Weather loaches

[noirvigilante]

does anyone have experience with these guys in ponds? I just recently found out about them and bought one today. Haven't seen mine come out of hiding yet.

 

[crsublette]

@noirvigilante No experience with them yet myself, but I have read it is a good fish to help with pond maintenance and eats fish eggs. Weather Loaches (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/loaches1/p/weatherloach.htm) is what I would like to try...

There are actually more people that have them than many realize... here is a video of a guy keeping a loach in his koi pond ... it is the very small elongated one in the video... So, I guess eventually they come out once they are familiar with their environment...

They do like to hide though and you should do some research on how to make a good den for them...

Funny enough, there is a forum all about Loaches... Loaches Online (http://www.loaches.com/).


Just make sure your suction drain is fish protected so that he doesn't get sucked up... They will actually go near it since often times algae and other critters are there for them to try to feed on...

...I have lost some salamanders this way... they would litterally get "stuck" to the suction and can't release... I piled up alot of 1~2 inch river rock around my suction and never had a problem since.

 

[noirvigilante]

Wow thanks for the information. I'm not to worried about my guy getting sucked into my pump since he's pretty large and it's set to low flow.

 

[HARO]

Tried them in the pond once.... never saw them, and couldn't remove them in the fall. Their dead little bodies floated up after the first frost. Had the same results with Paradise fish, so unless you drain your pond at the end of the season, I wouldn't recommend tropicals.
John

P.S. Where in Canada?

 

[crsublette]

@HARO , there are many species of Loaches and they're not all tropical. Sounds like you had one of the tropical species.

Misgurnus anguillicaudatus can withstand down to 35~40*F water temperature. That is not tropical fish temperatures... I think it is the most hardy loach. This species is even found in Siberia... and I bet Siberia's winters are not like Florida's winters.

 

[Richardspond]

I want a Chinese highfin shark which is a loach, but they get mingloid. I thought dojos were tropical

 

[Faebinder]

I got two weather loaches and 8 dojo loaches with my goldfish and one koi... you'll see them eventually. Not as friendly as koi but they are trainable. They wintered under ice without issues.

 

[Mmathis]

No experience with them in a pond, but used to have dojo's in an aquarium. The only problem I've heard about with ponds is the same one I had with my tank: the little guys get out....and die I don't know, it must be their nature to "explore," or something.

 

[noirvigilante]

Hi everyone. Unfortunately my dojo loach was no where to be found and I'm assuming he was taken by some sort of predator

 

[Richardspond]

Man been looking everywhere for some dojos after I saw this post. They are hard to find

 

[Faebinder]

Just to clarify...

You have a dojo loach and not a weather loach (the dojo are pure gold and the weather are speckled).

If you have weather loaches... then forget it.. you wont see them, they can even get to 7 inches and you wont see them as the speckled colors blend them so well. You'll be lucky to see them once in a blue moon.

The dojo loaches are easier to see but even they hide VERY VERY well. Don't stress it, they will show up later. If you have a skimmer, look there. I have 8 so it's not hard to spot one or two around the pond. A few are bigger than my orandas/ranchus.


If you are looking to buy them, you can get them at Petco (not persmart they never carry them) or you can find them on ebay or aquabid.

 

[Faebinder]

When we remade my pond this June, I drained it down to stones... nothing but stones a little bit of water at the bottom (in hopes that any loaches or darters between gravel does not die). I managed to catch all my fish... except for 1 of 2 weather loaches. That stealth machine kept hiding. When the pond construction crew came in they drained the pond and removed all the gravel and it was still not seen. Finally, they removed my iris from the shelves (big iris root that needed two guys to lift) and the loach was sitting underneath the big one. The crew saw it and immediately pointed out as i gave them heads up not to be surprised if they spotted it. The loach is 7 inches and thick.

Since my pond was redone early June, I saw one of my weather loaches 1 time only. I see dojo loaches all the time.

 

[crsublette]

@Faebinder , yep, that is what I have been told as well. They are incredibly elusive.

@HARO @Meyer Jordan , take note @Faebinder is in PA, zone 7a.

7a zone not exactly conducive to most tropical fish ... getting correct species is everything...

@Faebinder , very nice, comprehensive fish list ya have in your profile by the way.... Good stuff!

 

[Faebinder]

Correction, I just one of them today before it swam away.

 

[Faebinder]

@Faebinder , yep, that is what I have been told as well. They are incredibly elusive.

@HARO @Meyer Jordan , take note @Faebinder is in PA, zone 7a.

7a zone not exactly conducive to most tropical fish ... getting correct species is everything...

@Faebinder , very nice, comprehensive fish list ya have in your profile by the way.... Good stuff!

I just went and updated the list. The pond renovation made some fish ill and I had to replace them. Most though survived. Water looks great now that I have a bog up.