A coldwater loach of six inches, or twelve, depending which source you read
A dojo loach is an eel-shaped bottom fish from Asia that our sources publish at six inches in a tank and twelve in the wild. It is not a tropical fish, and its water shares nothing with the band the other twenty five records on this site hold in common.
Wikipedia files it as a freshwater fish in the loach family Cobitidae, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, and gives three common names beside the article title: the dojo loach, the oriental weatherloach and the oriental weatherfish. Seriously Fish titles the same species the Oriental Weather Loach. Two of our other three sources put dojo loach in the headline and weather loach in the text.
The names matter more here than they usually do, because the fish is sold under all of them and the care sheets behind them do not agree. Four of our five sources publish a figure that another one contradicts, and two of them contradict themselves.
On the size the two most careful sources agree, and they agree on a split rather than a number. Wikipedia: wild pond loaches can grow up to 12 in, 30 cm, long, but may only reach a length of 6 in, 15 cm, in captivity. Aquarium Source: usually no larger than 6 inches in length when fully grown, with almost 12 inches possible in the wild. Seriously Fish gives a maximum standard length of 280 mm, which is eleven inches.
One line decides the rest of the record. Seriously Fish: this is not a tropical species and should not be maintained as such for extended periods. Everything below follows from it, including the tank mates our own grid has to refuse.
Why this record was written now
- The gap
- Four thousand four hundred searches a month, and the keyword map has it at position four with no AI overview on the result page.
- What it changes
- The seventh record whose temperature band shares nothing with the 75 to 77 °F the other twenty five hold in common, and the third of those at the cool end after the axolotl and the goldfish. Its 72 °F ceiling is the second lowest here.
- What it does not
- No blanks. All nine fields carry a source, and the growth rate carries exactly one.
The water, and two sources that disagree with themselves
| Source | Temperature | pH | Hardness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seriously Fish | 41 to 77 °F tolerated, 64 to 74 recommended | 6.0 to 8.0 | 1 to 12 dGH |
| Aquarium Store Depot | 59 to 77 °F in its table, 65 to 75 ideal in its text | 6 to 8 | 1 to 12 dKH |
| Aquarium Source | 50 to 82 °F, aim for 65 to 75 | 6.5 to 8.0 | 5 to 12 dKH |
| Fish Laboratory | 68 to 76 °F in its table, 68 to 72 in its text | 7.0 to 8.5 in its table, 6.0 to 8.0 in its text | Not published |
| Wikipedia | Above 70 to 75 °F not recommended | Not published | Not published |
| This record | 68 to 72 °F | 6.5 to 8.0 | 89 to 214 ppm |
Why the row is narrower than every source
No two sources publish the same range, so the row prints the span that every source’s own recommendation contains. That comes out at 68 to 72 °F, which is narrower than any single published band and identical to the one Fish Laboratory prints in its care section.
The wide numbers in the table are tolerances rather than targets, and the sources say so themselves. Seriously Fish tolerates 41 to 77 °F and recommends 64 to 74. Aquarium Source gives 50 to 82 °F and tells you to aim for 65 to 75. A care sheet that prints only the tolerance is telling you what the fish survives, not what it should be kept at, which is the distinction our betta record makes in the same row.
The two internal contradictions
Aquarium Store Depot prints 59 to 77 °F in its table and, in its own text, the ideal temperature range is 65 to 75F. Fish Laboratory prints 68 to 76 °F in its table and 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit in its care section, where the Celsius printed beside it, 15 to 25, works out at 59 to 77 °F rather than 68 to 72. That is a single sentence disagreeing with itself in two units.
The same pattern runs through the pH: 7.0 to 8.5 in the Fish Laboratory table against pH levels of anywhere from 6.0 to 8.0 in its care section. We do not let a source that contradicts itself set an end of a row on its own, so the floor here is the 6.5 Aquarium Source publishes rather than the 7.0 that table would give.
The ceiling nobody will put a number on
Wikipedia is the one source our band does not sit under: water temperatures above 70 to 75 °F are not recommended is a range where a ceiling should be, so our 72 sits inside it rather than below it. Aquarium Store Depot is more direct and still has no figure: keep it above 75F long term and it will have a shortened, stressed life.
