Will they kill eachother?

ilovehorses52 said:

The zebra loach i have is the botia histrionica. Thanks for your tips. the gravel i have right know is like the colorful stuff (leftover from past tanks) should i change to sand if i plan to get plants? also need to know what type of plants are super easy to keep alive

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Ya, I would change it. Loaches prefer sand anyway. Crypt, amazon sword, frogbite, duckweed, hornwort, water weed, java fern, java moss, dwarf tiger lotus, and subwassertang are all easy.

NearMeBettas said:

Ya, I would change it. Loaches prefer sand anyway. Crypt, amazon sword, frogbite, duckweed, hornwort, water weed, java fern, java moss, dwarf tiger lotus, and subwassertang are all easy.

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ok! i will get sand to change then. i will bring my RTS to sea level (a local fish store near me) and get plants and more fish from and will most likely bring the tetra there too. If i just have the loach left will the guppies be fine with them? which of the plants you mentioned will be best for the guppies? i've had experience with amazon sword in the past so i will get that for sure but i do like a variety of plants in my tank (btw the other loach i have is a chinease algae eater) <- should i rehome him too?

this is what he looks like

First on the species, it would appear from the photo to be a juvenile so the pattern may change. Juveniles of Botia histrionica are remarkably similar in pattern to young Botia kubotai. And these two species are in fact sympatric in one location, the Ataran River in Myanmar. But whichever, it is a relatively peaceful loach, and needs a group of five (or more). This brings me to the size...B. histrionica attains 4 to 5 inches and should have a 4-foot tank. This is one of those cases when one has to bite the bullet and do what is in the best interest of the fish--and here that means a group of five in the 3-foot tank (assuming this, for a 40g ?).

Get rid of the algae eater (and the RTS, already agreed), this is another serious issue waiting to happen. The CAE gets 5 inches, eats little or no algae as it matures, and is known to eat the slime coat from fish.

Sand is your best substrate here. This species (B. histrionica) occurs in India and Myanmar, and possibly western Thailand. It inhabits clear slow flowing mountain streams shaded by the forest, having a substrate of sand and smooth river rock with a lot of sunken bogwood, and a litter of dried leaves. You could make a lovely authentic aquascape from this. Photos below are of my 90g river tank that housed my group of 5 B. kubotai, with play sand and river rock and lots of wood, and thick floating plants for shade. The photos are two months apart, I added more wood to the obvious delight of the loaches who unfortunately didn't want to be photographed!

ok! those two pictures i sent were based on what pattern my loaches had so they must not be super old then. I can send photos of all my fish when i am home

so if i get rid of the RTS and the CAE will the zebra looking loach and guppies be fine together? (of with the addition of more of the zebra lookin loaches)

ilovehorses52 said:

ok! those two pictures i sent were based on what pattern my loaches had so they must not be super old then. I can send photos of all my fish when i am home

so if i get rid of the RTS and the CAE will the zebra looking loach and guppies be fine together? (of with the addition of more of the zebra lookin loaches)

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This is from my profile of this species.

Compatibility/Temperament: Generally peaceful, inquisitive and playful. Like all botine loaches they establish a social structure within the group and in-fighting is less with this species; a group of at least 5 is acceptable. There must be numerous hiding places in the aquarium, provided by chunks of bogwood especially those containing tunnels and crevices, or artificial decor that provides the same. They can be combined with other peaceful loach species. Long-finned upper fish should be avoided to prevent fin nipping; suitable upper fish are barbs, larger rasbora, danios, and characins. Corydoras species should never be combined with loaches.

You might be OK, but if you get the group of five, better chances of peace in the tank, and if the guppies do get attacked you should have a back-up plan to move them.

ok so are you saying to try it and see how it goes? or just simply avoid it all together

ilovehorses52 said:

ok so are you saying to try it and see how it goes? or just simply avoid it all together

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That's not easy, I never want to suggest what may fail...

This brings up another point, water parameters...what is the GH and pH?

Byron said:

That's not easy, I never want to suggest what may fail...

This brings up another point, water parameters...what is the GH and pH?

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not sure off the top of my head. Will test when im home i know pH was quite high(not sure how to lower it) i know my tap water is in the middle of being super soft and super hard