Loaches Online Forum

I'd never really considered keeping weather loaches before, mostly because I've had tropicals in the past and there was no room to set up an additional coldwater tank for them.

So I'm at Petco today shopping for tank covers and happen to be cruising by the fish tanks when I see this little spotted loach lounging on top of a plastic plant, following me with his eyes and looking all, "Ya wanna piece of this? C'mon, I dare ya." All the other fish are darting around obliviously, but this little dude just kept staring at me in a way that got increasingly unnerving. Then he inched a little closer, posed on his pectorals and waved his barbels at me. I couldn't walk away. Sigh.

But wait, it doesn't end there. So I ask the nice clerk to bag all the dojos for me -- 2 were 3.5" and one was 2.5", all active, healthy and eating well. (It's a very well-kept aquatics department, despite being in a Petco.) She manages to chase them down in a very careful manner, pours them into the bag, and right as she's about to close it, a fish comes hurtling vertically out of the bag like a piscine rocket grenade, thwaps her in the face and plops to the floor where it then attempts to wriggle its way back to the tank. I'm staring in shock while the girl quickly recovers herself and scoops him back into the bag, apologizing profusely and saying she could put him back or make a note in case he got ill, etc. I'm worried about the fish's health, but at the same time, I'm impressed at its sheer kamikaze determination. I also suspect it was the same little b*st*rd that was staring me down earlier. They all go home with me.

Then I swing by Petsmart and find out they just got a new shipment of golden dojos this morning. They all look pretty good, so I pick the biggest, fattest ones. In for a penny... you get the picture. I figure I might as well round out the group and get some color variety. Two more fish hitch a ride home.

So. Um. I am now the proud owner of five new dojo loaches. They're currently in the 20 gallon for quarantine, but will settle into my new 4-foot 60g next month, after I figure out a way to cover the dang thing. We'll tackle the next upgrade when the time comes. At least this solves the problem of my not having a heater for the big tank yet.

As I speak, the goldens are busy excavating what appears to be a route to China behind one of the caves. The two bigger spotteds are lounging right in front next to the glass, despite plenty of hiding places. The whole bunch were gorging themselves on frozen brine shrimp and some pellets an hour after being put in the tank. I'm astounded by their blithe behavior and complete lack of shyness. Somebody tell me why I didn't get these fish earlier?

I'm completely in love with mine. Something about their rude "GET OUT OF MY WAY" behavior as they go barreling through any and all obstacles in their path, just tickles the hell out of me.

I only have 2 and 2, but I wish I had a larger tank to hold more goldens.

A weather loach was the first loach to have caught my eye. I find them very interesting and often laying in some weird positions. If I could just setup my bigger coolwater tank a bit faster, I'll be able to get a large group going.

Quite possibly the best fish ever.

A guy at our Petsmart actually emailed me to let me know they had some, after over a year of not stocking. Makes me wonder if some gigantic shipments are arriving or something.

Anyway, as great as clowns are in their own way, dojos have their own thing---fearless, and great!

doglover_50 -- Y'know, I think you're right about gigantic shipments. I was calling up nearly every pet/fish store in my area recently trying to track down stuff to set up my bigger tank, and I'd always slip in a question about what loaches they had at the end. At least four of them mentioned getting in a new shipment of goldens the middle of this past week. I didn't realize they'd been gone for so long, but now that I reconsider, this is the first time I've actually seen them at Petsmart. The guy said they'd stopped carrying the spotted ones, but would be stocking the goldens continuously from now on. The kubs are back up to $20, though

crazy loaches -- Totally agree about the strange positions... there's just so much more of them to wind around everything that I suppose they must give up and let everything end up where it will The goldens were especially hilarious yesterday -- one was buried with only a head showing on one side of the tank, and the other was buried with only a tail sticking out at the other side. It looked like a ginormous pink loach was stretched across the whole tank. (IKEA loach! Some assembly required.) Would love to hear more when you set up your bigger tank -- do you know what else you might put in with them?

joitoy -- That is exactly what their personality is. Kind of like a New York driver *g* Highly amusing when it's in a tiny uppity fish and not a potentially violent human. Which reminds me of something else that happened while at was at the store, actually...

So while the clerk was netting out my goldens, I hear this voice behind me asking, "Are you going to feed them to something?" I turn around with this look of horror to find this 13-year-old girl and her kid sister watching my fish intently. "No," I tell her, "these are pet fish in these tanks." "Oh, my brother used to get fish like those and feed them to his Oscar," she informs me, and the smaller kid nods. They then continue down the aisle, the older one lecturing the younger one about pets in a way that only know-it-all 13-year-olds do. I try not to give her receding back a dirty look. Poor loachies But really, feeding an Oscar goldens at $10 a pop?! Principles and affections aside, who can afford that?

they tend not to jump out of bigger tanks, if that sets your mind at rest. I have one that is all zigzag shaped from hitting the lid of the quarantine tank so many times, but they don't jump out of the four foot tank...

sophie -- Thank you, that is something of a relief. I figured they'd be somewhat hyper before and after tank moves, but that one spotted had me very worried with his seeming deathwish. I still won't move them to the four footer until after I find a suitable lid, but it's good to know I don't have to wrap cellophane over the whole top and weight it down with books as well I read one report of a guy having to do that during a storm once. Psycho loaches. Hee.

Also, do you have a photo of your zigzag guy? He presumably was one of the ones that settled down after the move? I'm curious now...

I posted this before, I think, but I have no idea wher, so here it is:

WOW. Yeah, you won't have any problem telling that guy from the others. No problems eating, though, it looks like