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| FAQs About Loach Selection
Related Articles: Loaches, Dojos/Weatherfish, A New Look At Loaches By Neale Monks,
Related FAQs: Loaches 1,
Loaches 2,
Clownloaches,
Kuhli Loaches,
Loach Identification, Loach Behavior,
Loach Compatibility,
Loach Systems,
Loach Feeding, Loach Disease,
Loach Reproduction, |
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YoYo Loaches 05/21/09
Hello Crew, I have a question, please. I bought a yo-yo loach today to
help with my snail problem.
<It probably won't help.>
The owner of the LFS said it was fine to keep them singularly, but I
want to ask you if that is true or if I need to have more, and is so,
how many?
<Five or six is the minimum.>
Are these type of loaches fairly peaceful or will they be aggressive at
feeding time?
<Although not usually aggressive to other fish directly, they are
extremely aggressive feeders, and can't be mixed with anything "slow" at
feeding time: spiny eels, small Corydoras, whiptail catfish, etc.>
Thanks, James
<Cheers, Neale.>
FW 20 gal tall stocking
question: snail remediation solution 3/18/09
Hi! I've learned invaluable things from your site but need to be some
confirmation or redirection regarding my tank.
<Oh?>
I have a 20 gal tall FW, artificially planted, smaller substrate gravel
w/ several drift wood pieces, double hang-on-back filters (each rated
for 20 gal). Water parameters are ammon: 0, Nitrite: 0, and Nitrate 10.
Ph 7.8+ due to municipal water source. Tank is kept at 78 degrees F.
<Sounds nice.>
Current stock: 1 bristle nose Pleco, 10 glass fish. I will be adopting
an unaggressive female three-spot Gourami in another week and have
already provided a dedicated cave for her (on opposite side of tank from
the Pleco's preferred cave).
<Hmm... like children, fish often want to play with the SAME cave, even
if there are caves to go around!>
I also, unfortunately, am now the not-so-happy owner of unwanted pond
snails (most likely came in with the last add of glass fish). I've
already removed a dozen or so and yet babies are cropping up all over! I
read that Botia sid dwarf loaches are an excellent natural solution to
this problem.
I know I don't have room for FIVE as suggested, but have read others
have kept them in happy groups of three. Do you think I have room in my
tank for three? I need a snail remediation solution, but don't want to
disrupt my currently peaceful tank.
<Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki (formerly Botia sidthimunki) is a schooling
fish, so keeping a single specimen isn't fair. They're intensely
gregarious, and even in groups of six look pretty forlorn. To be honest,
the idea of choosing a fish for snail control rarely works in practise.
Puffers and Loaches will eat snails when they're hungry, but they cause
problems of their own. Loaches tend to be aggressive and sometimes bully
other fish, while Puffers are often territorial and frequently nippy,
even
putting aside the fact some of the species sold need brackish water. By
far the best control for snails is manual labour. Begin by keeping
snails out, for example by dipping new plants in an off-the-shelf
snail-killing potion for a few minutes. Secondly, kill any snails you
see on sight. Squish them, and leave your catfish or whatever to clean
up the corpses. Thirdly, make life difficult for your snails: keep the
tank clean, and in particular remove uneaten food. Finally, consider
adding a predatory snail or two.
Clea helena (sometimes called Anentome helena) are sold as "Assassin
Snails" quite widely now, at least here in the UK. They're attractive
animals that get to about an inch in length and are prettily marked with
yellow and brown. They eat snails, but don't eat plants. While they do
breed, they breed so slowly that they're unlikely to cause problems.
Worst case, you remove any you see. They're amazing little snail-eaters,
and though their impact is slow, it is substantial in the long term. You
end up with a balance of predators and prey, and the snails stop being a
major problem.>
As always, thanks for your thoughts and support!!!
Kristi
<Cheers, Neale.>
Re: FW 20 gal tall stocking
question: snail remediation solution 3/18/09
Neale,
Just to clarify, you say not to add a SINGLE sidmunk (Botia
sidthimunki), but I asked about adding a small group of three (knowing
they are best with buddies).
<Yes, I caught this. My point was you shouldn't keep them in groups of
less than six, and ideally twice that number. They really are nervous
animals kept in too-small a group, by which I mean they're skittish and
prone to "unexplained" deaths.>
Aside from this, though, it doesn't sound like an over-stocking issue to
add these but rather an action that may create a rather aggressive tank.
Did I read your reply right?
