# Weather Loach Tropical or Cold Water



## thedogsmother

Hi before we converted our tank to tropical we had it running as a cold water set up and we were down to one fish, a weather Loach called Snakey-Lakey he was a favourite with the kids and quite a character but we wanted a tropical tank. So we got him a small plastic tank thinking that he is already very old and won't last long......That was 5 years ago he is quite big and is very difficult to cleanout as I have had to retrieve him from the floor on many occasions due to escape attempts. I have recently read that they can also live in a tropical tank and was wondering if we could add him to our tropical tank. I would hate to shock to poor old thing to death as he is a lot of fun to watch but if this can be done what is the best way to do it. We have red eyed red tailed puffers, dwarfe gourami's, plattys, a guppy, and neon tetras. I am worried there might be some bullying going on but he is a large fish and I think he could stand up for himself.


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## viseversa

Weather loach can be kept in temps from (approx)
4-25C, (40-77 ish) so in the avarage tropical aquarium the temp will be at the top end of the scale (24-26C) but as long as the temp doesnt go above this (for any amount of time) i think it would be fine, but if the temp does go above this for any amount of time it will probably be best left where it is


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## thedogsmother

The temp is 26,think I wont do anything untill I have sorted the possible puffer problem but I have heard conflicting info that when they are in kept as tropical fish they can grow very large and become aggresive with other fish. This could have been one persons experience though as I can't find any info about this on the net. How should i go about introducing him to the new tank safely as we have had him since he was a tiddler and silly as it sounds he is quite a character and I would hate to loose him this way, but the little plastic tank he is in at the moment really isn't big enough any more.


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## scosha37

We had one to and we thought the same as you that he wouldnt survive ...but he did for 6 years and we had cold water and tropical tank when all the fish deid in one we out him in ther tropical tank and he was fine but he did get bigger as they seem to grow faster and bigger in tropical waters i also had a Placostomas in my cold water tank and he survived for 7 years!


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## thedogsmother

How did you actually put him in, i was thinking of popping him in a bag and leaving the bag in the tropical tankfor a while like when you buy new fish, but with him always living in cold water I thaught it might shock him?


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## scosha37

thedogsmother said:


> How did you actually put him in, i was thinking of popping him in a bag and leaving the bag in the tropical tankfor a while like when you buy new fish, but with him always living in cold water I thaught it might shock him?


Yeah i ment to mention thats what i did


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## thedogsmother

Thanks, I might have a bit of a problem with fin nipping puffer fish in the tropical tank but once I sort that out I think I'll give it a try.


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## viseversa

I also forgot to add...

Introducing it the same as if you got it from the shop will be fine, the more water you get into the bag with the loach in (from his own tank) the longer it will take for the water to adjust to the tropical tank temp, this making it less likely to shock him (even though im sure it wouldnt anyway)


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## xXhayleyroxX

all 3 of my weather loaches live in a tropical tank 
xxxx


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