Loaches Online Forum

Here's the very spotty Stella.







Martin.

Such a beauty, martin

This is one seriously nice specimen Not sure I've seen them so fat. How large is it?

Probably slightly under 2.5". She's never grown much. None of the 3 have and they've never been in less than a 120. Her patterning filled in a lot though. She's been a lot fatter than that actually. I've owned them at least 5 years.

Martin.

A very impressive lady.

Of the local tribe (11, may soon become 10 -- one of the new arrivals looks increasingly problematic) just one approaches her body, all the others, including ones I had for a couple of years, remain slim. The fattest one, incidentally, also mostly black (but not to her standards) and around 2.5", also the meanest fish I have of any kind.

Very nice. All your fish are very well fed too.

Superbly conditioned fish Martin !

I agree! Excellent condition!

Superb shots of a stunning Kubotai ! i just recently picked up a couple of these from Pier Aquatics ! just curious but are all the fish under the Kubotai name the same fish ? only the pattern seems to vary a great deal , i.e. some are really dark with small spots and some have much larger spots [oval markings] i heard a rumour that there could be two fish involved ? most of the bigger ones seem to have that dark pattern similar to the one in Martins pic, though not all, i've seen large ones with the bigger spots ,any opinions out there ?

piggy, thats a good question. in some aquatic shops what is labelled as kubotai might not be, as some of the people in charge dont know any better, or sadly, i suspect that i have some fish labelled as kubotai which probably werent, as kubs are more popular so can get more money.

even when experienced people buy fish that look like kubs when they are young, they can "grow into" something else, or the other way around. i dont know whether there is an answer yet. i reckon that there must be some very close genetics going on with some of the botia species.

Martin, your photos are always great. all your fish seem to be right posers too.

Hah! Have you any idea how difficult it is to get pics of kubotai?

I have to focus on a rock and then just click away when they're close to it. They seldom keep still for more than a second.

Martin.

its a compliament to your photography skills. i can only imagine how fast they move. and they always seem to know its them you want a picture of, dont they?

Hello i've got some pics of my botias here

http://picasaweb.google.com/tobias.sund ... 0705281659