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Botia Kubotai
$10.00
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Black-Banded Leporinus
$8.50 – $25.00
Red Lizard Whiptail Catfish
$12.00
Size: Approx. 2″
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Care Level: Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Aquarium Hardiness: Hardy
Water Conditions: 75-84° F, KH 2-15, pH 6.0-7.5
Max. Size: 4.5″
Color Form: Orange/Red
Diet: Omnivore, but meatier foods should be fed regularly along with vegetable matter. New specimens may require live/frozen foods
Compatibility: Extremely peaceful and is compatible with most other non-aggressive fish and invertebrates that will not outcompete it for food
Origin: South America
Family: Synodontidae
Lifespan: 5 years
Aquarist Experience Level: Beginner
Category: Bottom Dwellers
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Pygmy Corydoras
$1.80
Size: Approx. 1"
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Temperament: Peaceful
Aquarium Hardiness: Hardy
Water Conditions: 72-78° F, KH 2-12, pH 6.2-7.2
Max. Size: 1.3”
Color Form: Black, White
Diet: Omnivore
Compatibility: Great in community tanks
Origin: South America
Family: Callichthyidae
Lifespan: Up to 3 years
Aquarist Experience Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Botia Dario
$4.00
Approx. 2.5"
The body of the Dario Botia Loach is tan and black in color, and like other Botia loaches can be identified by their four pairs of barbels protruding from the mouth area. The entire body and fins of this Loach is barred with alternating stripes of both tan and black, which gives the fish its unique look.
The Dario Botia Loach is an active, semi-aggressive, social, bottom dwelling scavenger that enjoys the company of its own species and other semi-aggressive fish. Like some other Loaches, they frequently school with others of their own species, size, and age and in the aquarium should be kept in groups of 4 to 8 fish.
Dario Botia Loaches are inquisitive and seem to enjoy exploring their surroundings. They are shy of bright light, prefer low light conditions and love to hide in caves, holes in banks, plants,driftwood
, nooks, and tight crannies, especially when they sleep. They are reclusive during the day and become most active towards dusk.
In the aquarium, be sure to provide Dario Botias with plenty of cover in the form of rocks, wood, flower pots and aquarium ornaments. Natural style arrangements should include a substrate of sand or fine gravel, plenty of smooth water worn rocks, smooth pebbles, and driftwood
roots or branches.
Dario Botia Loaches will squeeze themselves into any tiny gaps or crevices they can find, so items with sharp edges should not be placed in the tank. Any gaps or holes that are small enough for the fish to become trapped in should be filled in with aquarium silicone sealant. Because they are jumpers, a tight fitting cover is a must for these loaches.
Dario Botia Loaches come from streams and require currents in the aquarium. They are intolerant to accumulations of organic wastes and need spotlessly clean water to thrive. A good filtering system and a small power head will achieve the desired well oxygenated water and moderate current conditions they require.
Since Dario Botias are subject to low light conditions in their native habitat, lighting in the aquarium should be relatively subdued. Plants like Microsorum pteropus (Java fern
), Taxiphyllum barbieri (‘Java’ moss
) or Anubias spp. that grow well in low light conditions, will benefit the fish, and when attached to driftwood or other tank furniture will provide additional shade for the fish.
Dario Botia Loaches will easily adapt to and should only be introduced to stable, biologically mature aquariums. Weekly water changes of 30-50% tank volume should be considered routine maintenance.
The Dario Botia Loach is a grazer and requires small amounts of food several times a day. Young Dario Botia Loaches will eat most high quality commercially prepared foods but older fish may be more finicky. Feed them a varied diet of freeze dried bloodworms
, brine shrimp and a quality flake or pellet food. They relish snails and will feast on them with gusto.
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Aquarium Hardiness: Hardy
Water Conditions: 72-86° F, KH 8-12, pH 6.0-7.5
Max Size: 6″
Color Form: Black, Tan
Diet: Omnivore
Compatibility: Social with peaceful, open water dwelling cyprinids
Origin: India, Bangladesh
Family: Cobitidae
Lifespan: 5-8 years
Aquarist Experience Level: Intermediate
Weather Loach
$1.00
Approx. 4" - 5"
The Dojo Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) is also known as the Weather Loach, Oriental weatherfish, Chinese Weatherfish and Pond Loach. These remarkable fish are called Weather Loaches or Weatherfish because of their habit of becoming extremely active when there is a change in the weather, possiblly due to barometric pressure changes.
