Loaches Online Forum

I just witnessed my first loach fight. Err...apparently they weren't done yet. The largest and smallest of my Histrionica are still squabbling. They don't appear to be doing any damage, so I'm not too worried. I am a bit surprised though. I had expected to see this once they were a bit bigger, but they are barely 2 inches!

Looks like they are done now. The small one is the most aggressive of the bunch, but it looks like he lost. He's still faded, but the other one is bright again.


Are dominance fights common among a group of young loaches like this?

Everyone seems to have settled down again. It was funny that the other two loaches didn't seem to get that the two were fighting. They kept swimming over as if to say, "what are you guys doing?" only to get slapped with a fin or bumped in the side.

My experience is that it is very common. Many of mine that are from 2 inches to 6 inches have had periodic squabbles. I have a pair of kubotai that for the last year and a half have battled for about 2-3 days about every three weeks. They do not hurt each other, but chase each other in very fast small circles. I am always surprised that they don't get worn out sooner. They take little breaks, and I don't know what they do at night, but they continue for 2 to 3 days. I have others that also periodically battle, but only for a couple of hours and much less often. Just yesterday, I for the first time watched three of them battle for about half an hour. It was two kubotai and a striata. I had not seen that before.

Ah, so it is common then, ok. Wait, they fight for three days? O_o Mine squabbled for barely ten minutes!

I'm glad that it is uncommon for loach fights to turn ugly. Their bickering is much less stressful than the cichlids that I had before.

My histys seem to fight a bit more now they're 5 inch but no harm done. It's only sometimes but nothing scary, graying out & circling each other.