Green Botias - any experts?

[zima]

Hi all,

A few questions to all the experts on loaches. I never had them and thought I might as well start trying them out. The Green Botias are on special this week at BA Innes, and they look very cute (at least on the internet). I know that loaches could be rather aggressive, but I am hearing very mixed stories from people. My roommate, for one, keeps clown loaches in a community tank, and everybody seems to be getting along just fine.

Would it be a good addition to a community tank? Should they be kept in groups (how many)? A silly question, but do all loaches (including the green ones) eat snails? Any particular substrate is better, in a sense of fine vs. rough? Anything else I should reconsider before purchasing them?

cheers
anton

[DavidJohnson]

I am not an expert but I believe those 'green botias' I believe are Tiger Botias (http://www.loaches.com/species-index/syncrossus-hymenophysa) and not only do they get fairly large (10") they must be kept in groups and are quite agressive.  I saw that BA Innes special and unfortunately that is going to mean a lot of unsuspecting people are going to take these fish home and not know what they are in for.  If you have a large tank (minimum 4' 75/90g or preferably larger) and don't have any small bottom fish that can't defend themselves or other small or slow fish then go for it, but otherwise I'd stay away from them.

[zima]

Wooooowie, that was one heck of an eye-opener! 

Any suggestions for loaches in community tanks? Besides the clown loaches (everybody loves the clown loaches...)

[babblefish1960]

kuhlie loaches are nice, and don't require a lot of space, weather loaches are fun, the up and down thing from top to bottom is amusing, horseface loaches, and of course the gentle and so plecostamus looking river loaches, often called borneo suckers. But tiger loaches, you can't even keep them in groups as adults, they are really rough customers.

[DavidJohnson]

Zebra loaches are great.  They stay small (4")  so are good for smaller aquariums and are fairly active.  Yoyo loaches are a fairly peacful mid-sized loach (6") that would be good for a community tank.  If you have a small aquarium then dwarf chain loaches would be the best bet.  They don't get any bigger than 2".  Kuhli loaches are also good but are fairly inactive during the day.  BA Kanata has some beautiful Blue Botia (http://www.loaches.com/species-index/yasuhikotakia-modesta) in stock but they get fairly big too and can be agressive, though probably not as much as the Green Botia.  Skunk loaches stay fairly small but are agressive so not suitable for all community aquariums.  Weather loaches can be a fun fish to own as they are highly active and peaceful but would prefer cooler water but can survive in a tropical tank with a temperature in the mid 70's.  They are also friendly and can be trained to feed out of your hand without too much trouble and may be curious and get in your way when you are performing tank maintenance.  They are not good for small tanks though.

If you are interested in loaches the best resource is definitely loaches.com.  Definitely worth a read.

[beowulf]

Kulies are great but tend to hide a fair bit.

I would not get weather loaches unless you have a cold water tank.  They also get to 10 inches and are better suited as tank mates for goldfish.

The ones you should be looking at IMO are

Zebras (max 4inches very friendly), burmese (about 5 inches), pokadot also known as marble loaches.  These three remain fairly small and do not tend to bug anyone else in the tank.  As with most loaches, 4-5 minimum is required as they like the company of their own kind.

YoYo's can be an option but they can get a little bigger and are a little more aggressive then the 3 above.