Loaches Online Forum

So I was in my favorite shop over the weekend, and there was a tankful of beautiful B. Striatas, they are rare around here. I wanted to immediately get 6 of them, but I resisted temptation. They all looked healthy and in good shape.

My questions are how long to QT these guys for? Do they need to be dewormed or is standard QT enough?

Next is they are $4.99 each. Is this good? Seems a bit cheap to me which was one of my reasons for holding off, I wondered ....why so cheap. Are they ok? I have seen them before in another shop and they wanted $8.99 each for them. Maybe the latter was just over priced.

I wish I lived closer to Emma's shop.

I actually bought mine a couple of weeks ago for $4.99 also. It is cheap, but that is good. Some places like to overprice things such as fish. Regular quarantine should be good enuoph unless they have the skinny disease. Since you said they look healthy, they may not have it. I am personally against treating fish for something that they might have. It is like finding a piece of hay in a needle stack. It is painful and a waste of time unless you know exactly where that piece of hay is. Why not just leave it go until they have been around for a while. 9 times out of 10, they wont have the disease you would treat for. This puts the fish under way too much stress in my opinion. It also may help in the development in a stronger disease that is resistint to medications. So just wait, if a problem arises, then medicate. My striatas have been great. All 5 have settled in and have not even caught ich. Good luck and dont be afraid to be great fish at a great price

Thanks so much for the helpful advice!

Anytime. I know some people medicate right away, not a thing for me. I am surprised nobody has disagreed with me so far. I just want what is best for your loaches.

yes 4.99 is excellent. i got them for 7.99 and 5.99. i wouldn't resist that temptation. picking up 7 of these guys was the best decision i ever made. they get along with everyone especially the cherry barbs.

do they look very skinny and are they over 2" long. if they are over 2" and look healthy as in fat, then i would pick em up. recently big al's had 3 tanks of them. one tank had 2 plump little fellows the other tank had about 10 of them but all had skinny disease. watch out for chronic wasting syndrome. if you don't know what it is, look it up on the search engine. must be season bc they just got a big batch of them in at my lfs as well.

i qted mine for about 3 weeks but i think a month is a good time for qt. there are quite a few threads on qt tanks if you search for it.

LoachOrgy wrote:yes 4.99 is excellent. i got them for 7.99 and 5.99. i wouldn't resist that temptation. picking up 7 of these guys was the best decision i ever made. they get along with everyone especially the cherry barbs.

do they look very skinny and are they over 2" long. if they are over 2" and look healthy as in fat, then i would pick em up. recently big al's had 3 tanks of them. one tank had 2 plump little fellows the other tank had about 10 of them but all had skinny disease. watch out for chronic wasting syndrome. if you don't know what it is, look it up on the search engine. must be season bc they just got a big batch of them in at my lfs as well.

i qted mine for about 3 weeks but i think a month is a good time for qt. there are quite a few threads on qt tanks if you search for it.

The don't look skinny at all. They are all around 2-3 inches and quite plump. That is why I was not sure if I should get them or leave them considering they looked so good. I am going back tomorrow to grab them up. I called, and they still have them.

I'll qt them for a month and not medicate unless they show signs of needing it.

2-3 inches, wow! Mine are about 1.5 inches. They are healthy and as fat as you can expect for a small loach. They are eating like pigs now.

2-3", those things are practically adults. And thats a great price. The only lfs I've seen em at normally charges $8.99 here, but I get I think 20% off. I'm planning on buying probably 1-2 dozen soon, whish they were only $4.99!

are you in long island, ny?
what shop did you see them at, i am looking to add to mine.

always use a Qtank for at least a month. Overkill?
Not a chance.
Watch the fish and feed them well.

On Thursday I will get these guys and although I read all about them, and ideal water is waiting them, I would have two questions for more experienced keepers:

1) Is there a possibility that Striatas will share a cave with Chromobotias?

2) I read on several sites " Striatas live in still and/or slow waters of S. India...", any yet on Loacehes online, it is written they live in "Clear streams"? Are both informations accurate?