Loach (botia)?

Question

I was at my LFS today, and in the tank with the clown loaches was these other fishes that looked similar, except they were light brown with dark brown stripes similar to the clown loaches. they were thicker, and the hump on their back is higher. I asked the people at the store and they said same but bigger species (chinese) I've searched all the botia sites I can find, with no luck. the fish guy said they can reach 35cm? thanks for any info

Answer 1

these are my all time favoirte fish, they ealy go uner the name, chinese sailfin sucker, high fin loach, dolly loach,etc.

This is my true all time favorite fish.

Ok... Now the info. They will get that large. The problem is most fishkeepers when they decide to buy this fish arent aware that they will grow larger than 35 cms. 4 feet isnt uncommon for afully cared for fish. They really do best in public aquariums.

Another thing is while they are cute now, they will turn darker and lose their high sail when they age. They grow up into this black fish with just alittle hump for the fin. Really long.

They are coldwater so they can live with goldfish, but they are also find in tropical waters with community fish. THE most important thing to remember is they have VERY VERY small tiny scales which is easily damaged by other fishes.

Since i love this fish more than betta, i am very protective of them. They really should be with goldfishes in a huge tank over 5000 gallons, and they should be the center fish, do not stock them with fishes that can damage them.

They are semi in treat of being endangered. So the price tag is alittle high, which might be a blessing in hidden as they really need special care and they are truely beautiful fishes. They really should have the best and a huge tank is a must. They will get very large and easily stunted.

Again, if you have any questions please contact me, These are my all time favorite fish, and i have done plenty of hours of research on them. And if you ask anyone who knows me, if i put these above my bettas, then i really do care for them.

umm... I dont think there is anything else. Again if you go with them, please make sure you have a huge tank or huge pond system as these are truely majestic animals.

Edit: Here is a couple of links about them. I proud to say that i created the profile on this fish on fishprofiles.com

Here is a link for general. http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Sharks,%20Banded%20Chinese.htm

here is the profile i wrote
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/643.htm

here is an example of a adult that isnt fully grown in a public aquarium. Just read down the page, it will show them in with stugernts
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aquarticles.com/images/China4b/p06b%2520M%2520astcs.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/travel/Norfolk_4bChina_Shanghai_Aquarium.html&h=450&w=643&sz=93&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=ewXKQLOMPBk90M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchinese%2Bsailfin%2Bsuckers%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Answer 2

From what I have found, the MeKong Loach is the biggest of loaches and can get to about 25cm. There are over 1400 species of loaches (wow!) However, here is all the "botia" loaches I could find. I personally don't trust any of the fish people at the petstores unless they have proven themselves to me (by my asking more complex questions and getting the correct answers). Most stores have NO guidelines (most of the time) of the hiring of people (knowledge wise, etc.), and so long as they know that fish are the things in the tank, they hire them.
Anyway, as far as the "botia" loaches, here are the names: Botia almorhae,Botia beauforti,Botia berdmorei, Botia dario,Botia hymenophysa, Botia lohachata,Botia macracanthus,Botia modesta,Botia striata.
However, if you go on another website, ( http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Loaches) you can find a VAST array of different loaches, which is very well what it could be (one of the MANY species). I learned something new myself today by looking at this stuff.
Well, I don't know if I helped or not, but would be interested to find out what it was, so if you figure it out, can you re-post with the answer or drop me an e-mail please? Thanks, and Good Luck!!! ;o)

Answer 3

Hey. I'm no expert but here's a pictoral index of loaches. Hope it helps.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/pictorial-species-search-index/pictorial-species-index-body-shape-pictures