Dojo Loach Question... sel.   7/24/06
Hello,
<Hi there>
I have a 25 gallon tank with 3 goldfish and I want to get a dojo loach. However, I am not sure as to whether I should get one or two.
<Mmm, could have two... and they are more active... more outgoing/comical with more than one... are social animals...>
I read that they like to have another one of their kind, but I also don't want to overcrowd.
<Mmm, well, this 25 will be overcrowded in time with just the three goldfish...>
Another thing is that I have underground filtering. I know the dojo likes to burrow... I'm not sure how underground filtering works, will it get sucked up?  
-Ashley
<Not sucked up, but can scoot down the "stand-pipes" and live underneath the plates... A good idea to look into having some outside power filter redundancy here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm
Enjoy those Dojos! Bob Fenner>

Locating Gold Dojo Loaches
hi Robert,
<<Bob has gone diving, JasonC here standing in.>>
my name is Jim Brilliant and I want to know if you could help me find these loaches and who sells them.
I would like to purchase many gold dojo loaches and albino's, too. thank you for any assistance you can provide
<<I would try a couple of things, one check our discussion forum which has a diverse group of kind folk who just might have the answer. http://talk.wetwebfotos.com/ 
I would also use Google or your favorite search engine and just pop that subject in there "gold dojo loaches" - I just did and it turned up four pages of possibilities. The Internet is your oyster. Cheers, J -- >>

Loach question in planted tank
Hey all
great website, since I found it a few weeks ago I've spent hours reading and learning..... anyways on to my question.  I'm getting ready to start my first live plant tank.  I have a 30 gallon "tall" tank and plan on using only an outside filtration system (an emperor 400 I believe the model is).  I've read on your site about snail infestations resulting from newly acquired live plants.  I do not have room in my place for a smaller quarantine tank so I need to find an alternative method of snail control.  I've read on your site about using loaches to control the problem.  I plan on using some floating plants as well as rooted ones and having cardinal tetras as well as some other small tropicals and I was wondering what type of loach you would recommend for my tank.  some species of loach seem to get rather large and I would be worried about losing small fish such as cardinal tetras to these fish.  any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks! Ben K
<Hey Ben, maybe a dwarf loach? Botia sidthmunki. Check out the link below, lots of good snail info here
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PlantedTksSubWebIndex/snailsags.htm
Best Regards, Gage>

Lookin' for Loaches
Hey guys, first thanks for all the great info on this site. It has saved a lot of headaches so far. I have a 25 gallon tank that just finished cycling. I have 3 Serpae Tetras and 2 Zebra Danios. I have a fine sand substrate and I am looking for a fish to add that would help stir up the bottom of the tank a little. The LFS recommended a Clown Loach but that advice I'm not sold on since I've heard they can grow to 12 inches.  Thanks for any ideas.
<And indeed they can!  There are so, so many options available for you.  Any of the smaller loaches, Botia striata, Botia dario, Botia lohachata....  Kuhli loaches.... soooo many loaches out there!  Also Corydoras cats.  http://www.loaches.com  is a nice place to start looking at loach options, and you can find loads of info on cats of the genus Corydoras at http://www.planetcatfish.com - as well as on the wetweb site and FAQs.  I would like to mention that loaches and Corys are scaleless, and that you might want to keep an eye on them to see if they react poorly to the sand if it is at all sharp.  Also, please be sure to keep loaches or Corys in groups of three or more, as they are schooling fish.  -Sabrina>

White cloud with growing black markings
Evening all,
<Good evening, Rosa!  Sabrina here tonight>
You've always been helpful and on target in the past and after doing a lot of searching, with no answers, thought you might come to the rescue, yet again...
<Thank you for the kind words - and we'll sure try>
I have a question about white cloud minnows- I have had 2 for about a year now, they are yellow and white, with black specks and markings.  Hearty, fun, and social.  They share a planted tank (15 gallon fresh) with some otos, harlequin rasboras and cherry barbs.  Recently I added 3 clowns to fish tank who at first were pretty dominant and stressed out other fish for a while- now they are all alright with each other and the clowns sit at bottom of tank, or hang out in driftwood, and leave other fish alone.
<I assume you mean clown loaches?  Clown loaches get enormous, over time.  You might want to consider a smaller loach species, or plan on upgrading tank size eventually.  At least clown loaches are very slow growers, so you're okay for now.>
Soon after all this I noticed that the markings on one of my white clouds were getting darker- the black specks were getting deeper in color and actually bigger. Nothing else wrong with fish, no ich or anything like that- just that its original black specks - actually one in particular on its back- is just a lot longer.  The fish is fine- eats, hangs out with other fish, but I wondered about this.  Is there some kind of skin disease or perhaps stress, or maybe just 'normal'- perhaps markings just increase with age?
<It's hard to tell without seeing the fish; if there's any way you could get us a picture, that'd be great.  Otherwise, do a google search on their Latin name, Tanichthys albonubes, and compare yours with pictures of others; that may at least help you to see if the coloration is normal or not.>
If you could help me out here I'd appreciate it- I'm always checking on this fish and just a bit worried- would like to know that it's nothing- or, if it is something, what I should do.  Thanks,  Rosa Haritos

