# Your fish series 2: Catfish and Loaches?



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

The first round was telling us about your Cichlids, now we'll move on to the Cat's and Loaches. The next round will be another type of fish. We'll try to cover them all. ;-) 

Tell us about your Catfish, including Cory's, Plec's, Syno's, etc., and any loaches you have. What do you like or dislike about them? Do they breed for you? Share anything else you find of interest about them.


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## david lim (Mar 30, 2004)

I have a school of sidthmunki loaches (10) in a 29 g. love the guys and they stay small too! They're great little fish. 
I've found them to be shy when in low numbers (ie 3-4) but when I was able to get more they are very active and will even approach my hand when cleaning the tank.


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## spyder (Nov 30, 2004)

david lim said:


> I have a school of sidthmunki loaches (10) in a 29 g. love the guys and they stay small too! They're great little fish.
> I've found them to be shy when in low numbers (ie 3-4) but when I was able to get more they are very active and will even approach my hand when cleaning the tank.


Hey, I just picked up five of those for my 26g tank! They are very entertaining, especially when they play with the Oto's (they must think they're related). They also did a fine job of reducing my huge snail population down to something much more reasonable.

No Cat's at this time, though in the past I had a wonderful striped Raphael catfish (Platydoras costatus). That guy was a real survivor, somehow making the trip from Nashville, TN to Lansing, MI in the middle of winter. Finally had to give him up when it was time to move back to CA (also in the winter). This was a somewhat shy fish, but it was great to watch his dig and squeeze into his favorite hiding places, not to mention eating whole shrimp pellets because he was a pig! Not sure I would want another digging around in my planted tank now, however...


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## glenhead (Jan 29, 2005)

We have Corys in all our tanks, except the bare-bottomed fry tank.

The 55gal, low pH community tank has three _Corydoras leucomelas_ (Blackfin Corys) and three _C. panda_ (Panda Corys).

The 20gal Endler's tank has three _C. julii_, and there are two more in the 12gal "eye candy" tank (on the kitchen table, with fancy guppies).

We went with the smaller Corys as our scavenging crew to keep the bioload down a bit, and because we like the look.  The Blackfins are very shy, and will flee to the back corner of the tank if someone walks in the room. The Pandas are always all over everywhere, and the Julis don't seem to pay much attention outside the tank, either. It's pretty neat seeing the Pandas and Blackfins go into Cory Boil mode - tumbling all over each other in obvious fun.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Wow, I thought there were a lot more people with Cory's and such in their tanks here.

I've heard that Sidthmunki loaches are really cool, and the more I hear, the more tempted I am to get some one of these days.

I also have Cory's in almost all of my tanks, including Adolphoi's, Pygmy's, Aenus, Schwartzii's and Melini's (sp).
In addition to the Cory's, I have 9 adult Bristlenoses, a spotted and a striped Raphael, a Clown Plec, Kuhli loaches, Upside down cats, and some unknown Syno's that were sold to me as Eupterous, but they aren't. At any rate, they're about 4 yeas old and only measure about 2" so it worked out.

I almost can't imagine a tank without Cory's at least, since they add so much to a tank.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

I have nine Sids and five clown loaches and three corys and a few Ottos (not sure if all 5 are left, only see maybe one from time to time), and a BN. All bottom dwellers in my 55. I really enjoy all of them, the Sids are the most entertaining though I'd say. The thing I like the least is how big the Clowns will get, and I'm beside myself with worry trying to figure out how to take care of them. I bought a 150 gallon rubbermaid tub, and even had the floor reinforced, but I'm too scared to fill it up still. I'm in a mobile home, and it just doesn't feel strong enough to hold that thing  and, the clowns keep growing....


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

At this time I have a BN & common plec. These guys are not that interesting but they do there job and that is what I got them for. I've never had a problem with these guys eating my Swords as some people have. 

I also have 2 Albino Corys. These guys are great little scavengers and can be quiet comical at times. I've also found the albino's to be more hardy then some of the other species of Cory's. 

In the past I had 3 Yo-Yo Loaches. I like these guys because they not only eat off the bottom but also from the surface. They would also play tag with each other and other fishes. The one bad thing is that Yo-Yo's can become aggressive toward other fish/shrimp if kept alone.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

With the exception of Otos, I don't have any catfish or loaches in my tanks. One of these days I will find some Dwarf Cories but until then, I guess my tanks will remain catfishless 

I kinda like the snails in my tanks so I definately don't want Loaches in there.


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## mlfishman (Apr 4, 2005)

*clown loach*

I have one small clown loach in my 37 gallon. He keeps the snail population fairly low. I Thought about adding another but they grow too large. Once my guy gets too big, I will trade him in for a smaller one @ my LFS. He is in their almost mainly for his scavenging and snail eating. Those baby snails get on my nerves. :axe:


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## Scout (Apr 3, 2005)

I have 5 Clown Loaches in my 80 gal tank that are 1 1/2 - 2 inches. They are very active and fun to watch! I like feeding them shrimp pellets and listening to them click at each other as they are trying to eat them
In my 112 gal tank I have: 2 Pleco's about 3 inches, 1 Syno about 8 inches, 1 funky looking sucker fish that is bright white/yellow and its gill holes are almost on the top of the head. He is about 5 inches long and I can't find him in any books. I also have 2 clown loaches one is about 3 inches and the other is about 6 inches.


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

I've got a school of Sid The Monkeys too and they're awesome. I'm a huge loach fan and these are by far the coolest loaches I've ever had. Mine also tend to school with the Ottocinclus. It's fun to watch them zoom back and forth across the tank while the one retarded one tries to catch up because it missed the turn. 

I've had:
Yo-Yo, Skunk, Tiger, Clown, and Kuhli loaches
hastatus, pygmaeus, julii, and anaeus Cories. 

Overall I prefer a larger school of smaller cories over fewer larger ones. I may end up getting a hundred or so pygmaeus for my next project. That should be fun!

Best,
Phil


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Phil Edwards said:


> Overall I prefer a larger school of smaller cories over fewer larger ones. I may end up getting a hundred or so pygmaeus for my next project. That should be fun!


Ooh, that _would_ be fun. It might be a little pricey, but it would be well worth it. It would be interesting to see if they act different when they are in such a huge group of their own kind.


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## groovyfishguy (May 1, 2005)

OKay here goes...

190 Gallon Tank

11 CLown Loaches
6 Botia Histrionica
5 Botia Striata
2 Yo yo's
2 Sids
6 Panda Corys
2 Port Hole cats
10 Otos
3 Rubbernose plecos
3 Clown Plecos

As you can see im a catfish/loachaholic

All doing well working on heavily planted as well


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## Phillyman (Dec 2, 2004)

I have three yo-yo loaches that I like the look of and are quite active, but they refuse to let my Elatine trianda or any dense ground cover grow without them diving through it repeatedly until it is floating. I have three different corys, trilineatus, Julis, and I dont remember the other name. I have six albino ancistrus growing out, one nice spotted ancistrus, and a clown pleco.


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## SnakeIce (May 9, 2005)

I have had three different species of otto, one colored like a true SAE, a slightly larger one that had a dark hexagon mark at the base of the tail after the stripe petered out, and the regular golden otto. 

khulie loaches- currently have 5 in together. definately as a group more noticable and seem more active that way.

botia rostrata, lovely small loach between yoyo and sidthumuki(sp?) in size, more playfull than agressive. Identifying them is interesting because a young fish's stripes are different than the adults in a small way that makes them hard to match up.

Corydoras habrosus and pygmaeus. both about the same size but the habrosus are a little more like the larger corys in behavior than the free swimming behaviors of the pygmaeus'


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