<Precisely. While Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki isn't particularly
aggressive (far from it in fact) most of the loaches big enough to
actually deal with a snail problem tend to be more trouble than their
worth: Clown loaches, Skunk Botia, etc.>
I did reading on the Assassin Snails - doesn't appear to be common here
in the U.S. I think I'll just crush them as you suggest and hope for the
best. I've already scaled back on food for the tank, so don't know how
much I can change that. My daily feeding habits for the tank are: AM:
small amount of flake and PM: 1/2 small block of bloodworms OR 1/2 small
square of brine shrimp with an algae wafer for the Pleco every once in a
while).
Any changes suggested in my feeding given my livestock and the snail
problem?
<Nope. Sounds fine. A certain number of snails are good. They're like
earthworms, keeping the substrate aerated. Vast populations of snails,
on the other hand, tend to come about through chronic overfeeding and/or
under-cleaning.>
And - I will repeat over and over - THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
<There's also a little device called a "limcollect" from JBL. It catches
snails. Or is supposed to, anyway. My unit never seemed to catch any at
all! May depend on the snail species in question. On the other hand, the
tank with Assassin Snails would be snail-free if I didn't deliberately
add more (small) snails to keep them well fed.>
Kristi
<Cheers, Neale.>
A
question of loaches, sel.... Snail control, 10/23/08
Hi guys and girls :D
<Hello,>
Need some suggestions/recommendations regarding a trumpet snail
infestation of biblical proportions occurring in my 40 gallon
(180l) Amazon tank! The snails were originally introduced (would
you believe) to provide a natural food source for our three
dwarf puffers, who are now no longer with us, however the snails
have thrived... the tank is currently home to two discus, a
variety of tetras, hatchet fish and two dwarf golden
bristlenosed catfish.
<Ah, Carinotetraodon spp. puffers are too small to handle
Melanoides snails. So this combination wouldn't have been one
I'd have recommended...>
Our local LFS has recommended adding a couple of clown loach,
but I'm loathed to do this for several reasons, mainly that I
don't think our tank is large enough for even one, let alone a
group of these fish, but also that we're planning on adding two
juvenile discus to our current pair (we recently lost our third
discus) so I don't want to increase the bioload that much... the
tank is 5 years old and water parameters are stable, but not
worth the risk! I've read on here that zebra loach (Botia
striata) are also good snail eaters but not sure if any other
fish could do the job?
<Adding animals, even Clown Loaches, to fix snail problems
rarely works.
That said, the Assassin Snail (Clea helena) can do a great job
if kept in sufficient numbers. But the main thing with
Melanoides is this: it turns organic matter into baby snails. It
cannot break the laws of physics; ergo, no food, no baby snails.
If you have a Melanoides problem, you also have a lot of organic
matter decaying away in your tank. Dead plants, uneaten food,
fish faeces. Review filtration and general maintenance. Make the
tank cleaner and less food-rich, and the population of
Melanoides will decline over time.>
All suggestions gratefully received - it gets a bit eerie every
night when the army of snails migrate up the sides of the tank
and you can hardly see in through one side!
<Doradidae catfish would be the obvious options, being peaceful,
usually gregarious South American catfish; a school of
Platydoras costatus for example would eat some snails, if
sufficiently hungry. But do bear in mind the Melanoides don't
actually do any harm, and in fact do much good.
Wouldn't risk mixing Cobitidae with Symphysodon; not only are
more Cobitidae a bit on the boisterous size, but rather few
appreciate the very high temperatures Symphysodon require.>
Many thanks,
Carolyn
<Cheers, Neale.>
Loach question in planted tank
Hey all
great website, since I found it a few weeks ago I've spent hours reading and
learning..... anyways on to my question. I'm getting ready to start my first
live plant tank. I have a 30 gallon "tall" tank and plan on using only an
outside filtration system (an emperor 400 I believe the model is). I've read on
your site about snail infestations resulting from newly acquired live plants. I
do not have room in my place for a smaller quarantine tank so I need to find an
alternative method of snail control. I've read on your site about using loaches
to control the problem. I plan on using some floating plants as well as rooted
ones and having cardinal tetras as well as some other small tropicals and I was
wondering what type of loach you would recommend for my tank. some species of
loach seem to get rather large and I would be worried about losing small fish
such as cardinal tetras to these fish. any input would be greatly appreciated,
thanks! Ben K
<Hey Ben, maybe a dwarf loach? Botia sidthmunki. Check out the link below, lots
of good snail info here
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/snailsags.htm
Best Regards, Gage>
Dojo Loach Question... sel. 7/24/06
Hello,
<Hi there>
I have a 25 gallon tank with 3 goldfish and I want to get a dojo loach. However,
I am not sure as to whether I should get one or two.
<Mmm, could have two... and they are more active... more outgoing/comical with
more than one... are social animals...>
I read that they like to have another one of their kind, but I also don't want
to overcrowd.
