Would loaches be feasible in this setup?

[NikiP]

Currently I have a moderately planted 10gal tank housing 5 female bettas & some shrimp.

In a couple of months i'll be moving out for college & was planning on upgrading my tank at that point. I'm leaning towards doing a 20gal long (unless I have the room for something longer, need to make sure I also leave room for my 3 tarantulas & 4 male betta tanks.) Was hoping to add a few active bottom dwellers, but i'm not a fan of cories.

I keep my ladies about 78F & feed mostly a variety of frozen bloods, am looking at adding some live food options now.

Is there a kind of loach that could go in my future setup? Was wondering about kuhlis or rostratas especially. Have read a couple of things that suggest how I care for my bettas (fairly warm & high protein) might take loaches out of the running.

If their not appropriate for my setup, i'll start planning for my 2nd choice, which is a zebra pleco.

[Mark in Vancouver]

Avoid loaches if you are not in the position to keep fairly rigorous cleaning every week and a long-lasting, complex relationship with the fish. Honestly, I would not recommend loaches as a casual choice for any fishkeeper. There are other fish that do well with minimal care, but my feeling is that all loaches require a level of care that is not mimimal if they are going to do well.

There are likely better fish for your setup, IMO.

[NikiP]

What does the rigorous care include? Frequent water changes, frequent water testing, etc?

[TammyLiz]

Mark probably mentioned the commitment thing because loaches are very long-lived, unlike bettas, which have only a two to three year lifespan. Beginning college is not necessarly the time to be making a commitment that lasts that many years, since you make new friends, new interests, new commitments, etc. Loaches require weekly water changes of 20-30% of the volume of the tank. It takes a bit of time. Are you going to be living in a dorm at any point during your education? Do they allow tanks that large? How are you going to take care of them while you are on break? Do you live far? These are all important issues to consider. College is a hectic time.
However, if you think you are up for it for the long haul, and want to have them around for a lot of years I don't think even he would mind if you put a few of either rostratas or kuhlis in a 20 long. Three is probably a good number. I don't have kuhlis but I do have rostrata and I like them a lot. Make sure before you buy any botia-type loaches for a tank of that size, that you are fairly certain that you are getting rostrata and not something that will grow larger. Familiarize yourself with the details of their markings so when you see them, you'll know. Just because they are labled as such, doesn't mean they are. I bought mine labled "Queen loaches", but they were actually rostrata.
HTH.

Tammy

[Mark in Vancouver]

That's about what I meant. Personally, I do 40-50% water changes weekly, and the demands of that have killed my appetite to constantly expand my collection. I was running five tanks, and am now down to four. I look forward to three tanks to deal with.

Our eyes can be bigger than our ability to cope when it comes to fish tanks and to collecting one sort of fish. I guess the right balance is to only keep "pets" (of any kind) in a situation where you can look after ALL their needs for as long as they live.

Many loaches, given the right care, can live for decades. Personally, I hope to grow old with my Botias, if not all my loaches.