Breeding Dwarf Loach (Yasuhikotakia Sidthimunki) In The Aquarium

Location

This freshwater fish lives in lowland and mountain streams and rivers with sandy or stony substrate and fast current. At present times it lives in the area of rivers Mae Klong, Kwae Noi, Songalia in Thailand. This is the endangered species.

Body description

Colour of the body is silvery-beige with an interesting pattern. Two horizontal, dark, discontinuous stripes spread from the middle part of the body towards the top. These stripes are interconnected by transverse, dark and discontinuous lines. This species has 4 pairs of barbels on the chin and defensive spines under the eyes. You recognize sex of fish when it sexually mature and then female becomes thicker in ventral parts.

Temperament and behaviour

Dwarf loach is small fish but it is also medium aggressive. It prefers to live in shoal of minimum 5 fish and then all aggressive behaviour stays within the group. This is very active and inquisitive fish. It is bottom feeding species and it can eat snails but unfortunately this fish is not an alternative for the snails plague. It may nibble flowing fins of fish. You can keep these fish with danios, barbs, rasboras, kuhli loach, otocinclus, etc. You should avoid keeping them with bigger and more aggressive fish.

Aquarium decoration

Aquarium should include a soft substrate (sand or fine gravel), dimmed light, and many places to hide like roots, rocks, pots, coconut shells, pvc or ceramic pipes, etc. The hiding places should have rounded edges to avoid scratches of the fish skin. These fish prefers chemically stable aquarium with an effective filtration system and oxygen-rich water. They prefer medium water flow and regular partial water changes (about 30% once a week).

Breeding

This is an oviparous species. Its reproduction is random and occasional in artificial conditions. Fish breed in the rainy season when temperature of water and ph reduces, so you can stimulate fish to spawn through bigger partial water changes on few degrees cooler water and by reducing the pH of water by adding for example leaves of oak, beech, indian almond or a cones of alder. Fish usually breeds in group of over a dozen. They lay eggs in narrow hiding-place like a crack in rock, pvc pipe or among the plants.