Three sources assert that warm water shortens the life and none of them says by how much. That is the blank this record cannot close, and it is the one a buyer choosing between a heated community tank and an unheated one would most want closed.
Hardness, in two units that measure different things
Three sources publish hardness. Seriously Fish gives 1 to 12 degrees dGH, general hardness. Aquarium Store Depot gives 1 to 12 dKH and Aquarium Source gives 5 to 12 dKH, and dKH is carbonate hardness, a different measurement of a different property. Fish Laboratory publishes none at all.
The numbers overlap at 5 to 12 whatever they are called, so the row prints that converted from dGH, the only unit any source here uses for the thing it is measuring. 89 to 214 ppm is the same floor our angelfish and african dwarf frog records carry, and the water and health topic holds the rest of the site’s hardness figures in one table.
Dojo loach tank size, and four answers to how many
| Source | Minimum tank | Group | Substrate | Lid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seriously Fish | A 120 by 45 cm base, about 64 gal | Singly, but more at ease with its own | Soft, sandy or fine gravel | Cover the tank well |
| Aquarium Store Depot | 55 gal | 8 to 10 or more | Fine sand or rounded gravel | Tight-fitting lids |
| Aquarium Source | 55 gal, at least 4 ft long | 3 or more | Fine sand | A clip or tape on the lid |
| Fish Laboratory | 40 gal | 3 or more | Smooth pebbles or fine sand | A tight-fitting lid |
| Wikipedia | Not published | At least three | Soft sand, smooth stone, fine gravel or bare bottom | Not published |
Fifty five gallons, and a length rather than a volume
Two sources publish 55 gallons. Aquarium Source adds the shape, at least 4 feet long, and Seriously Fish skips the volume entirely and asks for base dimensions of 120 by 45 cm, which is 48 by 18 inches. Those two are the same instruction written two ways, and they land about nine gallons apart at a standard tank height.
Fish Laboratory is the outlier at 40 gallons. A 40 gallon tank in the common 36 inch shape is a foot shorter than the length the other sources ask for, which is the part a volume figure hides. Our record prints 55 gal, which ties our angelfish record; four records here ask for more, and the stocking calculator holds all of them.
One, three, six, eight to ten
Four sources give four answers, and the spread is the same one to ten our siamese algae eater record carries. Seriously Fish: can be kept singly but seem more at ease and active when in the presence of conspecifics. Wikipedia, Aquarium Source and Fish Laboratory all ask for three or more. Aquarium Store Depot argues with the number in print: guides will say minimum 6 and leave it at that, when in reality it is 8 to 10 or more.
The row prints three or more and names the source asking for three times as many, because at six inches a fish the difference is the whole plan. Ten dojo loaches at their captive size is sixty inches of bottom fish, and the other two loaches here, the kuhli and the clown loach, both ask for five or six minimum on smaller bodies.
The lid, which four sources ask for
Aquarium Source calls them cunning escape artists and asks for a secure tank lid with a clip or tape. Seriously Fish: cover the tank well as most loaches do jump at times. Aquarium Store Depot asks for tight-fitting lids and describes fish that climb filters and squeeze through gaps. Fish Laboratory asks for a tight-fitting lid to prevent them from jumping out. Only Wikipedia leaves it out.
The bottom it disappears into
All five sources ask for a soft substrate, and Seriously Fish says why in one clause: some of its time is spent completely buried. Aquarium Store Depot asks for fine sand or rounded gravel and warns against sharp substrates; Fish Laboratory allows smooth pebbles; Wikipedia allows a bare bottomed tank, and is the only source that does.
A buried fish is a fish you cannot count, which is worth knowing before buying three of something that costs a four foot tank. Our kuhli loach record carries the same instruction for the same reason, and its water column row reads bottom, and buried.
No heater
No source here asks for one and the most technical asks for the opposite. What this fish needs is a room that stays under 75 °F rather than equipment holding it above 68, and in a warm house that is the harder requirement of the two.
