Help With My Botia Lohachata!

[Irf]

Hi all,

Sorry for the long post.

I have a 50 (US) gallon tank. It's quite heavily planted, and has some bogwood, mopani and rocks in it. The fish are:

6 Neon Tetras
3 Siamese Flying Foxes
2 Rams
6 Platys
5 Zebra Danios
7 Cardinal Tetras (8 until this morning)
3 of the above loaches (one more or less fully grown (4.5") and the other two smaller)

It's all going really well and we are all enjoying this new hobby. I've done loads and loads or reading, planning and preparation so that the fish are introduced to a nice tank with good water and environment, etc. This weekend I got some more fish for my tank. I bought the Cardinal Tetras and the Loaches on Sunday, along with 3 Mollys.

From the outset the large loach has been going nuts. From time to time he is digging into the gravel like crazy, swimming around and up and down really fast, digging up plants, etc. We read up on this and the digging seems normal, but not the zooming around. We though it would settle down. The other two are very placid and keep to themselves - travelling around together mostly.

On Sunday morning one Molly was dead. Looking at the dead one and the others, we saw some white discolouration around the belly and ventral fins. Thinking this was an infection we took them back to the shop, where they said they would look at the whole tank as they seemed to be the same. The loach was still behaving oddly all of yesterday.

This morning, a Cardinal Tetra was dead and a Zebra Danio has a missing eye!!!

We have isolated the injured fish but don't know what else to do with it.

The main question is - what is doing this in the tank? Could it be the loach? It's by far the most energetic and powerful fish in the tank - though we haven't seen evidence of aggression yet. I called the shop and they have agreed to change the large one for a smaller one to match the other two if I want. Apparently the biggie may not be associating with the others cos of its obvious size difference.

Can anyone else offer any suggestions? Any similar experiences?

Many thanks,

Irf (worried)

 

[The-Wolf]

3 Siamese Flying Foxes

are you sure they are Crossocheilus oblongus?
if so then there is your problem.
C.oblongus are extreamly territorial and you should
only keep one speciamine per tank.
this aggrerssion towards eachother can sometimes be aimed at other tank occupants.

the only flying fox shaped fish that can successfully
be kept in groups is the SAE Crossocheilus siamensis

 

[Irf]

Sorry - my mistake! As identified in an earlier post (with pics), what I have are Siamese Algae Eaters - I believe these are Crossocheilus Siamensis.

I have had these in the tank for over a month now, and no problems to date.

And I have corrected my earlier post - it's a Zebra Danio that has lost the eye. I was reporting on 2nd hand info from the missus!



Irf.

 

[clownloachlady]

its unusual for a clown loach to be aggresive. It is possible that he is stressed at moment.

Hav eu tried keeping the lights off for a few days to keep him and others calm. Im sorry ive kept clowns for the last 7 years and have never came accross an agressive clown loach.

i know they can go aggressive when they want to breed but since they only breed when they are mature (oughly 13 years of age).

 

[Irf]

It's not a clown loach. It's a Yo-Yo Loach, or Pakistani Loach. I haven't got the clowns I want yet.

Any opinions?

Irf.

 

[Irf]

Wow! 40 views and just two opinions.... this must be an unusual thread.

Any help anyone? If not, I'll have to play safe and return the loach.

Irf.

 

[Barracuda518]

I havent had any problems out of mine. Just the usual chasing of each other and the playful chasing with the other loaches in the tank.

 

[The-Lion]

Could well be your pakistani loach i had to rescue a rtbs from mine because he was getting whooped, gotta say though it was real obvious aggression no mistaking who the culprit was.Whooped I have read they can br territorial

 

[StAbbitt]

It's not a clown loach. It's a Yo-Yo Loach, or Pakistani Loach. I haven't got the clowns I want yet.

Any opinions?

Irf.

My two Yo-yo Loaches are very active swimming around the tank, chasing each other and their tankmates. They do seem to act a bit neurotic when they are hungry, but I solved this by giving them small amounts of food 3-4 times a day (they are little piggies). As for them nipping other fish, I have seen nothing more than them giving their tankmates little nudges, and they love to play around in my Betta's long flowy crowntail which is kinda cute but makes my boy grumpy. I have never seen them bite, but they are still the main suspects on who took a small chunk out of my rainbow sharks tail (healed nicely, Thank You) I don't think my Betta is fast enough to get my shark, nor have I seen him be aggressive to any tank mates.

Overall though, I don't see the Loaches as being your problem. I would guess the algae eaters, as they are notorious eye-suckers!

Cheers!

 

[Irf]

OK, thanks for your comments! I was wondering about the algae eaters, but the Danios seem too fast to be caught by them. It's possible though I guess.

I will just keep a close eye on them before making a decision.

Poor one-eye.... I dunno what to do with him!

Irf.