Are Weather Loachs Best In Small Groups?

[chilledtim]

Ive had a 4" weather loach in my 3ft aquarium for afew weeks now, he seems happy and eating but i very rarly see him (only at feeding time), the tank is covered in small caves and hiding placing which he always seems to be in, ive heard different opinions but one is that they like company so if i got another one do you think they would get out and about more?
Hes sharing the tank wif some other 3"- 4" bottom dwellers (gudgeon, latin name: gobio gobio)

should i get him/her a friend

 

[J4MES]

Weather Loaches can be kept singly. However you will see more activity if you keep them in groups. For your tank, you could fit in another 1-2.

good luck

J4MES

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Weather loaches are big fish, and can grow to anything between 9 and 12inches long- they are a true coldwater fish as well, although are very adaptable. They are sociable fish and should ideally be kept in a minimum group of 3, however a 3ft long tank is a bit on the small side for such a long fish- how many gallons is the tank and how wide and long is it? What sort of substrate do you have in the tank and what is the tanks temp?

 

[chilledtim]

I worked the tank out as 100 litres, is 3ft by 1ft. the substrates roman gravel (really fine stuff, quite smooth), i had him in a 2ft tank with sand substrate in but he never seemed to borrow, root about and hide under driftwood but not borrow. The tank temp is about 18-19 oc at the moment may get abit warmer in the summer (20-22oc).

How fast do these chaps grow? ive got friends with larger aquariums that i can rehome fish to if they get abit big for my aquarium

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I worked the tank out as 100 litres, is 3ft by 1ft. the substrates roman gravel (really fine stuff, quite smooth), i had him in a 2ft tank with sand substrate in but he never seemed to borrow, root about and hide under driftwood but not borrow. The tank temp is about 18-19 oc at the moment may get abit warmer in the summer (20-22oc).

How fast do these chaps grow? ive got friends with larger aquariums that i can rehome fish to if they get abit big for my aquarium

The tank is too small for a trio of weather loaches, and keeping them on their own isn't really much better either. Sand is the best substrate for these fish due to their burrowing habits, i don't know why your loach didn't burrow in your previous sandy tank, but having it in a gravel based tank will make it near on impossible for it to burrow or filter feed through the substrate whether it wants to or not. They are quite similar to khuli loaches in their habits and requirements.
How big is your friends tank and is it a coldwater tank or ocol sub-tropical tank (18-20 degree's or colder), and does it have a sand substrate?

 

[chilledtim]

ive got a mate with a 125G goldfish tank, with the odd other spcies swimming about thats fine gravel tho like mine, (3mm)

do you think he needs rehoming?

 

[J4MES]

ive got a mate with a 125G goldfish tank, with the odd other spcies swimming about thats fine gravel tho like mine, (3mm)

do you think he needs rehoming?

No, not at all. The most commonly available weather loach (chinese weather loach) only grows to about 10cm. Which of course is fine for your tank. Go ahead and buy another one or two, they will be very happy.

J4MES

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

ive got a mate with a 125G goldfish tank, with the odd other spcies swimming about thats fine gravel tho like mine, (3mm)

do you think he needs rehoming?

No, not at all. The most commonly available weather loach (chinese weather loach) only grows to about 10cm. Which of course is fine for your tank. Go ahead and buy another one or two, they will be very happy.

J4MES

What type of commonly available weather loach are you talking about? This the commonly sold weather loach i know of;

http/www.loaches.com/species-index/weath...nguillicaudatus

 

[aquaticadmirer]

That's the same kind of weather loach that I once had. I had 2 of them, and they never really were together. They usually hid under their own rocks all day and only came out at night. It might have been that I only had 2, so it wasn't a big enough group for them to group together, but they seemed to do fine on their own. They both lived a very long time too...probably the oldest fish i ever had as they died at about 10 years old!

 

[what a load of pollocks]

well i have 5 loaches in my pond and rarely seen them but another member of my family have saw them rare time on the pond shelf and told me one of them have grown big (for example) which is now long as pencil and the size of an adult finger but i do tend get the pics in the summer when warmer, plus with there camelflouge skin can blend well at bottam of the pond so it hard to spot them, they have caves in bottam to hide and lily pad plant pot.

these are my loaches i own that i once had in tank that i doesnt used anymore...sorry if there duplicate pics of the loaches are the same but they hide under the cannon and very strong to bury themself using these pebbles

 

[daspricey]

you realy should have a 4ftx2ft at the very min to keep these happy. they are active big fish therefore need bigger tanks.

david