Loaches Online Forum

I've been waiting a long time for S. berdmorei to appear again in Toronto. Last time I saw them I was not set up to house them, but I have been for over a year.
Today I managed to pick up 6 from Big Als at a pretty good price. They're all under 3 inches. After a normal acclimitization period, I slid them into the 120 that will now be their home.
Within a minuite or two they were searching for food so I popped in some of my homemade frozen mix. They went absolutely nuts for it which is a good sign I reckon. They need a good feed up so it's good that they like this as it's pretty high protein I would imagine.
Here's a few rather scrappy pictures. There's a lot of muck in the water where they were breaking up the food.



















Considering that they had only been in the tank around 30 minuites, I'm suprised how nicely coloured they are. I'm sure they'll get even better in a week or so with good food.

Martin.

At last! Congratulations! You'll enjoy these chaps.

Emma

Those are real beauties!! I really like the red on the fins and tail.

wow martin those look excellent. wish they had them round here!

they look like mini baracuda....

Congratulations, Martin!! Welcome to the Club of Concorde. Beautiful additions! You'll get plenty eye candy with these chaps. Mine are always visible or at least 2 or 3 of them at any one time.

Sensational, chum! Rather good work in the patience department. Please tell all.

... what sharp looking guys!

... I had to keep looking at their color & ornament for a while, and it somehow cought me, also checked the Sp. Index, I kept looking at the pic, ...all fish are a pieces of art, but this fish´s design directly adresses me.
... I could go on ... even though there are basically just 3 colors and 3 shapes ... perhaps because of that - clear lines - clear message - bold expression ... impressive what impression can come across from a "little" loach ...

Wolfram

Hey Graeme.....do you find your's click a lot? Mine chase one another about clicking a lot.

Martin.

Yeah, mine click frequently Martin. I often seen them 'click and shove' in one movement to the other loaches, and sometimes a click with forward charge to others also.

Superb aren't they!

Martin, these loach pics are wonderful, i never tire of seeing pics of Syncrossus , such characters ! some great input on this genus, even in the still shots the nature of these fishes , is obvious, they act like coiled springs ! i never see any real violence ! its more like an endless game of tag, FANTASTIC.

Yes, I'm liking these a lot. They're the first Syncrossus species I've ever kept. I think "coiled spring" is very apt. There's certainly a dynamic quality to their persona. I'm getting pretty much the behaviour that you guys are describing. They're already showing signs of gradual weight increase. Must be the frozen food they're eating (beef liver, cocktail shrimp,freshwater snail flesh,spinach, banana,V8 juice, etc. all blended), plus JMC catfish pellets and flake.
They're in with the Redpoint Convicts and the pair of Garra gotyla and are keeping themselves to themselves. Every so often I here snap, crackle, pop and look up to see two fish wizzing around after one another.
I've not yet detected an obvious alpha because it's really difficult to keep track of who's who due to the dense planting in the tank.

Martin.

Some of the juvenile S. berdmorei that came in last week have got slightly unusual patterns. This is one of several that have 'thin bar, thick bar' markings:



(these are undergoing Levamisole treatment and are being fed well, so they shouldn't look this skinny for too long )


Emma

Lovely! Set aside a couple of unusually marked ones for me.

They won't be on sale for a while yet, so you'll have your (or my) pick of the unusual ones come March, Graeme. As long as it doesn't get you in trouble with the bank manager now that you're a house husband!

Emma

I have my ways......with the delectable female of my life...


Cheers, Emma.