The Dojo Loach has poor eyesight, a smooth elongated body that is absent or covered with reduced scales, and a mouth that is surrounded by barbels that they use for locating food. This
loach is available in both its wild form and in a gold variety called the Golden Dojo Loach.
The wild form of the Dojo Loach has dark greenish gray to dark brown spots over a yellowish brown, often mottled body and a noticeably paler belly. The Golden Dojo Loachhas a much thinner body and is pink to gold in coloration.
Both forms of Dojo Loach are peaceful and very efficient scavengers that make a welcome addition to any community aquarium. They normally will not bother other fish in the aquarium and are one tropical fish species than can be kept with fancy goldfish to help clean the bottom of the tank. Dojo Loaches wiggle about in an eel like fashion scavenging the bottom for leftover bits of food and even munching on snails.
Dojo Loaches do well in potted plant aquariums with a soft sand or fine gravel substrate. They enjoy digging and burrowing into the substrate and will eventually uproot unpotted plants. They are most active during the evening hours and like to hide during the day in rocks, caves and around driftwood
.
In addition to being very playful, Dojo Loaches have some very unique qualities. They can be trained to take food from your hand and enjoy being touched.
Since Dojo Loaches can be jumpers, you should have a tight fitting top on your tank, however, if they do jump out, they can survive out of water for quite some time. They produce a thick mucus coating that keeps their body moist and are able to swallow air by absorbing atmospheric oxygen through their hind gut.
The Dojo Loach is primarily carnivorous. They prefer freeze-dried bloodworms
, tubifex
, chopped worms, and other frozen or live meaty foods. They are also fond of snails and will quickly rid your tank of an infestation.
Minimum Tank Size: 50 gallons
Care Level: Moderate
Temperament: Peaceful
Aquarium Hardiness: Hardy
Water Conditions: 50-82° F, KH 3-5, pH 6.5-8.0
Max. Size: 6″
Color Form: Red, Yellow
Diet: Carnivore
Compatibility: Good community tank fish
Origin: China, Korea, Japan; Farm Raised in Singapore
Family: Cobitidae
Lifespan: 70-10 years
Aquarist Experience Level: Beginner
Panda Corydoras
$2.00
Size: Approx. 1"
Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons
Temperament: Peaceful
Aquarium Hardiness: Hardy
Water Conditions: 71-75° F, KH 2-15, pH 6.0-7.5
Max. Size: 2”
Color Form: Black, White
Diet: Omnivore
Compatibility: Great in community tanks
Origin: Peru; Ucayali river system
Family: Callichthyidae
Lifespan: Up to 10 years
Aquarist Experience Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Pictus Catfish
$12.00
Size: Approx 2"
Minimum Tank Size: 70 gallons
Care Level: Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Aquarium Hardiness: Hardy
Water Conditions: 75-81° F, pH 7.0-7.5
Max. Size: 5″- 8″
Color Form: Black, White
Diet: Omnivore
Origin: South America
Family: Pimelodidae
Live Span: 6 – 8 years
Aquarist Experience Level: Beginner
Ropefish
$18.00
Size: Approx. 8-10"
Minimum Tank Size: 55 gallons
Care Level: Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Aquarium Hardiness: Hardy
Water Conditions: 72-82° F, KH 8-22, pH 6.0-7.5
Max. Size: 2′ 11″
Color Form: Yellow
Diet: Carnivore
Compatibility: Keep with others of same species
Origin: Africa
Family: Polypteridae
Lifespan: 20 Years
Aquarist Experience Lever: Intermediate
Golden Algae Eater
$2.00 – $28.00
Minimum Tank Size: 40 gallons
Temperament: Semi-aggressive
Aquarium Hardiness: Easy
Water Conditions: 74-79°F; pH 6.8-74; dH 8-10
Max. Size: 12"
Color Form: White, yellow
Diet: Herbivore
Compatibility: Great in community tanks
Origin: Southeast Asia, including Thailand and Malaysia
Family: Gyrinocheilidae
Lifespan: Up to 10 Years
Aquarist Experience Level: Beginner to Intermediate
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