Which of these would you get?

[Beowulf]

A friend is bringing in some loaches and this is the list:

Kuhli Loach (Pangio kuhlii)
Yo-yo Botia (Botia almorhae)
Clown Loach (2.5”)
Dwarf Botia (Y. sidthimunki)
Kubotai Botia (Botia kubotai)
Zipper (Acanthocobitis botia)
Queen Loach (Botia Dario)
Indian Zebra Loach (Botia striata)
Skunk Botia (Yasuhikotakia morleti)
Iridescent Loach (Schistura scaturigina)
Zodiac (Neomacheilus triangularis)
Sumo (Schistura balteata)
Forked-tail Kuhli Loach (Vaillantella maassi)
Polkadot (Neomacheilus corica)
Banded (Schistura sp.)
Blackline Kuhli
Black Kuhli
Marbled Hog Loach ( Lepidochepalichthys thermalis)
Indian Redtail (Aborichthys elongatus)
Burma Pink
Golden Kuhli ( Pangio doriae)
Chinese Golden Zebra (Sinibotia robusta)
Laos Yellow Tiger (Syncrossus berdmorei)
Sri Lanka Spotback (Schistura notostigma)
Emperor Botia (Botia sp. "Tenasserim River")
Require lots of water movement.
Tiger Butterfly (Sewellia lineolata)
Confused Loach (Homaloptera confuzona)

Not counting the most common, most of which I already have, which would you get?

[Mark in Vancouver]

Confused loach? Heh heh...

All of the above.

[Martin Thoene]

Hmmmmm....what a wish list.

Really, they break down into 5 tank type categories. So which ones to choose comes down to having or setting up suitable housing. My own preferences are in Yellow.

A regular, relatively peaceful Botiid tank:

Clown Loach (2.5”)
Yo-yo Botia (Botia almorhae)
Dwarf Botia (Y. sidthimunki)
Queen Loach (Botia Dario)
Kubotai Botia (Botia kubotai)
Indian Zebra Loach (Botia striata)
Emperor Botia (Botia sp. "Tenasserim River") MUST have a group of them

A Grrr tank (as term coined here) for more aggressive Botiids:

Skunk Botia (Yasuhikotakia morleti)
Laos Yellow Tiger (Syncrossus berdmorei)

A slow warter movement, heavily planted tank with lots of bogwood and stuff:

Kuhli Loach (Pangio kuhlii)
Forked-tail Kuhli Loach (Vaillantella maassi)
Blackline Kuhli
Black Kuhli
Golden Kuhli ( Pangio doriae)

A "Brook Loach" type tank. Cooler water. Lots of rockwork and pebbles for cover, reasonably fast water movement:

Zipper (Acanthocobitis botia)
Iridescent Loach (Schistura scaturigina)
Zodiac (Neomacheilus triangularis)
Sumo (Schistura balteata)
Polkadot (Neomacheilus corica)
Banded (Schistura sp.)
Marbled Hog Loach ( Lepidochepalichthys thermalis)
Indian Redtail (Aborichthys elongatus)
Burma Pink (not sure what this might be)
Sri Lanka Spotback (Schistura notostigma)
Chinese Golden Zebra (Sinibotia robusta)

Require lots of water movement i.e. a full-blown River-Tank environment:

Tiger Butterfly (Sewellia lineolata)
Confused Loach (Homaloptera confuzona)

Martin.

[Batch]

Nice breakdown Martin.

Would Forked-tail Kuhli Loaches (Vaillantella maassi) do okay with
Kuhli Loaches (Pangio kuhlii)? My impression from past posts on this forum
is that the Vaillantella maassi sorta tolerate each other if they have enough places to hide. Would they bother other types of Khulis??

Batch

[Martin Thoene]

I think Graeme can best answer that Batch.

I would say yes.

Martin.

[Graeme Robson]

Yes, it's perfectly fine to keep them together. Generally with the Vaillantella maassi's it's the adult or sub-adult males which tend to fight with each other. I keep the Vaillantella maassi and the Vaillantella cinnamomea together with Pangio's and i haven't yet seen them bother the Pangio's in over 4 yrs of keeping.

[Beowulf]

Right now I am leaning towards 6-7 Emperor Botia (Botia sp. "Tenasserim River") for my existing community setup. I have another friend that has 5-6 skunks he needs to find a home for so was thinking of using a 65g for the skunks and get 5-6 Laos Yellow Tiger (Syncrossus berdmorei) along with some tiger barbs....ummmm.

[Graeme Robson]

Sounds good!

[Mad Duff]

Great choice, the Emperors are stunning Loaches