The full record
| Field | Recorded | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum tank | 55 gal | Aquarium Store Depot publishes 55 gallons in its table and again in its text. Aquarium Source publishes 55 gallons and adds a shape: at least 4 feet long. Seriously Fish gives no volume and asks for base dimensions of 120 by 45 cm instead, which is 48 by 18 inches and about 64 gallons at a standard height. Fish Laboratory is the outlier at 40 gallons. The row prints the figure two sources publish and the third makes into a footprint, and a 40 gallon tank in the common 36 inch shape is a foot shorter than the length one source asks for. |
| Temperature | 68 to 72 °F | This is the row the record exists for, and no two sources publish the same one. Seriously Fish gives 5 to 25 C, 41 to 77 F, and recommends 17.8 to 23.3 C, 64 to 74 F. Aquarium Store Depot gives 59 to 77 F in its table and, in its text, the ideal temperature range is 65 to 75F, adding that above 75F long term it will have a shortened, stressed life. Aquarium Source gives 50 to 82 F and tells you to aim for 65 to 75 F. Fish Laboratory gives 68 to 76 F in its table and 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit in its care section, where the Celsius printed beside it, 15 to 25, is 59 to 77 F rather than 68 to 72. The row prints the span that every source’s own recommendation contains. Wikipedia is the one figure our band does not sit under: water temperatures above 70 to 75 F are not recommended is a range rather than a ceiling, so our 72 sits inside it instead of below it. |
| pH | 6.5 to 8.0 | Seriously Fish 6.0 to 8.0, Aquarium Store Depot 6 to 8, Aquarium Source 6.5 to 8.0. Fish Laboratory publishes 7.0 to 8.5 in its table and pH levels of anywhere from 6.0 to 8.0 in its care section, so its two figures share a point and a half rather than a range. The row prints 6.5 to 8.0, which is the floor of the highest source and the ceiling three of the four share. Read the Fish Laboratory table alone and the floor would be 7.0; we do not let a source that contradicts itself set an end of the row on its own. |
| Hardness | 89 to 214 ppm | Three sources publish hardness and two of them label it with a unit that measures something else. Seriously Fish gives 1 to 12 degrees, dGH, which is general hardness. Aquarium Store Depot gives 1 to 12 dKH and Aquarium Source gives 5 to 12 dKH, and dKH is carbonate hardness, a different measurement of a different thing. Fish Laboratory publishes no hardness at all. The numbers themselves overlap at 5 to 12, and the row prints that converted from dGH, the only unit any source here uses correctly. It is the same floor as our angelfish and african dwarf frog records carry. |
| Adult size | 6 to 12 in (15 to 30 cm) | Two sources publish the split rather than a single number. Wikipedia: wild pond loaches can grow up to 12 in, 30 cm, long, but may only reach a length of 6 in, 15 cm, in captivity. Aquarium Source: usually no larger than 6 inches in length when fully grown, with almost 12 inches possible in the wild. Seriously Fish gives a maximum standard length of 280 mm, 11 inches. Aquarium Store Depot goes the other way and opens with the dojo loach grows to 10 to 12 inches, adding that a mature dojo loach can reach nearly a foot long. Fish Laboratory prints 6 to 12 inches and leaves the reader to work out which end applies. The row prints both ends, because the difference between them is the difference between a 40 gallon tank and a four foot one. |
| Diet | Omnivore, and it eats snails and shrimp | The label splits three to two and the food lists do not. Wikipedia calls them bottom-dwelling omnivores, feeding mainly on algae or scavenging organic materials, and may also eat on tubifex worms and other small aquatic invertebrates. Aquarium Source: in the wild dojo loaches primarily feed off organic matter like algae, however, they are omnivores and will eat anything you provide. Fish Laboratory calls the diet omnivorous. Against those three, Seriously Fish calls it chiefly a predator foraging for insect larvae, small crustaceans and suchlike, and Aquarium Store Depot calls it a carnivore. Every list names the same foods, so the disagreement is about the word: sinking pellets or dried food from four sources, and tubifex worms, bloodworm, brine shrimp or Artemia, Daphnia and insect larvae from four. What settles the row for a keeper is the invertebrates. Aquarium Source: dojo loaches are also known to snack on freshwater aquarium snails and small invertebrates as well. Aquarium Store Depot: these bottom dwellers feed on invertebrates like snails, crustaceans, and insect larvae, which means that they are not good tank mates for shrimp and snails. |
