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No... That's how they look after the color enhancing food wares off (or so I'm told)...

Also, they are not as aggressive as you guys make it seem...

I had one pick a fight with a midas cichlid and the loach won.

Also, they are not as aggressive as you guys make it seem...

They are territorial, like any loach, and usually only bother other fish when they don't have enough room or when other fish enter their chosen hiding spot.

They mostly just hide all day, briefly coming out if there's food in the tank.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

yea that looks like the one i seen

That one was fed color enhancing food... Every time I've seen them in stores they still had dark coloration. If the ones in your store are new and are not dark, then you are dealing with a good and trust worthy store.

Below is a picture of one with normal coloration.

john.stone attached this image:

---Most modestas aren't such a darkish hue. The aforementioned must be a show fish or something. Looks kind of like a rainbow shark, but the head shape is off.

they get as big as clown loaches do in a tank 6-8"

They are also agressive.

They come in different colrs ranging from a blue to a pale gray (they are sometimes called blue loaches if im not mistaken)

In the wild they get up to 12" long, but in captivity they rarely get larger than 6".

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

yea the lfs is pretty unkept (or so it seems) that carries them anyways. I just thought they were interesting, on their little sign it said they reach only 4 inches.

i have a few questions here. 1: how big do these red tail loaches get? 2: how many of them must their be fore them to be happy?

the ones i seen were much lighter and i believe they were makrked "red tail loach". perhaps stress made them pale

I am talking about Botia modesta.

john.stone attached this image:

i'm not sure if im thinking of the right fish or not does anyone have a picture of the fish your talking about?

We have them with convicts and various other CAs when we get them. No problems so far.

I have heard of this fish ripping lots of other fish apart. I would NOT buy this fish unless you have large aggressive fish in the tank. I heard of one Botia Modesta that completely murdered the stock of a 72 gallon tank in 3 days while the owners were away, despite the automatic feeders and such. I have also heard of one large Botia Modesta that killed a full grown Convict Cichlid, after which the lady brought both the live and dead fish to the fish store and raised a huge beef as she had been told Botia Modesta are only mildly semi aggressive. Several of my favorite fish stores will no longer even stock this fish for these reasons. Beware.


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Indeed, I should have said agressive as far as loaches go. Thanks Noodles.

John pretty much got all the bases covered. This is NOT a fish you want in a community tank. I haven't found them to be "aggressive" persay, but they will chase tankmates and are ruthless nip shredders.

EDIT:grammar

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 28-Nov-2004 23:19

1. They get to be 9"+ long
2. They need groups of 6 or more. These fish can be very aggressive in smaller groups.
3. They need a 120g aquarium or larger.
4. These fish shouldn't be kept with any fish that can fit in their mouths.
5. These fish shouldn't be kept with rooted plants. Once they get to be full size they can uproot just about anything.
6. As with most loaches, their colors will not stay intense and may fade with age.