Help kindly required about Zebra Loach

[sthomas048]

Hello there,

Im returning to the aquarium hobby after quite a few years away. Im looking at either building a loach tank or maybe a catfish tank, im unsure. Could someone help me with some info ? I need some advice on a good community for a 24x12x12 tank. I really like the look of the Zebra Loach. In a tank this size what other fish could i add in ? Reading around it seems there are many options. I know this loach loves at least another five of his Zebra type with him. I would love to just have a lot of Zebras in one tank.

What do you guys think ? Get a bigger tank, say a 36inch ? I am a bit limited with my budget. Im very open to ideas to the most suitable Loach and community for my tank and will really welcome any kind help offered.

Thanks.

Steve

[andre]

Hi Steve, welcome to LOL. I was recently in the same situation and I found most of the info here to start.

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

But in my opinion loaches are the way to go

Leave the catfish for retirement.

Regards
Andre

[Diana]

Go with the largest tank the budget will handle. Remember that the equipment will likely double the cost of the 'glass box'.

Other than that, most Loaches and Cats are bottom oriented fish. A long tank that is shallow will work better than the same gallons in a tall, narrow tank.

A 20 long, instead of a 20 standard, for example.
A 40 breeder is quite good. 3' long, but not very tall.

A good source of tanks is garage or yard sales, thrift stores and craigslist or freecycle. The equipment included with used tanks is often the cheaper sort, and not really up to handling a tank of this size, so plan on upgrading most of the equipment.

[Mark in Vancouver]

Hey Steve, welcome to LOL.

If you are talking inches when you say 24 x 12 x 12, that's too small for loaches. I'd go with Diana's advice and look for a long, relatively shallow tank with a maximum footprint - or floor area. You might also consider picking up a 10 gallon tank to use as a quarantine tank. This will be very useful if you are going to be adding fish over time.

Loaches require quite a bit of regular maintenance in terms of water changes and so on, so consider this before you stock your tank.

[sthomas048]

Okay, so im going to aim at getting a 36" (20g) tank. Ive noted the Juwel Rekord 120 for £185. It will probably be a while before a get the money saved for all the equipment then of course the time it takes for the water to be ready to introduce Loaches. In this forum i have picked up some other great tips reading old messages, like the possibility of putting two internal filters in to help with water condition. I will probably buy very small rounded gravel.

Ive taken to Kuhli loaches and Dwarf loaches now !

Thanks guys for your help.

Steve.

[cybermeez]

Very often you can get a good quality used tank on e-bay for an excellent price. As I've upgraded over the years I've always sold my tanks on e-bay, usually at a fracton of the price of new tanks.

[bslindgren]

Welcome to LOL, Steve. Of course everyone will recommend loaches here! Perhaps you can get hold of a used tank if you have some kind of buy and sell advertising paper like we do here in Canada. I frequently see 30-80 gal tanks with stands and all equipment for $200-$300 in our buy and sell. You just have to be patient (which I am not).
I can't say enough about zebra loaches - I just got some a month or so ago, and they are fantastic fish. You would want a larger tank than you have though. Kuhlis and dwarfs would probably do better in a smaller tank, but if you can go with the zebras you'll have a wonderful tank. I have never had such entertaining fish - and I love my clowns and Botia kubotais. The zebras have really stolen my heart though. See my post today with pictures!

[grizzlyone]

Check out craigslist.org as well....lots of bargains to be had there.

Kevin

[sthomas048]

I wonder how many Zebras could i fit in a 36" aquarium ? I would like to include some small tetras or barbs in there too, just to encourage confidence in the loaches to come out and explore a bit. Bslindgren - your photos are simply amazing ! Inspiring. There are local papers like Freeads or Adtrader that have tanks for sale, i complain about shortage of money then i always end up going for some nice brand new tank ! Ha.

[bslindgren]

Thanks for the compliment! In a 36 inch tank I would probably stick with a small school of 6, which is the minimum number you should have anyway. That would leave room for some small tetras and barbs, at least until the loaches mature. I have 10 in a 55 gal tank, along with some other fish as I described, and it certainly doesn't appear crowded.

[sthomas048]

I guess that im taking this thread off its main subject now, sorry !

But i have been wondering - im considering putting a few plants, some moss and quite a few rocks and stones in my new tank, im so used to hoovering up the gravel on the bottom of my tanks to clear up the gunk - so what do you do in a well planted tank ? Hoover around all the plants/rocks ? Or is it a case of only doing the weekly/twice weekly water changes ?

Thanks Bslindgren, im building up on info i need to create a really good Loach tank environment. I know different Loaches need different setups, some prefer fast flowing streams other not. Its amazing the amount of info this forum holds and the species index is very cool.

Stephen.