# loaches



## xkimxo (Jan 4, 2010)

Hiya i was just wondering does anyone have loaches here? i have a weather loach that ive had for about 6 months now hes called Sinbad and originally was kept in a tank along with 9 fancy goldfish however he kept sucking on the fish, mainly this was at feeding time eventhough he got fed sinking pellets and the others had flakes. After 5 fish deaths in just a few weeks (i didnt think it was him at first) i seperated him and he has lived alone ever since. I thought that loaches lived happily amongnst goldfish? Or do i have a murderous loach? Im at quite a loss at what to do with him to be honest, i was thinking about getting one or 2 more loaches as company but im worried he'll fight with them too, my mum wont let me put him in her pond either as she dosnt want her goldfish attacked.


----------



## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

Its very unusual for a weather loach to bother other fish, i have never heard it before.


----------



## xkimxo (Jan 4, 2010)

Thats what i thought, but i have been told they like to live in pairs and groups so perhaps he was unhappy.


----------



## hawksport (Dec 27, 2009)

they are better in small groups


----------



## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

loaches are certainly not the most aggressive of fish, though some species are known to torment other fish, especially sucker mouthed ones (though weather loaches do not belong to this group). certainly they are a social fish, and usually benefit from being in a shoal of 5 or 6 individuals. its certainly an option, but i wouldnt be so quick to point the finger of blame at them so quickly.

what worries me is that you mentioned having 9 goldfish in the tank? if you let us know the following information, then we should be able to help solve the problem. we need to know...

tank size
how many fish
types of goldfish (fancy or standard)
filtered?
how long has the tank had fish in?
was the tank cycled before adding fish?
how long for and how did you do it?

and if possible, do you have test results for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? if you dont have a testing kit, then most aquarium shops will test it for free (or a very small fee). if they write down the results and you post them here, they would help.

with this information, we should be able to help see whats wrong in there


----------



## xkimxo (Jan 4, 2010)

Hiya thanks for your reply, i have an 80 litre tank which is filtered and has a 1/3 water change every few weeks, ive had the tank for about 2 years now and up until i had the loach i had no deaths. At the moment i only have fantails left but i did have a canary goldfish, 2 orandas and 2 shunubkins these are the 5 that died. The fantails are quite big which is why i think they were ok. Ive never had any problems with any fish until i added the loach. I remember adding the loach after a water change, but ive never had the water tested. 

He now lives in a 60litre tank alone and the fantails are fine but ive not added anything else to the 80l tank. Im slightly put off fishkeeping now especially as one of the orandas died inside an ornament and when i tried to shake him out to bury him his skin came off and i threw up :-(


----------



## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

well, from what i can see, its highly unlikely the loach was to blame for the deaths. the obvious problem here is that there were far too many fish in that tank to begin with.

fancy goldfish (oranda, moors etc...) need approximatly 40L per fish, and the standard varieties (comets, shubunkins etc...) need about 90L per fish

so, even if all your 9 goldfish were fancy goldfish, you would need 360L to house them all successfully. thats 4 and a half times bigger than the tank you have now! plus, some of yours were standards, which again, increases the size of tank needed.

on top of this, standard goldfish such as shubunkins, cannot be kept safely in the same tank as the fancier varieties, because the fancy varieties are often slower, and are out competed for food.

its highly likely that in your aquarium, because the fish were presumably small when added, they didnt generate much waste, so the effect wasnt shown. but as fish growm they create more waste, and need more oxygen. the pressure of the growing fish, coupled with the addition of the loach, and small water changes, probably just pushed the tanks balance over the edge so to speak, causing an accumulation of waste, and lack of oxygen, to which the weaker of the fish succumbed.

with your size tank, your looking at a maximum occupancy of 2 fancy goldfish, maybe a single standard if your very good with water changes (even so, they like to be in groups, and so probably wouldnt be a good idea. if you keep the current fish in their, its only gonna be a matter of time before it happens again.

on the plus side, you did the right thing taking the loach out, as they are highly sensitive fish to water quality!


----------



## sullivan (Aug 29, 2008)

I had a cold weather louch in with some comets but it did have a tendency to keep going around there gill area and annoy the fish. It never actually harmed then in any way but did get bigger than i thought it would.


----------



## xkimxo (Jan 4, 2010)

Oh no i feel really bad now, the only reason i had this many fish is because the guy at the aquarium place said it would be fine. All my fish were tiny when i first got them. So looks like i need a bigger tank for my remaining fish. Thank you so much for your help and i know were to come if i need anymore advice. 

Think ill go and say sorry to Sinbad the loach aswell after i kept accusing him.


----------

