Loach Lovin'?

[PlecMama]

...what are my loaches doing? they seem to be dancing with each other, they stick on the side and wiggle away getting nearer and nearer to each other then they'll touch and shimmy up the side together before breaking away and then one will circle the other before getting back by it's side, then they start again.

Are my loaches making out or are they just hanging out with each other?

Two in particular are doing this, the big one my husband calls "the big juicy one" lol and a skinny youngish one.


btw, I found a pic of what kind of loach I have, I asked a while back but couldn't put a good enough pic up for a positive ID, this guy looks just like my loaches, they sometimes have a single dark stripe and sometimes have like morse code on their sides, dots and dashes, depending on how they feel....

....anyone know what it is?

The site I got it from just had this in the pic location address ".....galleryindex/gallery/LOACH%20HORSE%20C142.jpg" but nothing about what kind he is....don't say he's a horse loach, I already did a search under that and drew a blank

 

[cometcattle]

It almost looks like a Chinese Algae Eater:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=98998

 

[mikev]

You may want to look at the images at loaches.com under horseface loach:

http/www.loaches.com/species_pages/acant...rothynchus.html

Check this one just in case too:

http/www.loaches.com/species_pages/nemac...us_ornatus.html

to make sure, but this guy indeed looks a bit like the chinese algae eater.

unf., you pic still is not very clear...

 

[The-Wolf]

the pic posted is most definatly a CAE
they can become mean and aggressive as they get older.

 

[donna123]

hi ive also got the same fish as you a chinese sucking loach,ive been missold i was told it was a dwaf loach,when i looked at your picture its the same fish,im not to happy because all i can read on them is they get big and nasty when fully grown ,also i have a comunity tank,which they are no good for ,.its cute at the moment but i will have to find it a new home if it attacks any of my other fish

 

[PlecMama]

I've got 5 of them but if they get grumpy I have other tanks they can go in - I always have a spare in case someone needs a spell in solitary

So anyone know about loach courtship?

 

[Barracuda518]

the pic posted is most definatly a CAE
they can become mean and aggressive as they get older.

Is an CAE a loach?

 

[mikev]

the pic posted is most definatly a CAE
they can become mean and aggressive as they get older.

Is an CAE a loach?

Only in the sense that one of its *informal names* is Sucking Loach; "Sucker's Loach" would be a better name, cf. Fool's Gold.

Scientifically, it is not fully clear what "Loach" is (not a classification), but a reasonably answer is that it is a member of the Cobitinae or Balitoridae family; the first includes all the common loaches, the second is a hillstream group.

CAE belongs to neither (it is in Gyrinocheilidae).

 

[PlecMama]

Ok good, so no one knows what they look like when they're going to mate?

I have to say I am not very happy to have a tank full of Chinese face huggers but I'll have to live with them. Mine too were sold as dwarf loaches.

btw, thanks for calling me a "sucker", that was kinda rude. I prefer to say "trusting".

 

[mikev]

Ok good, so no one knows what they look like when they're going to mate?

I have to say I am not very happy to have a tank full of Chinese face huggers but I'll have to live with them. Mine too were sold as dwarf loaches.

If this is indeed a CAE, "Evil drarf" would be a better name; I'm not so sure it is a good idea to live with them.

I'm saying if since nobody saw YOUR LOACH. We only saw the picture above which is similar to yours. You really don't know if you got a CAE yet.

"Dwarf Loach" is the informal name for a sid, which is a real loach many people dream of having. Look here:
http/www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_sidthimunki.html
and carefully compare.

btw, thanks for calling me a "sucker", that was kinda rude. I prefer to say "trusting".

No offense was intended, and my apologies that I somehow sounded rude. I simply find this wordplay amazing.

APPEND. Here is an interesting related discussion about CAE not being a loach
http/aquaweb.pair.com/forums/archives/lo....cgi?read=10921

HTH