hi freinds,

[shantanu-the indian boy]

i am new to loaches not that new i am keeping 4 botia striatas in my community tank now want to set that tank to a loach tank-
size-1.5"15"12
fishes-5neon tetras ,4 b.mollies,4 straitas and 1 albino cory
help me about decore -going to decorate it with rocks and small amount of plants
also help me about stocking,,,
shantanu

[Felhad]

If that was a 1.5 foot by 15" by 12", thats nowhere near big enough for Clown loaches, and also if that is the size you're a little over-stocked.

[Emma Turner]

Hi shantanu, and welcome to Loaches Online.

Have a read through some of our articles to get an idea of the ideal set up for loaches:

http://www.loaches.com/articles/an-intr ... ping-botia

http://www.loaches.com/care/the-loach-almanac

If the tank is really only 1.5ft long, you need to upgrade this to a tank with a much larger footprint (length and width) for your Botia striata ASAP. I would say 36" x 15" minimum. http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-striata

If you are thinking about clown loaches, they are going to need an XL aquarium with powerful filtration to match: http://www.loaches.com/species-index/cl ... cracanthus

http://www.loaches.com/articles/my-clown-loach-aquarium

Hope this helps,

Emma

[shantanu-the indian boy]

:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
sorry but i am a 12 yrs. old bou so i cant upgrade it :cry: :cry:
but i am not planning for clowns
but if i keep only loaches than it is ok??
if it is not than i have to quit the plan
pls..... reply

[Emma Turner]

Hi shantanu,

Unfortunately, your tank is too small long-term for Botia striata. Keeping them in cramped conditions may stunt their growth and cause health problems. If you can't upgrade at the moment, I would recommmend rehoming them with a fishkeeping friend who has a larger, more suitable tank for them.

However, it is really great to hear that you are so interested in fishkeeping, and you shouldn't feel discouraged because the tank isn't spacious enough for the loaches. There are many beautiful small species of fish that you can keep in a tank of that size, providing the water parameters are suitable. Do you know if your water is quite soft? If so, it would be good for many species of Microrasbora and dwarf Corydoras species etc. You could also think about keeping some of the beautiful little Caridina/Neocaridina shrimp species too.

The mollies you have at present tend to do best with a little aquarium salt in the water, but the other fish will not tolerate it. I think the albino Corydoras will really require a larger tank too, so I would rehome that with the Botia striata. Corydoras need to be kept in groups too, so ideally you should try and rehome this fish with someone who already has some of them, so that they can shoal together.

Hope this helps,

Emma