keeping single loach species w/my three botia striata??

[elliott_001]

I have three zebra loach and was wondering if there is another type of loach that i could keep with them. I dont really have room for a group, but would like to keep another type of botia.
I have seen cases where people have kept single loaches. I would hope i could get one that would get along well with the three zebras and join them like it would its own type.
TIA

[poeticpyro]

how much room do you have???

[Mark in Vancouver]

Yes, what size is the tank? Loaches are very social, so keeping them in numbers actually improves their health and longevity. Keeping any of them entirely alone is just wrong, IMO.

B. striata or zebra loaches stay smaller than clown loaches, but they still require a fair amount of room. The body size of loaches compared to say Bettas does not fairly indicate how much room they should have for swimming. I would not keep three zebra loaches in a tank under thirty gallons, and it would have to be one with a large "footprint" or bottom surface area.

If you can get a bigger tank, you can mix B. striata with any of the other true Botias - Yoyos, Kubotais, Darios, and even clowns. They are gentle fish, but they deserve a good home.

Talk about the tank some more - size, substrate, filtration...