Tropical Loaches
Loaches are active bottom dwelling scavengers ideally suited for the community aquarium.
Tropical loaches. Loach fish consist of some of the most popular of all tropical fish adding color interest and beauty to any larger community aquarium. Many loach species actually prefer to be kept in schools and some species will literally pine away with loneliness if kept alone. Mike fishlore admin social media.
Loach fish loaches. They are also found in china and the indian subcontinent. The advantage of this loach over others is its size.
However they are especially at risk for ich. They attain only about 2 3 inches in adult length but should be bred in fish tanks with a capacity of about 50 gallons. The loaches are very interesting fishes.
They will search out stray food wherever it falls. It is distinguished by broad black vertical bands on its flesh colored scaleless body and by red in its fins. They are nocturnal but they are great scavengers especially appreciated by the aquarist.
Clown loaches can suffer from all of the major tropical freshwater fish diseases. Updated september 23 2018 author. Loaches have a heightened sense of taste and smell as well as some very flexible body shapes.
The most popular are clown loaches and kuhli loaches. Kuhli loach taken by ajc1 flikr the kuhli loach pangio kuhlii belongs to the cobitidae family they are also known as the coolie loach the leopard loach or the cinnamon loach. The clown loach originally came from indonesia.
Loaches are semi aggressive fish when housed in the aquarium individually so it is important to maintain each species in. The freshwater loach is amongst the most diverse species of fish in the aquarium hobby comprising of 1249 species separated amongst nine distinct families. Hillstream loaches have an 8 10 year lifespan on average.
Most hillstream loaches are bottom dwellers and thus adapted to live in fast aquarium waters. Loaches can be found in a wide variety of environments throughout europe northern africa and central and southeast asia. Loaches are a fun addition to any tropical freshwater aquarium.
They can be somewhat on the sensitive side regarding water quality and many are wild caught because they can be difficult to breed. This species is usually the first to show symptoms in a community tank so you ll need to keep an eye out and provide care as soon as you can. Loaches almost always adapt to aquarium foods and are long lived with many species can live 10 years or more.
Generally they are peaceful scavengers that spend their time rooting about for tidbits of food on the bottom. The clown loach is a bottom dweller and likes to hide in the day so adjust the aquarium decor accordingly.
