| Botia Kubotia |
| Botia Kubotai - of the family of Cobitidae Common Names- Burmese, Polka-dot, Angelicus Loach, Marble Loach Origin- Ataran River Basin, Mayanmar Average size in aquarium is 4" Temp- 75-82F PH 6.8-7.3 Tank set up- sand, driftwood, rocks/slate and plants are a plus |
| Behavior as I see it in my tank ----Tank mates include- Dojo's, Modesta's, corys, rams and killi fish. These wonderful loaches are a joy to watch. They are always active, whether it be searching for food, swimming beneath or beside another tank mate (all species) or dancing, they are a constantly busy. I have never seen aggression in their behavior, even with my smallest Panda Cory who is less then an inch. They accept new tank mates with much curiousity, by swimming beside them, seemingly poking at them as if to say "Hey, I'm here, let's go play!" I've seen them swirling around in circles with eachother for up to 5mins. at a time. It looks to be tail chasing! I'm not sure whether this is play or fighting, but if it is fighting, there is no harm to the other fish nor does either fish show signs stress afterwards. I've read and been told they prefer sand substrate, yet I don't see that in this tank. My tank has an area of sand, another area of sand & flourite mix, and another area of plain flourite substrate. I've notice the Burmeses enjoy digging into the flourite substrate continuesly, ignoring the sand area mostly. Tney also prefer driftwood to rocks, caves, and slates. The only plants they seem to enjoy are the lily pads, they'll poke under and around them. All other plants are ignored. They love poking into the corkbark backing I have, which consists of many little crevices. These loaches are very curious by nature, with such a naive personality, I often think of them as children either pestering their tank mates, looking for food, or playing with eachother. I've yet to see them take a break in activity :) They eat almost everything I offer them, being the first to notice my approach to the tank. I feed them frozen bloodworms, live blackworms and brine shrimp, tropical fish flakes, shrimp pellets, algae wafers, dried shrimp and tubilex worms. |
| Here are some excellent links for additional info : |
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