<Mmm, well, this 25 will be overcrowded in time with just the three goldfish...>
Another thing is that I have underground filtering. I know the dojo likes to
burrow... I'm not sure how underground filtering works, will it get sucked up?
-Ashley
<Not sucked up, but can scoot down the "stand-pipes" and live underneath the
plates... A good idea to look into having some outside power filter redundancy
here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm
Enjoy those Dojos! Bob Fenner>
Locating Gold Dojo Loaches
hi Robert,
<<Bob has gone diving, JasonC here standing in.>>
my name is Jim Brilliant and I want to know if you could help me find these
loaches and who sells them.
I would like to purchase many gold dojo loaches and albino's, too. thank you for
any assistance you can provide
<<I would try a couple of things, one check our discussion forum which has a
diverse group of kind folk who just might have the answer.
http://talk.wetwebfotos.com/
I would also use Google or your favorite search engine and just pop that subject
in there "gold dojo loaches" - I just did and it turned up four pages of
possibilities. The Internet is your oyster. Cheers, J -- >>
Loach question in planted tank
Hey all
great website, since I found it a few weeks ago I've spent hours reading and
learning..... anyways on to my question. I'm getting ready to start my first
live plant tank. I have a 30 gallon "tall" tank and plan on using only an
outside filtration system (an emperor 400 I believe the model is). I've read on
your site about snail infestations resulting from newly acquired live plants. I
do not have room in my place for a smaller quarantine tank so I need to find an
alternative method of snail control. I've read on your site about using loaches
to control the problem. I plan on using some floating plants as well as rooted
ones and having cardinal tetras as well as some other small tropicals and I was
wondering what type of loach you would recommend for my tank. some species of
loach seem to get rather large and I would be worried about losing small fish
such as cardinal tetras to these fish. any input would be greatly appreciated,
thanks! Ben K
<Hey Ben, maybe a dwarf loach? Botia sidthmunki. Check out the link below, lots
of good snail info here
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/snailsags.htm
Best Regards, Gage>
Lookin' for Loaches
Hey guys, first thanks for all the great info on this site. It has saved a
lot of headaches so far. I have a 25 gallon tank that just finished cycling. I
have 3 Serpae Tetras and 2 Zebra Danios. I have a fine sand substrate and I am
looking for a fish to add that would help stir up the bottom of the tank a
little. The LFS recommended a Clown Loach but that advice I'm not sold on since
I've heard they can grow to 12 inches. Thanks for any ideas.
<And indeed they can! There are so, so many options available for you. Any of
the smaller loaches, Botia striata, Botia dario, Botia lohachata.... Kuhli
loaches.... soooo many loaches out there! Also Corydoras cats. http://www.loaches.com
is a nice place to start looking at loach options, and you can find loads of
info on cats of the genus Corydoras at
http://www.planetcatfish.com
- as well as on the wetweb site and FAQs. I would like to mention that loaches
and Corys are scaleless, and that you might want to keep an eye on them to see
if they react poorly to the sand if it is at all sharp. Also, please be sure to
keep loaches or Corys in groups of three or more, as they are schooling
fish. -Sabrina>
White cloud with growing black markings
Evening all,
<Good evening, Rosa! Sabrina here tonight>
You've always been helpful and on target in the past and after doing a lot of
searching, with no answers, thought you might come to the rescue, yet again...
<Thank you for the kind words - and we'll sure try>
I have a question about white cloud minnows- I have had 2 for about a year now,
they are yellow and white, with black specks and markings. Hearty, fun, and
social. They share a planted tank (15 gallon fresh) with some otos, harlequin
rasboras and cherry barbs. Recently I added 3 clowns to fish tank who at first
were pretty dominant and stressed out other fish for a while- now they are all
alright with each other and the clowns sit at bottom of tank, or hang out in
driftwood, and leave other fish alone.
<I assume you mean clown loaches? Clown loaches get enormous, over time. You
might want to consider a smaller loach species, or plan on upgrading tank size
eventually. At least clown loaches are very slow growers, so you're okay for
now.>
Soon after all this I noticed that the markings on one of my white clouds were
getting darker- the black specks were getting deeper in color and actually
bigger. Nothing else wrong with fish, no ich or anything like that- just that
its original black specks - actually one in particular on its back- is just a
lot longer. The fish is fine- eats, hangs out with other fish, but I wondered
about this. Is there some kind of skin disease or perhaps stress, or maybe just
'normal'- perhaps markings just increase with age?