| Water column | Bottom, buried, and the surface for air | All five sources put it on the bottom. Seriously Fish adds that some of its time is spent completely buried, and Aquarium Source explains what that costs at feeding time: sinking pellets are a must-have, as most dojo loaches will not swim up to the surface if there is a lot of other fish around. The third position is the one that makes it unusual. Wikipedia: the pond loach can burrow into and hide in soft substrates, breathe atmospheric air through enteral respiration if necessary. A bottom fish that surfaces to breathe is a shape this site holds three other records for, the african dwarf frog, the ramshorn snail and the honey gourami. |
| Lifespan | 7 to 10 years | Aquarium Source, Fish Laboratory and the Aquarium Store Depot table all give 7 to 10 years. The same Aquarium Store Depot page opens with lives 10 to 15 years, so it publishes both figures a paragraph apart. Seriously Fish and Wikipedia publish no lifespan at all. The row prints the figure three sources share and the fourth also prints somewhere else on its own page. Every source that discusses warm water ties it to a shorter life without giving a number, which is the figure this record cannot close. |
| Growth rate | Fast to 5 in, then about an inch a year | One source publishes a rate. Fish Laboratory: the dojo loach grows very quickly until they reach about five inches and significantly slows down to about a little over an inch a year for the next two or three years. Nothing on the other four pages contradicts it and nothing confirms it either. Read against our clown loach record, which publishes about 6 inches at three years, the two loaches here grow in opposite shapes: this one front-loads the growth and that one spreads it out. |
The same nine fields for every animal on this site are in the A to Z index.
Where our sources disagree
Every record here names a disagreement. On this one it is a tank mate one source recommends by name and another refuses by name.
Aquarium Source, tank mates
Different Types Of Goldfish
Aquarium Store Depot
There are too many reports of Dojo Loaches attacking Goldfish to ignore.
What we record: so the pairing is carried as one setting only rather than as a refusal or a recommendation. Water is the one part of it nothing objects to: our goldfish record runs 68 to 74 °F, which contains this record’s 68 to 72 entirely, and those are the only two records here that meet at the cool end. The objection is behavior, and only one of the two sources has looked for it.
What it eats, and the five records that come off its tank mate list
| Source | What it calls the diet | Foods named | Shrimp and snails |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seriously Fish | Chiefly a predator | Insect larvae, small crustaceans, Daphnia, Artemia, bloodworm, sinking dried foods | Not addressed |
| Aquarium Store Depot | Carnivore | Bloodworms, brine shrimp, tubifex worms, sinking pellets, bottom feeder tablets | Not good tank mates for shrimp and snails |
| Aquarium Source | Omnivore, algae in the wild | Sinking pellets, tubifex worms, insect larvae | Snacks on freshwater aquarium snails |
| Fish Laboratory | Omnivorous | Sinking pellet food, worms, insect larvae, small crustaceans | Avoid shrimp |
| Wikipedia | Bottom-dwelling omnivore | Algae, organic material, tubifex worms, small aquatic invertebrates | Not addressed |
Three omnivores, two predators, one food list
Wikipedia calls them bottom-dwelling omnivores, feeding mainly on algae or scavenging organic materials. Aquarium Source agrees and adds the tank: in the wild dojo loaches primarily feed off organic matter like algae, however, they are omnivores and will eat anything you provide. Fish Laboratory calls the diet omnivorous. Against those three, Seriously Fish calls it chiefly a predator foraging for insect larvae, small crustaceans and suchlike, and Aquarium Store Depot calls it a carnivore.
