Loaches Online Forum

I am getting a new tank and have been doing some moving around and my 2 dojo/weather loaches are now all along in a 20L. Any thoughts on a couple tankmates for them?

I guess I could put one of my betta in there with them? I just don't know of any cool fish that like the cool temp.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks,
Krista

The betta would suffer in anything under 74 degrees, they get sort of listless when they're cold. Also opens them up to disease that they would normally be able to avoid in a warmer (76+ degrees) setting.


You could give them danio or minnow tank mates. Emma suggested hikari danio and other varieties that can tolerate and adjust to the cool temperatures. Mine LOVE it and don't seem to care that they've gone from a toasty 78 to a cool 72 degrees.

joitoy wrote:The betta would suffer in anything under 74 degrees, they get sort of listless when they're cold. Also opens them up to disease that they would normally be able to avoid in a warmer (76+ degrees) setting.


You could give them danio or minnow tank mates. Emma suggested hikari danio and other varieties that can tolerate and adjust to the cool temperatures. Mine LOVE it and don't seem to care that they've gone from a toasty 78 to a cool 72 degrees.

Thanks for the suggestions, I guess I just thought of the betta b/c they are just in bowls with no heaters in my home. I also have to goldfish that would appreciate a bigger home and I think they could handle the temp. or hey, I could just get another dojo...they are so cute. Never been a big fan of the danios but might give them a shot.

Kris

I have read that bettas get stressed in large aquariums. I had one in a 30 gallon for over a year with no problems though.

white cloud mountain minnows may be fine in an unheated tank. I've seen some places say that they come from cooler streams. You'd hvae to look into a bit more though

LUVaLOACH wrote:

joitoy wrote:The betta would suffer in anything under 74 degrees, they get sort of listless when they're cold. Also opens them up to disease that they would normally be able to avoid in a warmer (76+ degrees) setting.


You could give them danio or minnow tank mates. Emma suggested hikari danio and other varieties that can tolerate and adjust to the cool temperatures. Mine LOVE it and don't seem to care that they've gone from a toasty 78 to a cool 72 degrees.

Thanks for the suggestions, I guess I just thought of the betta b/c they are just in bowls with no heaters in my home. I also have to goldfish that would appreciate a bigger home and I think they could handle the temp. or hey, I could just get another dojo...they are so cute. Never been a big fan of the danios but might give them a shot.

Kris

More dojos is very fun to watch when they have a group, they all loach pile into a corner then swarm over one another when playing.

Is that a 20 L or a 20 gallon?

Kris,

Is the 20 litre tank a temporary home for the Weather (Dojo) Loaches? It's just that they need much more room to stretch their fins.

There are quite a number of species that prefer cooler temps. For instance Golden Barbs (Puntius semifasciolatus), Rosy Barbs (Puntius conchonius), Lake Tebera Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi), many of the beautiful members of the Danio and Devario genera, Variatus Platies (Xiphophorus variatus) to name a few.

Emma

If you want to work on a little conservation, try to find some Red Tailed Goodeids Cute fish, Livebearer, friendly....or is it nosey??

Plus they are endangered in the wild, although they breed quite readily in an aquarium Love the cooler temps. Mine went without a heater until it got to 62 in the tank....they didn't seem to mind, but it made me nervous And mine are with Gold Dojos and always have been

Here's 2 of my males


The females look similar, but no bright orange.

what is the min. tank size for a group of 6 dojos? I have mine in a 20 right now and i want to move them but only once if i can help it.

You really need to provide them with a good footprint (length and width). An aquarium measuring 4ft long would be considered the absolute minimum. Remember these can grow quite larger and are fast-swimming fish when they want to be. As you know, they often have bouts of very erratic swimming behaviour, so the more room the better.

Emma

My two dojos do well with nearly everything.

They've become acustomed to hanging out in the plants a bit more, and so they attract the tetras I have in my tank with their swimming, so their tails are a bit nipped up, but otherwise, they've done good with pretty much anything suitable for a community tank.