Loach ID help please

[mmillerr]

I got two of these guys at my LFS as tankmates for my CPD's. They turned out to be too boisterous for the CPD's so I transferred them to my 54 with the bigger guys. I didn't think anything of it until mini versions of them started poking their heads out of the java moss in the CPD tank.

They were marked as Lemon loaches in the LFS and no one there knew anything about them other than they were supposedly similar to 'sids' in their behavior and requirements.

The adults are about 1.5" TL and the fry are about 3/8" right now.





Any guess as to what they are and if they've ever spawned in captivity before??

Mark[/img]

[Emma Turner]

Hi Mark,

Those are Acanthocobitis zonalternans: http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ac ... nalternans. Congratulations on spawning them! A couple of regular LOL members have bred them in the past, this article by Mick (mickthefish) may be of interest: http://www.loaches.com/articles/breedin ... nalternans.

Emma

[mmillerr]

Thanks Emma. The fry were just a pleasant surprise with only two survivors that I've seen. Now that I know more about them maybe I'll set them up in their own tank and let nature take it's course again.

Mark