Inherited some loach

2shy20072shy2007 Posts: 52,577
Forum Member
DOes anyone know anything about loach being kept in a fish tank?
I have taken on a bog standard shubunkin type goldfish from someone who has moved house and didnt have room for the tank, when they dropped it off they informed me there were 2 loach in there as well that they could not catch, I have never kept this kind of fish and wondered if they need different care to you bog standard goldfish type fish?
One is about an inch and a half long and the other is about 2 inches. I have bought some bottom feeder food and popped them in my old tank which is about 23 litres, they seem happy enough but my plan was to put the goldfish in our outside pond when the weather is warm enough . do loach have to live in a tank ? will they survive outside in the winter?
Thankyou in advance.

Comments

  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    You probably have some sort of hillstream loach. Bottom feeder food will help. They will like to have some sort of water motion in the tank. I don't know what species of fish you have, but it's unlikely that you'll have a species that will survive outside over winter.

    Do they look like this: http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/sept08/images/hillstream-loach-lg.jpg
  • 2shy20072shy2007 Posts: 52,577
    Forum Member
    The shape is more like this one
    http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/C2/C2AE5169-7243-44BA-811A-47B8AB782A9F/Presentation.Large/striped-loach.jpg

    but they have a dark stripe down the side, the tank they are in is a fluval edge so it has water running into it. Seems as if may have to keep them in the tank then, thankyou . I will have to keep my tank after all!
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
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    Are they standard sucking loaches?

    http://fishkeeper.co.uk/assets/php/timthumb.php?src=/uploads/2012-08-01/screen-shot-2012-08-01-at-17-50-35.png&w=450&zc=1

    Do your fish have barbels (whiskers) around the mouth like your photo, or a suckermouth?
  • 2shy20072shy2007 Posts: 52,577
    Forum Member
    Thats is just what they look like, with little suckers for mouths,they stick themselves on the glass. I want them to have a happy life but I have no idea how to care for them.
  • Tt88Tt88 Posts: 6,827
    Forum Member
    Do you have a good fish store nearby? Maybe take a picture of them and pop in for some advice. Some breeds of loach can grow to be quite big and may need different living conditions to the other fish in the tank.
  • mackaramackara Posts: 4,063
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    2shy2007 wrote: »
    Thats is just what they look like, with little suckers for mouths,they stick themselves on the glass. I want them to have a happy life but I have no idea how to care for them.

    That loach is a tropical fish and will require a higher temperature than goldfish, they will not survive outdoors and generally require a heater in the tank which your goldfish will not need being a coldwater fish.

    http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/algeater.htm
  • 2shy20072shy2007 Posts: 52,577
    Forum Member
    Tt88 wrote: »
    Do you have a good fish store nearby? Maybe take a picture of them and pop in for some advice. Some breeds of loach can grow to be quite big and may need different living conditions to the other fish in the tank.

    Thats a good idea, we have a good old fashioned pet shop in the next town that does aquatics, thats one of my concerns, that they will quickly outgrow the Fluval edge. they are on their own at the moment and I have no intention of getting any other fish to put in there as I was going to get rid of it. they are tiny now, but if they grow into monsters then I may have to find someone who sill take them on as we dont have the space for a bigger tank, the one that they came in and that is housing the shubunkin for now is massive and taking up all of our kitchen top!
  • WinterFireWinterFire Posts: 9,509
    Forum Member
    2shy2007 wrote: »
    Thats a good idea, we have a good old fashioned pet shop in the next town that does aquatics, thats one of my concerns, that they will quickly outgrow the Fluval edge. they are on their own at the moment and I have no intention of getting any other fish to put in there as I was going to get rid of it. they are tiny now, but if they grow into monsters then I may have to find someone who sill take them on as we dont have the space for a bigger tank, the one that they came in and that is housing the shubunkin for now is massive and taking up all of our kitchen top!

    As pointed out by macara, these are tropical fish. They shouldn't be that fast growing, but they can get quite big over time. Passing them on to someone else (a shop may take them off your hands) might be the best option if you don't want to maintain a fish tank.

    The page linked to in a previous posts says that they grow to about 10", but I think they get larger than that. There were some monsters living in the big tropical indoor pond in Kew Gardens many years ago, and I think they were over a foot long.
  • 2shy20072shy2007 Posts: 52,577
    Forum Member
    WinterFire wrote: »
    As pointed out by macara, these are tropical fish. They shouldn't be that fast growing, but they can get quite big over time. Passing them on to someone else (a shop may take them off your hands) might be the best option if you don't want to maintain a fish tank.

    The page linked to in a previous posts says that they grow to about 10", but I think they get larger than that. There were some monsters living in the big tropical indoor pond in Kew Gardens many years ago, and I think they were over a foot long.

    I will have a an ask around see if any local shops will take them, I dont mind for now as they can live in the Fluval, but we dont have room for a bigger tank so it will be our only option I think
    Serves me right for trying to do a good deed,lol
  • 2shy20072shy2007 Posts: 52,577
    Forum Member
    Quick update, I set up the tank I had but it was very cloudy , and was not fit for them to go in, so I called Pets at home and they agreed to take them back. left them swimming around in a massive tank there and they said they would put them up for adoption, so hopefully someone will take them that has the correct tank and environment :)
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