Loaches Online Forum

I picked up 5 of these at a local aquarium society auction yesterday. They were labeled Bicolor Botia and nobody, including the person that brought them knew what they were or wanted anything to do with them. I've spent some time perusing the species list and they look like Schistura savona to me. Am I correct??
Anyone have any experience or opinions to add about them? They seem to be happy for now in my Q tank, I'm working on a small rivertank and hopefully they will mix with the hillstreams?
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<a href="http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z229 ... savona.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z229 ... savona.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Hi,

yes, this is S. savona. They are friendlier than other Schistura, but they can nerve other fishes (danios) too. At this time I have only one of them. Together with a pair of Nemacheilus ornatus, one Aborichthys sp. and 4 Homaloptera smithii. Thats works fine.

A nice and small loach!

Bye

Thomas

Possibly notostigma?

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/sc ... notostigma

Martin.

This fish has a look of S.Sikmaensis , though i suspect it is probarbly Sovona ?
Personally i'd discount Notostigma , its a Sri lankan fish , and not many fish are exported from there anymore , also i dont think the fish depicted in the species guide is Notostigma ? if my memory serves me right , Notostigma has a spade tail !
Notostigma and and Botia [uropthalmus ] used to be quite easy to come by , also L. Thermalis , Srilanka's 3 loaches , the one we never saw was L.Jonklassi !

Thanks all! I couldn't find S. Sikmaensis to compare. Mine have the very distinct shimmering silve/white underside like the Savona, unlike the pic of notostigma. They do though have a very distinct black vertical mark at the tail like the notostigma.
Thomas, how big did yours get? These are young, one about 1 1/2 inch and the other four are 1 inch so they may change as they grow. So far they have been very entertaining!

It is 1.5 Inch (4cm) and I have it since three or four years. I'm not sure...

fishbase.org says that this species will grow only 0,9 Inch (2,4cm) standardlength. This is a little bit short. SL of my savona is 1,4 Inch (3,5cm)

Here is a pic of my savona
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=11272

Thanks much Thomas! I'm glad to hear that they stay small, now I can keep all 5. If you were near I'd donate one to keep yours company. They do seem to enjoy each other, so far. I really like your Nemacheilus ornatus!

I have this species and they do tend to stay small. Like many of the small schistura species, they don't really pay much attention to hillstreams. They may try to chase them away from food from time to time though. They will occasionally torment any dither fish in the tank by swimming alongside, almost as if they were attached. Very odd to watch.
I think they would enjoy your river tank and be fine with the hillstream. Just keep an eye on them to be sure. Some individuals are worse than others.

Thanks Jim! Not sure I'll have any dither fish?? What do you have in yours? Not a lot of room in a 20. Did you do anything special in your 20 long to make it work? I really wish I had room for a bigger tank but a 20 will have to do for now, something to look forward to. By the way, I'm Jim also.

My 20L has some gastromyzons, homalopteras, a sinogastromyzon wui and as dithers a school of choprae danios. There are also cherry, bumble bee and neocardina shrimp.
In additions to the powerhead and sponge filter of the manifold, I have a Penguin 170 hang on the back filter and a dueto filter in the tank.

Thanks for that Jim. Shrimp eh? i wouldn't have thought about them in all that current. I haven't had any yet but have been wanting to try, might be just the thing. I wonder how they'd fare with the Savona?

I've been thinking about putting an AC 70 HOB on the end of the tank so the outflow will run the length. I'll get the tank soon and do a little experimenting. Thanks for all the input!

I have shrimp in with my savona in another tank and they do fine.
The savona would probably eat some of the tiny young, but the adults should be okay.
I have so many shrimp in my 20L river tank that I wish something would cull the young.