Skunk Loaches (botia Morleti)

[Elisabeth83]

I saw a single one of these guys at a fish shop near me. I felt sorry for the little guy being all alone. I'm not planning on getting him or any other skunk loaches in the near future though as I've read they are quite aggressive and nasty to other fish. I did think this one guy looked awesome though and had a nice little personality.

So does anyone own any on this forum? Are they aggressive? Is there any fish that can live with them or are they best kept in a species only tank?

 

[Lateral Line]

I don't keep B. morleti any more. They are aggressive out of all proportion to their size and will frequently be the boss of a tank of fish much larger then themselves.

They are a gregarious species. One kept alone may simply hide, or it may become even more aggressive.

 

[The-Wolf]

I too learnt the hard way about skunk botias
they are a nasty little fish with a "big chip on their shoulders"

I will keep these again one day but in a species only tank, but for now
they are avoided like the plague.

 

[mikev]

Oh, this little cute fishies....

I almost got them, but after seeing some old posts on this forum, decided to watch them in the LFS first a bit. Well, they put about 20 *small* skunks with a similar number of barbs. After three days, all fins and tails on all barbs were damaged....

(Several LFS' around here carry them, and all mark them as "community").

**maybe** they can coexist with other loaches? (a loach only tank). but after seeing what they do, I would not risk trying it.

 

[Dwarfs]

They are extremely nippy and nearly impossible to remove from an aquarium once they have settled in

 

[Barracuda518]

I too learnt the hard way about skunk botias
they are a nasty little fish with a "big chip on their shoulders"

Same way with Botia beauforti. I learned the hard way with these too.

Very colorful loach, but super mean.

 

[fishman 1]

skunks are great!

Yes they can be agressive, yes they can be terratorial.

Most if not all of the botias are. Dont be fooled by clown loach either! I had some of these in a 3ft tank and it got to the point where they were doing real damage to each other!

I currently have 3 skunks in a 6ft tank. They are always fighting each other (which i dont mind so much). Up to now they have left other fish alone.

There is one that looks very much like the skunk botia called botia eos. If you think skunks are bad make sure you dont get any of these! They are unbelievably 100 times worse! A pal of mine had one which killed off all its tank members including a 6" male ancistrus!

It is amazing how alot of fish are sold as community fish. Red tailed black sharks are a classic example.

Mind you there are alot of characins, even small ones that are far from friendly.

 

[@ombomb]

Red tailed black sharks are a classic example.

That's rather unfair... the majority of people that have RTBS problems, are only having those problems because they are keeping them in the wrong community.

 

[The-Wolf]

**maybe** they can coexist with other loaches? (a loach only tank). but after seeing what they do, I would not risk trying it.

IME no that don't work either
all other botias I ahd them with hand nipped/shredded fins.
even the clowns that were 4 times as big as the skunks.

 

[cometcattle]

My Skunks mostly chase each other. I currently have 4 in a 4' tank with my Salvini, BP, Tiger barbs, Anomalochromis thomasi, Clown plec, and 4 other loaches (1 Yoyo, 2 Zebras, 1 Botia robusta). The tank has a lot of bogwood and hidey holes. My oldest fish is a Skunk loach (6 years)

I wouldn't keep them in anything less than a 3' tank. I once moved a juvie (about 1.5") in a 10g to solve a snail problem. He ended up killing a Pitbull plec and shredding some fins on a few Platys.

While they can be aggressive, I think they have great personalities and I love their loud clicking.

 

[fishman 1]

QUOTE
Red tailed black sharks are a classic example.

QUOTE
That's rather unfair... the majority of people that have RTBS problems, are only having those problems because they are keeping them in the wrong community.



Could that be said about skunk botia too?

What I am saying is that RTBS are sold as general community fish yet as we both agree the problem occurs when they are keeping them in the wrong community. As I said with the question above this can also be applied to the skunk.

So with my explination it is not an unfair view at all, afterall it is not the fish's fault or necessarily the purchasers fault. It is down to bad advice or lack of knowledge.

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> Could that be said about skunk botia too?

Kept in a species tank, they seem to constantly squabble. In a large enough tank with a few as the only occupants, they may well establish territories large enough to avoid each other. They are a bad tempered little fish.