Loaches Online Forum

I found some little loaches (probably 1" to 1 1/2" long) at the lfs. They were simply called sand loaches, and their small size makes them a bit hard to ID. Just to confuse IDing further, there may have been 3 different sp. in the tank - although most had a mid-placed small eye, one had a larger 'nose' and a high-placed small eye, and another had big mid-placed eyes.

I've gone through all the loach species here, and couldn't find much information on species temperament. My tank is quite passive (the pearl danios are the toughest thing going sae, gastro sp., khuli's, apple snails, cherry shrimp, p. muraeniformis, pearl danios), and I wouldn't want to get anything that will harass/eat my adult cherry shrimp or applesnails. It is a stream theme with a good current, although is planted and has places for the fish to avoid the current if that's their preference.

I know without a specific id, it's hard to give specific information so I'm not expecting much, but if you can provide any generalities on the species I note below, I would much appreciate it (ie - max size, gentle, shoalers). I can then decide if I want to give them a shot or not. They were in a tank with young SAE's and I didn't notice any aggressiveness between themselves or to the SAE's. The markings on all were very similar - they had stripy markings although broken by a horizontal line and the stripes continued into their tail.

Acathocobitis botia / Noemacheilus Botia
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/H ... rLoach.php ( I didn't know to look for an eyespot at the time)

Schistura ephelis http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aqua ... phelis.htm

Acanthocobitis Urophthalmus http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aqua ... halmus.htm

Thanks in advance for any help you're able to provide.

A lot of the Schistura species get imported under the catch-all common name of 'sand loach'. Temperament varies depending on species, but in general, they are quite territorial. Knowing how my Schistura balteata eat snails, I wouldn't want to chance them with apple snails myself. Any chance you can get a photo of these loaches? That way we can give more specific advice.

Emma

Thanks - if I get by the store again, I'll bring my camera for a better id. Your info on the schisturas is very much appreciated though.

Cheers,
Laura