skunk loach

[fishdude92]

Has anybody here had any experience with skunk loaches?
Saw them the other day at a petco and i wanted to get 2 but wanted to get some info on them first.
some questions i have:
how big can they grow to?
are they aggresive towards other fish?
will they uproot or disturb plants?

 

[Lupin]

3-4 inches. These are very nasty fish actually. They will try to uproot and nip the plants as they forage for foods. Keep the skunks with other aggressive loaches and large barbs.

 

[bluekrissyspike]

i had some back b4 one of my tanks broke. i had a large loach tank and decided to add 5 of these guys. they killed two of my clownies and ripped part of ones tail off. i wouldn't suggest them unless you are going to be setting up something specifically for them. they are cute though. i don't know how big they get. mine went from a half inch to two inches+ in about a month and a half, then i rehomed them

 

[Mokomon]

They are beautiful, but I've heard that they are really mean suckers

 

[pinkertd]

I've not heard anything good about keeping them either.

 

[Rainbowmama234]

I don't really find them to be that aggressive. Mine are still a bit small though, so if aggression comes with age then I may have a different opinion later. They're fun fish, my second favorite fish in my Asian bio-tope. Speedy little things, and a bit feisty and nippy, but not excessively so IMO. I haven't noticed any plant disturbance, unless that also comes with age.

 

[Lupin]

i had some back b4 one of my tanks broke. i had a large loach tank and decided to add 5 of these guys. they killed two of my clownies and ripped part of ones tail off. i wouldn't suggest them unless you are going to be setting up something specifically for them. they are cute though. i don't know how big they get. mine went from a half inch to two inches+ in about a month and a half, then i rehomed them

Skunks are very slow growers unfortunately so it's very rare to find 3-4 inch specimens but that's their maximum potential. I made a mistake of theorizing the yoyos can cope with the skunks as both are equally boisterous but the skunks destroyed two of my yoyo loaches decapitating one and leaving a deep hole on the gill lid of another while terrorizing the remaining ones.

They are beautiful, but I've heard that they are really mean suckers

I've not heard anything good about keeping them either.

These are absolutely not community fish. They're best kept with large active barbs and loaches that are also capable of having extremely nasty temperament particularly the Yasuhikotakia eos, Yasuhikotakia modesta and all loaches of the Syncrossus genus.

I don't really find them to be that aggressive. Mine are still a bit small though, so if aggression comes with age then I may have a different opinion later. They're fun fish, my second favorite fish in my Asian bio-tope. Speedy little things, and a bit feisty and nippy, but not excessively so IMO. I haven't noticed any plant disturbance, unless that also comes with age.

Rainbowmama, what other fish do you have? Any pics of the setup? As for the habit of uprooting plants, it happens with carpet plants and plants that have not firmly establish yet but damages can also be observed with those having soft foliages. In the wild, they never actually have many plants except the Cryptocoryne sp. which are all sturdy plants.

 

[Rainbowmama234]

The other fish I have are tiger barbs, red glass barbs, a paradise fish, and a rainbow shark. All the fish seem to get along really well. They all, minus the shark have been together for about 7 months. The shark has been in there about three month. I had no intention of putting him here, but a problem with his tank had me putting him in here temporarily and he's done well with little aggression and fits the theme so he stuck.

I can get pics soon. I had planned on posting some, but I keep forgetting to charge the camera. Ill try to snap some later today.

 

[Rainbowmama234]

leaving a deep hole on the gill lid

Did you see the behavior of the skunk when it did this? I have two skunks in particular that show their most aggression by continually head butting tiger barbs in the gill area with what I assume is their spike below their eye. Is that how the hole in yoyo occurred?

I have only seen the behavior when there is sinking food involved for the skunks and tigers are tying to eat too. I have never seen any damage after it has happened. But if they can actually pierce another fish to leaving a visibly deep hole, I find this a bit more worrisome. I think I may be underestimating their potential aggression. Aside from this they fight with each other more then they pay attention to the other fish in the tank. I find them to be really independent loaches except when in fear unlike other loaches were I hear they enjoy the company of others like their selves.

 

[fishorama]

I had 2 many years ago & they were fin & gill biters. We never could find any other species that could live with them. Cute little devils though. A species tank, or like Lupin said, with other aggressive loaches would be the best way to keep them.