"Denise" wrote in message
...
I have 2 golden loach in my gourami tank that insist on latching on to
my goldies so I'm going to have move them. Don't really want to put them
into my community tank as there are a couple of goldies there too. I
have a rainbow tank but will they do the same thing with my large
Australian rainbows?
I also have a Malawi cichlid tank. The ph and hardiness is of course
different but also will the cichlids attack the loach - much as I'm fed
up with the bloody things, I don't want to be cruel to them! The other
option is a tank with geophagus jupari and bush fish (Ctenopoma
oxyrhynchus I think) in. The bush fish, despite opinions to the
contrary are very placid so are they going to start latching on to them
too?


Could you please identify what a 'golden loach' is. 'Common' names are
sometimes isolated to a single store!

If your loach are botia, then my experience has been that they are ok
with the hard water (mine are in 8.4pH 16dgH), though I would not
recommend this as ideal for their best growth conditions. As botia don't
'hang' on to fish, I suspect that you might have one of the algae eaters
which are sometimes called river loaches (very flat, sometimes called a
butterfly loach). I'm going to be guilty of the same thing as you and
not give you any scientific names, but then this is your post ;~). Of
these particular loaches, there are 3 types which commonly make there way
into the retail market and if memory serves, only one is herbivorous and
the other 2 are omnivorous. Adding some variety to their diet might
eliminate their habit of feeding off of the gourami's slime coat. I'd
suggest zucchini and then frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms. Your
loaches might just be very hungry. hth
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