<It's hard to tell without seeing the fish; if there's any way you could get us
a picture, that'd be great. Otherwise, do a google search on their Latin name,
Tanichthys albonubes, and compare yours with pictures of others; that may at
least help you to see if the coloration is normal or not.>
If you could help me out here I'd appreciate it- I'm always checking on this
fish and just a bit worried- would like to know that it's nothing- or, if it is
something, what I should do. Thanks, Rosa Haritos
White cloud with growing black markings - part II
Hi Sabrina- thanks for response.
<No prob.>
I'm actually going to SF, CA for business trip tomorrow and I won't be back
until 25th- I CAN send a photo of fish and will, when I get back.
<Ah, welcome to my neck of the world.>
Haven't found ANYTHING using Latin Name- tried it-- just pix of ich's disease-
and I know it's not that.
<Try this: http://images.google.com/images?q=Tanichthys+albonubes&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search
. Should give you lots of pics of White Clouds.>
Yup, clown loaches. It was actually someone at WetWeb who told me they are great
snail eaters- and they get big, but as you say, slowly. So I bought 3 - so they
wouldn't be lonely, and GUESS WHAT- no way did they eat snails!!
<Now THAT is stunning. I've NEVER seen a clown loach turn its nose up at
snails!! It might just be that they needed some time to settle in, first; also,
don't feed them other food for a few days, and they should dig right in.>
Even when I crushed them and put then right next to them--so I had to pick at
snails for a whole week to get rid of an infestation. I asked LFS and they said
they would exchange for zebra loach- which is suppose to be more aggressive re
snails, but peaceful for the tank--and smaller.
<Well, smaller, yes; but I think these have pretty much the same temperament as
clown loaches. Mine certainly do, anyway. And though they certainly chow down
on snails (took all of two weeks for three zebra loaches in my 72g to rid me of
all my snails), clown loaches are reportedly much better snail eradicators.>
BUT my son, who is 6, fell in love with these fish and pleaded not to trade em.
so I'm stuck.
<Heh, at least you're stuck with a nice type of fish!>
Thanks re white minnow - I'll send photo when I get back. If you find anything
in meantime, I'd appreciate it.
<Well, I'm afraid it's not so much a matter of finding anything; there's just so
many things that it could be. Stress, normal coloration, etc. I do look
forward to helping you figure this out once you've got a picture for
us! Wishing you well, -Sabrina>
Thanks again, best Rosa
Buffering Fresh, 2.1
>Marina,
Thanks for the advice.
>>Quite welcome.
>!ST bubbles from the bubble stones, not the powerhead.
>>Gotcha, so you've got excellent oxygen/carbon dioxide (O2/CO2) exchange.
>I did check KH and GH.... both WAY TOO LOW...... so I guess the best thing to
do is to find some of the Seachem products.
I do like Seachem best, as I said. The products were quite easy to find online,
and relatively inexpensive.
>I have read that clown loaches do much better as a pair or more? Is that not
so?
>>They may be a bit happier, but honestly I've never known them to do poorly if
kept singly, either. They can grow quite large, though, something to consider.
>Thanks for all the help. Monica
>>Again, very welcome, I'm glad I was able to answer your questions. Marina
This Clown's Not Joking
Hey Crew, <Hello! Ryan with you>
I recently had to shut down my 75gall saltwater tank because it is too big/heavy
for my new apartment. <Sorry to hear> To ease the pain of this loss, I purchased
a small 5 gallon Hex. Eclipse system for my dresser. Cycled the tank for 3 weeks
w a platy. The plan was/is to plant the tank nicely and put a nice Betta in
there (of course got a show quality fish from Canada to be shipped next
week!). Also wanted to get one Corydoras cat to keep the bottom clean. Here is
the problem/mistake I made ALREADY. I hadn't dealt with freshwater fish for a
long long time and thought I knew "enough" to do this w/out reading. If I had
stuck to my 2 fish/plant plan I think I would have been ok. But when I went to
get my Corydoras 2 days ago.....I came home w/ a Clown Loach instead. I thought
"they're nicer and serve the same purpose." Wrong....<At least you didn't make
me tell you!>...I decided to read AFTER the fact and see that it won't fit in my
tank for long and needs to be in groups of 3 or more. <I have seen this fish
well over 8 inches> And I'm starting to wonder....do they even scavenge??? <Not
in the way a true scavenger does> I've feed him 2x and while he gets excited, he
doesn't seem to find the food as it sinks to the bottom. Will he find the food
at night on the bottom?? <Yes> Secondly, will this guy be ok by himself or does
he NEED to be in groups. <he needs to be returned, he will die in your setup
within a few months.> Thirdly...should I just bring him back or give him
away?? <Bring him back, stick you your initial plan! It was a good one. See
ya, Ryan>
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