Loaches for relatively cool aquarium

[sundew]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, but have been on Monster Fish Keepers for some time.

I keep a 125 gallon that is almost entirely tropical loaches (clowns, yo-yo's, etc.) and I really enjoy them, especially the clowns!

However, I am setting up an Asian planted 80 gallon aquarium which I plan to keep at 74 deg. (about 8-10 degrees coolers than the loach tank). I plan to keep Pearl Leeri Gouramis, Siamese Flying Foxes, Pearl Danios, Rasbora sp. and maybe a few barbs of some kind if I can find any that are not to hard on the plants.

Are there any loaches that would do better in this slightly cooler water that I might not be able to keep in the tropical tank. The reason I am asking is that I would like to try some other species rather than more of the same.

I like the red-tailed loach Aborichthys elongatus but they did not survive in with the other loaches and it seems like they died out when the weather got warm (the loach tank is in a workshop and can get up to 87 F. in summer.) Do they like the cooler conditions or did they just not compete well?

I have also thought about weather fish but understand they are really more of a cold water species. If this temp is o.k. long term, perhaps golden dojos would be the ticket?

Thanks
Sundew

[Emma Turner]

Hi Sundew, and welcome to Loaches Online.

If you can provide a fairly decent flow rate, I would suggest a big shoal of Yasuhikotakia nigrolineata: http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ya ... grolineata. However, if you are definitely going to keep gouramis, they are going to prefer much calmer waters, which won't suit the Y. nigrolineata.

I suspect the problem you encountered with the Aborichthys elongatus was because they require extremely fast flow, high levels of oxygenation and cooler temps (which is why a hillstream style 'river tank' is preferable for keeping those http://www.loaches.com/articles/hillstr ... -fast-lane).

A better bet for a calmer tank would be certain members of the Pangio genus (kuhli loaches). These will thrive in planted aquaria without strong flow and are best kept in groups of 6 or more. Have a look through the species index under the Pangios to see what species are around and which suit the slightly lower temps: http://www.loaches.com/species-index/species-index (Pangio anguillaris, P. doriae, and P. shelfordii would all do well if you can find them).

Golden Dojos have a tendency to dig about and uproot plants, so they may not be the best choice.

Hope this helps,

Emma