Schistura menanensis?

[AquaNut]

My lfs got some loaches in today as 'red tailed sandbar loaches'. From my little online search, I'm pretty confident that they're schistura menanensis. I plan to go down and buy a few of them tomorrow, seeing as I've never seen them before and there's only one lfs in town, so you have to buy what you want when you see it - no saying how long it will be before you see more. Can anybody tell me anything at all about these fish? I found a pic, but can't find any info written in English.

 

[AquaNut]

Should I guess that 15 views and no replies means that they're somewhat rare? All the more reason to go buy them!! Hopefully by tonight I'll have some pics of my new loaches to show y'all what I'm talking about.

 

[ghostknife]

I looked it up on fishbase they get to 5.9cm and i think they look pretty cute.

 

[AquaNut]

Well... the lfs only got three of these guys, so I bought all of them. They're three little bada$$ fishies, lemme tell ya!!! They're very small.. about half the size of a juvie kuhli loach, but holy jumpin's!! They don't take crap from anyone!! At feeding time last night, they were the first to feed. They seem to prefer to be spread out around the tank, out in the open, but on a whim, they go evict everybody from under the choice bogwood!! I have some pretty nasty (and some fairly big) loaches in that tank, but these little Schistura look like they're gonna reign supreme!!

 

[Lateral Line]

I'm glad you picked them up. They are not seen in the trade that much, (last time I saw them must have been at least 10 years back).

I'm afraid I told you pretty much all I knew about them yesterday, which was not really much you didn't already know. I'd appreciate updates on how they progress and anything that happens. You have them in the semi-agro tank I assume.

>>> there's only one lfs in town

That isn't such a big deal if it's a good one. From your recent posts, it doesn't sound at all bad.

A...

 

[AquaNut]

Yeah, I'm really glad I got them, too! They're very interesting little fish, not that I've had tons of time to watch them since picking them up yesterday afternoon. They're in with the lil nasties, alright, and I'm glad that's where I put them!! They'd be terrors in my community tanks. There are a couple of fairly big skunk botias in this tank (and they're pretty darn nasty), but these little Schisturas aren't getting punked by anyone!! I'll be sure to keep you updated on anything that happens with them or great observations I make . I'm going to make a concerted effort to get some decent pics of the inhabitants of that tank tonight.

Btw, my lfs is a mix of good and bad. The owners don't know a whole lot about fish, I'm afraid (they sometimes call me at home if they have a customer with a fish problem they don't know how to solve lol), but they do get some pretty interesting little fish in from time to time. Often, they're mislabelled or misshipped... like the botia rostratas I bought as yo yo loaches. They don't have the greatest selection of hardware (filters, heaters etc), and what they have is pretty high priced. That is really cruddy when you need to replace a heater immediately. They were rather disbelieving when I told them the Schisturas were somewhat rare (they look rather generic, not at all flashy, as you know), but they took my word for it when I told them I asked people as far away as Denmark and England for advice.

Kirsten

 

[AquaNut]

These little guys are really shaking things up in that tank! I fed frozen bloodworms last night, and these little loaches wouldn't even let any of the other fish near the piles of worms until they'd done feasting!!! Cheeky little brats!! I've noticed increased aggression among the other loaches since adding the three Schisturas; are they trying to prove that they're still tough guys, too? The biggest yo yos, the skunks, and the rtbs are all scrapping with one another more than ever, but none of them even ventures close to the Sch. I'm not sure what it all means, but I find it most fascinating to watch.

If I can find a home for the CAE that came with Chester (the oscar), I will move the skunks and schisturas into the 20 gallon tank. I'm not worried about keeping them all together, though. The aggression doesn't look at all dangerous to anyone involved.

 

[Lateral Line]

Love some pictures 'Nut.

 

[AquaNut]

I sent you a pm a couple of days ago, telling you I had posted some pics of them, LL. They're in this thread. http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=15441 I have to clean the outside of the glass on that dirty lil tank before I take any more pics!!

 

[Lateral Line]

Just went through my "in-box" and can't find it! Just the one where you asked me about them, no reference to pics!!!

Whatever, never mind.

 

[AquaNut]

Doh! Darn pm. I was actually wondering why you never looked at the pics nor repsonded to the message.

 

[Lateral Line]

I'm afraid I can't chalk that one up to old age!

 

[AquaNut]

LOL Shhh. I edited that post.