White cloud with growing black markings - part II
Hi Sabrina- thanks for response.
<No prob.>
I'm actually going to SF, CA for business trip tomorrow and I won't be back until 25th- I CAN send a photo of fish and will, when I get back.
<Ah, welcome to my neck of the world.>
Haven't found ANYTHING using Latin Name- tried it-- just pix of ich's disease- and I know it's not that.
<Try this:  http://images.google.com/images?q=Tanichthys+albonubes&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search .  Should give you lots of pics of White Clouds.>
Yup, clown loaches. It was actually someone at WetWeb who told me they are great snail eaters- and they get big, but as you say, slowly. So I bought 3 - so they wouldn't be lonely, and GUESS WHAT- no way did they eat snails!!
<Now THAT is stunning.  I've NEVER seen a clown loach turn its nose up at snails!!  It might just be that they needed some time to settle in, first; also, don't feed them other food for a few days, and they should dig right in.>
Even when I crushed them and put then right next to them--so I had to pick at snails for a whole week to get rid of an infestation. I asked LFS and they said they would exchange for zebra loach- which is suppose to be more aggressive re snails, but peaceful for the tank--and smaller.
<Well, smaller, yes; but I think these have pretty much the same temperament as clown loaches.  Mine certainly do, anyway.  And though they certainly chow down on snails (took all of two weeks for three zebra loaches in my 72g to rid me of all my snails), clown loaches are reportedly much better snail eradicators.>
BUT my son, who is 6, fell in love with these fish and pleaded not to trade em. so I'm stuck.
<Heh, at least you're stuck with a nice type of fish!>
Thanks re white minnow - I'll send photo when I get back. If you find anything in meantime, I'd appreciate it.
<Well, I'm afraid it's not so much a matter of finding anything; there's just so many things that it could be.  Stress, normal coloration, etc.  I do look forward to helping you figure this out once you've got a picture for us!  Wishing you well,  -Sabrina>
Thanks again, best  Rosa

Buffering Fresh, 2.1
>Marina,
Thanks for the advice.
>>Quite welcome.
>!ST bubbles from the bubble stones, not the powerhead.
>>Gotcha, so you've got excellent oxygen/carbon dioxide (O2/CO2) exchange.
>I did check KH and GH.... both WAY TOO LOW...... so I guess the best thing to do is to find some of the Seachem products.
I do like Seachem best, as I said.  The products were quite easy to find online, and relatively inexpensive.
>I have read that clown loaches do much better as a pair or more? Is that not so?
>>They may be a bit happier, but honestly I've never known them to do poorly if kept singly, either.  They can grow quite large, though, something to consider.
>Thanks for all the help. Monica
>>Again, very welcome, I'm glad I was able to answer your questions.  Marina

This Clown's Not Joking
Hey Crew, <Hello! Ryan with you>
I recently had to shut down my 75gall saltwater tank because it is too big/heavy for my new apartment. <Sorry to hear> To ease the pain of this loss, I purchased a small 5 gallon Hex. Eclipse system for my dresser. Cycled the tank for 3 weeks w a platy. The plan was/is to plant the tank nicely and put a nice Betta in there (of course got a show quality fish from Canada to be shipped next week!).  Also wanted to get one Corydoras cat to keep the bottom clean. Here is the problem/mistake I made ALREADY.  I hadn't dealt with freshwater fish for a long long time and thought I knew "enough" to do this w/out reading. If I had stuck to my 2 fish/plant plan I think I would have been ok. But when I went to get my Corydoras 2 days ago.....I came home w/ a Clown Loach instead. I thought "they're nicer and serve the same purpose." Wrong....<At least you didn't make me tell you!>...I decided to read AFTER the fact and see that it won't fit in my tank for long and needs to be in groups of 3 or more. <I have seen this fish well over 8 inches> And I'm starting to wonder....do they even scavenge??? <Not in the way a true scavenger does> I've feed him 2x and while he gets excited, he doesn't seem to find the food as it sinks to the bottom. Will he find the food at night on the bottom?? <Yes> Secondly, will this guy be ok by himself or does he NEED to be in groups. <he needs to be returned, he will die in your setup within a few months.>  Thirdly...should I just bring him back or give him away??  <Bring him back, stick you your initial plan!  It was a good one.  See ya, Ryan>