Rostrata? Yoyo? Polka dot?

[JenMac]

Hi,

Whilst in a fish store the other day, I saw a solitary loach in a tank with other species, took pity on it on bought it. The store said it was a polka dot, but I have 5 of them already and it looks quite different. Looking at the photographs on LOL, it seems to be a rostrata, but it also says that these may actually be a synonym for yoyos. I have two (large) tanks with various species of loach. Both have khulis and zebras (under a year old), one also has polka dots (four about 1.5-2 years old, one under a year) and the other tank has clowns (up to 1 year old) and very small yoyos (with clear 'yoyo's).

I know I could always change the new loach's home later on, but I'd like to get it right first time when it comes out of quarantine. I'd rather put it in with my polkas if it'd be happy enough in there, but if it really is a yoyo, perhaps it would be best to put it there...? Do y'all think it matters one way or the other?

As a fairly unimportant aside, the last time I posted, it was about my youngest polka dot regularly flashing. It was suggested that the wood might be the cause, so I changed it for wood specifically for aquaria and thought I saw an improvement, but the fish is still flashing regularly, several months later. It doesn't seem to be doing any harm to the fish, which appears happy and relaxed otherwise, and no other fish has shown the same behaviour at any stage. I wondered whether anyone had seen the same thing in any of their loaches?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Lambi]

Hi,



As a fairly unimportant aside, the last time I posted, it was about my youngest polka dot regularly flashing. It was suggested that the wood might be the cause, so I changed it for wood specifically for aquaria and thought I saw an improvement, but the fish is still flashing regularly, several months later. It doesn't seem to be doing any harm to the fish, which appears happy and relaxed otherwise, and no other fish has shown the same behaviour at any stage. I wondered whether anyone had seen the same thing in any of their loaches?

Hi there, I'm afraid I'm a bit of a newbie myself so cannot offer any advice, but I have the same thing with my loaches. Pretty much all of the 'flash' and I don't know why. They are showing no signs of white spit and all appear perfectly healthy and happy. I do worry about it though because if it's doing them harm I'd like It to stop. I have a large piece of bogwood in there, about a metre long and some fake plants and that's about it. On a side issue they are absolutely loving the river tank setup, what a fantastic idea it is

Cheers.

Joe

[NancyD]

Did you look at histrionica? They might be another possibility. Really young loaches of all those are similar. Any chance of a pic?

[JenMac]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. I am pretty sure it's not a histrionica. All of the pictures I've seen of them have about 5 stripes, whereas this fish has 8 on the main body, plus more complicated markings on the head. There are three dark stripes on the tail. I can't get a photograph that would be of any use, I'm afraid, but it looks almost identical to the photograph at the bottom of the LOL rostrata page, http://www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-rostrata, although mine is a little smaller and not quite as healthy-looking. My fish does have the greyish infill between the bars, as mentioned on that page.

[NancyD]

One way to tell rostrata from kubotai is if there are any, even slight, horizontal lines between the bars then kub, none & you'll still have to wait & see. What size are they? Less than ~1.5 inches total length it may be hard to say. If you're pretty sure it's a rostrata it may fit better with yoyos adult size-wise but if it's any only species kubs would probably work as well especially if still small.

[JenMac]

Hi,

It does seem that this loach (between 1.5-2 inches total length) may have a slight horizontal line between just one pair of bars. Time will tell, as you say. Whatever it is, I think it's a pretty loach. My existing kubs are beautiful, so this newbie has a lot to live up to, but it's looking promising so far!

I think I'll go ahead with the kubotai tank. The one smaller kub gets kinda bored, I think, as the older ones don't swim around as much as it does. The new fish is very slightly smaller, but I think they could be good friends! I have never seen any fighting between the fish I have, and the new guy is holding his own in the quarantine tank no problem with the other new arrivals (of various other species). If final size is going to be an issue, it is still a long way off, and I can't imagine many of these fish will stay in the same tanks for good. We are currently a 7-tank household, but I don't think we'll manage to keep it that low, especially when the clown loaches etc start getting bigger...

Thanks for your advice!

Jen

[NancyD]

Good luck, Jen...and you know we love pics!