Loaches Online Forum

I have a 160 liter 42 gallon tropical tank. my last post I asked how many fish can I put in my tank which I had 3 botia kubotai and a golden zebra loach which a few people on here thought were too big for my tank so I did the right thing and sold them to someone who has a bigger tank to put them in.
Would a group 6 of botia striata be ok in there?

Striata max out at around 4", so a 42 gallon tank should be adequate if it has a large enough footprint (short and wide vs. tall and narrow).

However, you'll be somewhat limited when it comes to the total number of fish in the tank, as 6 striatas will already occupy more than half of the theoretical maximum number of fish that your tank will support. The rule of thumb is 1 fish-inch per gallon, so the loaches will be taking 24 (4 inches x 6 fish) of your 42 available fish-inches. However, this is not a hard-and-fast rule, more of a guideline. Your own mileage will vary according to conditions.