Anyone Familiar With Botia Lohachata?

[jollysue]

These loaches may be available to me. What can someone tell me about them? Are they as rough as the clowns, who upset my cories and otos? Do they eat snails. How big do they get? What kind of personality do they have? Do they eat plants?--much?

 

[The-Wolf]

Hi sue
you may have missed the following topic, I hope it will shed some light on your question
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=103153&hl=

 

[Joviella]

They can be a bit naughty,like clown loaches.Thay can grow to 10cm.They don't eat plants in my experience and they aren't great snail eaters,although they will eat some.Lovely fish though.....I have 4.HTH.

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> Botia Lohachata

That is an old name, it is synonymised with Bota almorhae. These are commonly called Pakistani or Yo-Yo loaches. Like most Botias, they are boistrous, but are not really aggressive. Sizewise, there is some issue, you will commonly see reported that they only grow to 100mm/4", but several board members here, including me, have examples which are substantially larger. My biggest one is more 200mm/8". They do eat snails, although not with the same voracity as say Botia striata, they don't eat plants. They should be kept in groups of at least 3 fish. They have quite a lot of personality as Cyprinids go, and are very active.

If you search for yoyo you'll find a number of threads about them.

 

[morgan]

Hi, I bought two Yoyo Loaches (tank isn't big enough for any more). They were a pest! They dug up all my plants and ruined them. I had a lovely patch of Vallis and they decimated it. They both died, one had something in it's mouth (during lights out so I didn't know) and the other one got into the filter housing and died. I am not buying anymore. I bought them to eat snails. I actually wanted Botia Striata but lfs didn't have any. Don't know if they would have been better. They also initially attacked my Apple Snail but they did stop after a while. I should have realised that they might do that.

 

[jollysue]

This is all not too encouraging.

The thing is my clowns had trouble with the last culimnaris treatment I used. And I followed the wrong directions: the verbal ones that don't say to do three 1/3 tank waterchanges after one treatment. I treated my big tank 3 times w/o sufficient water changes before I got it straight. It killed my lovely cockatoo, The Gent, at least one of my 3 clowns and maybe 2, with the last very sick and not even coming out to eat. It made my Orange BN pride and joys very sick. But they may pull through.

Now that the clowns are not rampaging the 100 usg, my cories and otos are coming out to play and say hi.

So I would like a small group of snail eaters that won't run over my cories or eat my plants. I am talking to AnnubiasDesign to purchase from his stock. Right now he has botia banded, botia lohachata, and botia kubotia available.

He is getting some true Siamese Flying Foxes in. I will get them, too.

I guess hillstream and zebra are often recommended.

 

[osteoporoosi]

I have a school of yo-yo's in my 82 gallon tank, they have been a total succes. They need a fairly large tank, current, warm water and plenty of mates to thrive. They aren't combatible with corys or other sensitive bottom feeders (or other sensitive fish).I keep them with bushynose plecos, black widow tetras and red ruby barbs.

They haven't eat plants, snails only.

 

[morgan]

Sorry to put you off! You mentioned whether they eat plants so I guessed you didn't want your plants ruined. They really did wreck all my plants. I had sucker-mouth loaches before and they were bigger and did not disturb the plants at all. I didn't like them (bought for me as present!) and I think they are otherwise known as Chinese Algae Eaters which are nasty when they mature. They died in a tank disaster and I have said never buy me fish as presents again. I will research and choose! Hope someone can recommend a non-plant destroying loach for you. P.S. perhaps they behave differently in a larger tank, my present one is only 20 UK gals.

 

[jollysue]

Yeah, I am talking to an importer. He has Flying Foxes/Chinese Algae Eaters, "the ones usually sold as Siamese Flying Foxes," as he puts it. But he is getting in the real Siamese Flying Foxes/SAE soon and on sale. I told him if he passed off the wrong ones on me to watch his back.

There are loaches that have been recommended to me, like Hillstream and Zebra. I'm just trying to check the ones he's recommending. And YO-YO's don't sound like the ones I want.

morgan: you didn't put me off--or I missed it. I don't want destructive loaches, whether it's the cories, otos, or the plants being harrassed.

I'll just have to watch my feeding to limit the snails, until I find the right loaches.

Thanks. I have to spend some time reading Wolf's thread tonight.

 

[Lateral Line]

"Hillstream Loaches" is something of a bucket term. The things you most commonly see as Hillstream Loaches are just that, coldwater fish from very high energy, high Oxygen environments. They rarely live long in a typical tropical tank.

If by Zebra Loach, you mean Botia striata, this is a really nice little loach. Pretty peaceful and a good snail eater. Botia dario is also often sold as a Zebra Loach, quite reasonably really, it is marked more like a Zebra than striata. This is also a nice fish more commonly called a Queen Loach.

 

[jollysue]

Well now, thanks, Lateral Line. That cuts down on my search time considerably. How do I PM this to myself?

 

[scrappy]

You could also take a looksy at getting some of these (one of my favourite loaches):

I find them very lovely looking fish although a little shy in comparison to Clown Loaches, although i have heard that they can be slightly aggressive when they get older, though i havent seen any bad behaviour from mine.

Just a thought.

 

[jollysue]

He's beautiful, scrappy. Is he really blue w/yellow or gold fins? You didn't name him. What is he? How big does he get? Does he eat snails? Sometimes a species will have a characteristic, "aggressive when older," that a particular individual fish will not. Perhaps you have lucked out--or he's not older yet.

 

[Lateral Line]

He is a young Botia modesta and a very nice specimen indeed. I don't think they would suit your requirements Sue.

 

[jollysue]

Yes, I found him while trying to track down the various Botia that you and Mark recommended, Lateral Line. Is there anything on the kubotai? They are attractive fish. But I couldn't find much. When researching species it is amazing all they tell you that is not at all helpful when trying to select a fish for compatability. Since the harvesting season is approaching in SE Asia, if the kubotai isn't suitable, then I will wait for the Botia dario or striata to surface. I have about 10 or 11 otos that hang from a Mother Amazon and rest on driftwood, that I thought might have died or something. I never saw them. Since the clowns have been sick my cories are schooling in sychronized joy and my otos are hanging from the Amazon and resting on the driftwood.

That modesta is lovely. nicer than many in the photos in the online albums.