eating (flake and blackworms), and appear to be settling in nicely.

Frank M. Greco wrote:Emma, thanks. They are already eating (flake and blackworms), and appear to be settling in nicely.

Pics plz?

mikev wrote:Pics plz?

Once they settle in, I'll post some pics.

Nice balteatas. In nature both yellow, pink and orange tail individuals are found in the same place.

Tony T. wrote:Nice balteatas. In nature both yellow, pink and orange tail individuals are found in the same place.

Would you suggest the colouration is Male/Female

Those are incredible. They really have colored up nicely and I see they have been eating like crazy

Not likely. Not sure for balteatas but a related species has females with weaker color, but still fine color nontheless [with weak orange/red/yellow]. You can see in my avatar what male's head should look like with its puffy cheek

I have two old-timers in my River Tank, which I had thought might have been a pair, after they whittled down their numbers from eight. But both are an overall dark purpley-grey colour (bands hardly visible) and look to be pretty plump. So now I'm thinking that maybe I have two females. I've tried for ages to look at their faces head-on for the puffed cheeks, but they are very shy and rarely out, so I haven't been able to. I'm in two minds as to whether to try adding another one or two, but would feel awful if the old ones gave them trouble.

Anyway, this evening I took a few more pictures of the new ones at the shop and thought I'd share them with everyone:



Close-up of the beautiful dorsal fin:


Pucker up:


Another close-up:


Hope you like them. I'm really pleased with the results I'm getting from my new camera.

Emma

Nice closeups. Those are some very nice loaches. I know I would buy some if I could

You certainly have got to grips with your new camera!

Absolutely stunning!

Very nice Emma

Thanks guys.

Got this pic of a sumo from a supplier in Malaysia. Not exactly the best advetisement for these fish, IMO.

That looks like a Panda garra. I forget the scientific name.