How To Make Your Loach Happy.

[zeke the black ghost knife]

ok, this topic is about keeping your loaches (the long loaches, like dojo or kuhli, NOT botia loaches), what they need, and good ideas for them.

tank set-up
first of all, if you WANT to get a loach, heres what you need: a NOT TO BIG aquarium. if you keep them in a huge aquarium, you may never see them. second, many many hiding places. your loach loves hiding places. give them alot, like driftwood, rocks, plants, PVC pipes, ect. a really good idea im going to try out if you dont have sand is a glass, clear bottle. you get a glass bottle or vase, that has a opening big enough for your loach to go through. then fill it with sand or fine gravel subrate. it should serve as their home.

tank mates
kuhli loaches, are crazy, but peaceful. they can go with alot of different kinds of fish. you can keep them with peaceful fish like gouramis, platys, mollies, and others. DO NOT KEEP THEM WITH CATFISH, SHARKS, AND KNIFE FISH. or any other type of carnivourous fish. since they are small, especially kuhli loaches, thry can get eaten.

diet
its best to vary their diet. most loaches will eat blood worms, tubeifex worms, wafers, pellets, and other bottom dweller foods. since they eat leftovers from other fish, that means they are good with other messy eaters. they will keep your tank clean of food debris.

species
their are many species of loaches. there are kuhlis, black kuhlis, dojo, peppered dojo, and any other that there maybe. if you have a loach that you dont know, then post a picture on this topic of your loach, and i will try to figure it out.

if you have anymore questions, just post your question on this topic. thanks for reading!

 

[Carlovel1]

If you are keeping a Dojo/Weather Loach, you DO need a large tank(150 litres or more), they are 20CM Loaches. And they will do much better in a coldwater set up. And don't place them with Goldfish

 

[fluttermoth]

tank set-up
first of all, if you WANT to get a loach, heres what you need: a NOT TO BIG aquarium.

Sorry, but for 'Dojo' loach at least, this is wrong!
The 'dojo' or Weather loach, Misgurnis anguillicaudatus does need a large tank, as they grow to around 10" and need to be kept in groups; they are a very sociable fish.

I have a friend who is totally obsessed with weather loach and has kept both M. anguillicaudatus and M. fossilis for many years and has even got them to spawn, and it's a good job she doesn't come on fish forums or she'd explode with rage at most of the 'advice' given about them...

Edit; snap, Carlovel1

 

[Carlovel1]

Edit; snap, Carlovel1

OH!

Snap

Carl

 

[fishnovice]

If you are keeping a Dojo/Weather Loach, you DO need a large tank(150 litres or more), they are 20CM Loaches. And they will do much better in a coldwater set up. And don't place them with Goldfish

Why can't you keep a weatherloach with goldfish? My weatherloach lived happily with golfish in its previous home for 3 years and I kept it with goldfish for another 4 months until the goldies were moved outside in spring. It's currently living with corries and paradise fish though I hardly ever see it now as it's always buried in sand . Still I guess it's happier now than in the gravel tank it lived in for over 3 years.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

My eight (8) juvenile Weather Loaches, ~15cm TL and the largest having the same thickness as my index finger, are more then happy in my 5x2x2... They love burrowing in the sand, especially under the central and rightmost bogwood features, with just their eyes and snout protruding out!

It is a modest sized tank and I can usually count all eight at least once a day... It is often harder to spot the three Synodontis brichardi (hiding in the tall artificial plants usually) and my male Indian Red Tail Squirrel Loach (hiding under the clay pot or leftmost bogwood)

 

[Carlovel1]

If you are keeping a Dojo/Weather Loach, you DO need a large tank(150 litres or more), they are 20CM Loaches. And they will do much better in a coldwater set up. And don't place them with Goldfish

Why can't you keep a weatherloach with goldfish? My weatherloach lived happily with golfish in its previous home for 3 years and I kept it with goldfish for another 4 months until the goldies were moved outside in spring. It's currently living with corries and paradise fish though I hardly ever see it now as it's always buried in sand . Still I guess it's happier now than in the gravel tank it lived in for over 3 years.

If you happen to have a large Goldfish, it will attempt to eat the Loach. The Loach will get lodged in its mouth and both fish will die.

Carl

 

[zeke the black ghost knife]

dude i have a kuhli

god......sorry im not perfect.

exactly. all fish are different.

 

[zeke the black ghost knife]

lalalala

 

[Carlovel1]

dude i have a kuhli

god......sorry im not perfect.

exactly. all fish are different.

No-one is expecting you to be perfect, we are simply expanding upon what you said.

lalalala

I have a slight feeling you want this thread pinned?

 

[zeke the black ghost knife]

yes i did! how did you know?

 

[fishnovice]

If you are keeping a Dojo/Weather Loach, you DO need a large tank(150 litres or more), they are 20CM Loaches. And they will do much better in a coldwater set up. And don't place them with Goldfish

Why can't you keep a weatherloach with goldfish? My weatherloach lived happily with golfish in its previous home for 3 years and I kept it with goldfish for another 4 months until the goldies were moved outside in spring. It's currently living with corries and paradise fish though I hardly ever see it now as it's always buried in sand . Still I guess it's happier now than in the gravel tank it lived in for over 3 years.

If you happen to have a large Goldfish, it will attempt to eat the Loach. The Loach will get lodged in its mouth and both fish will die.

Carl

Didn't know goldies were aggressive predators that swallowed other fish! My goldies are far too small to swallow a loach, guess that's why they got on well together

 

[Carlovel1]

If you are keeping a Dojo/Weather Loach, you DO need a large tank(150 litres or more), they are 20CM Loaches. And they will do much better in a coldwater set up. And don't place them with Goldfish

Why can't you keep a weatherloach with goldfish? My weatherloach lived happily with golfish in its previous home for 3 years and I kept it with goldfish for another 4 months until the goldies were moved outside in spring. It's currently living with corries and paradise fish though I hardly ever see it now as it's always buried in sand . Still I guess it's happier now than in the gravel tank it lived in for over 3 years.

If you happen to have a large Goldfish, it will attempt to eat the Loach. The Loach will get lodged in its mouth and both fish will die.

Carl

Didn't know goldies were aggressive predators that swallowed other fish! My goldies are far too small to swallow a loach, guess that's why they got on well together

They are not aggressive predators, they are opportunistic predators, what ever fish fits their mouth will get gobbled down!

 

[zeke the black ghost knife]

XD

 

[Carlovel1]

XD

I think you need to polish off the article a bit more for it to be considered to be pinned. Make sure punctuation is up to scratch, correct any mistakes you may have made in the article...you know...tidy it up a bit