The lists underneath the labels are nearly identical, which makes the disagreement a matter of the word rather than the feeding. Sinking food appears on four of the five, and Aquarium Source explains why it has to: sinking pellets are a must-have, as most dojo loaches will not swim up to the surface if there is a lot of other fish around.
The two sentences that refuse five of our records
Aquarium Store Depot: these bottom dwellers feed on invertebrates like snails, crustaceans, and insect larvae. This means that they are not good tank mates for shrimp and snails. Aquarium Source, from the diet rather than the compatibility section: dojo loaches are also known to snack on freshwater aquarium snails and small invertebrates as well.
Those two sentences take five records off this one’s tank mate list: the nerite snail, the ramshorn snail, and the cherry, amano and ghost shrimp. The largest of them is addressed by name: although larger shrimps like Amanos will probably hold their own against Weather Loaches, I wouldn’t recommend taking the risk. Fish Laboratory lists shrimp among the animals to avoid as well.
Our tank mates grid carries all five as refusals rather than cautions, because a source naming an animal as food is not a preference. The assassin snail escapes only on arithmetic: its band starts at 75 °F, three degrees above this record’s ceiling, so the grid refuses that pairing on water before the diet is reached.
Dojo loach and goldfish: one source recommends it, one reports attacks
The two positions
Aquarium Source lists different types of goldfish first among the tank mates it recommends, and its reasoning is the water: it is also important to look for fish who like things a little bit on the cooler side since that will make their required parameters match a bit better. Fish Laboratory names goldfish as a tank mate too.
Aquarium Store Depot takes the opposite position in one sentence: there are too many reports of Dojo Loaches attacking Goldfish to ignore. The same page refuses fancy goldfish specifically, alongside oscars and other large cichlids, larger catfish, and warm water fish like discus.
Why the water is not the argument
Our goldfish record runs 68 to 74 °F, which contains the whole of this record’s 68 to 72. They are the only two records here that meet across the cool end like that, and every other cool record either sits under both of them, like the axolotl at 61 to 64, or over them.
So the objection is behavior, and only one of the two sources has looked for it. The grid carries the pairing as one setting only, with both sentences printed under it. That is what our tank mates topic does with every recommendation that another source contradicts.
The recommendation the arithmetic refuses
Three of our five sources name the kuhli loach as a tank mate for this fish. Our own two records will not have it: this one stops at 72 °F and our kuhli loach record starts at 74. The recommendation is real and the overlap is empty, which is the whole case for reading the fields rather than the tank mate list.
The species our sources name that we hold no record for are mostly cool water fish: white cloud mountain minnows on three lists, rosy barbs and leopard danios on two, zebra danios, bitterlings and a bichir on one each. Aquarium Store Depot gives the rule they all satisfy: unfortunately, warm-water tropical fish will not be good tankmates, unless they are comfortable in temperatures of below about 77°F.
Read against our freshwater fish silo, that rule is what makes this record awkward: most of what we hold is tropical, and the grid says so cell by cell.
The weather loach, the air it breathes and the water it should never reach
Where the name comes from
Wikipedia credits the fish with the ability to detect changes in barometric pressure before a storm and react with frantic swimming or standing on end. That behavior is the whole of the name, and it is the only claim on this record that no other source we hold repeats or denies.
Breathing air, and what it changes in a tank
Wikipedia: the pond loach can burrow into and hide in soft substrates, breathe atmospheric air through enteral respiration if necessary. A bottom fish that also uses the surface has to be able to reach it, which is why the water column row on this record reads bottom, buried, and the surface for air rather than a single position.
Three other records here have the same shape: our african dwarf frog, our ramshorn snail and our honey gourami. In all four cases the instruction is the same: nothing may block the surface, and a tight lid still has to leave air under it.
The one thing to do with a fish you cannot keep
Wikipedia records the species as introduced elsewhere in Asia and to Europe, America and Australia. A twelve inch fish that tolerates 41 °F, burrows into mud and breathes air is exactly the animal that survives being let go in a temperate country.
Nothing our sources publish makes releasing an aquarium fish acceptable, and this species is the reason the rule exists. A dojo loach that has outgrown its tank goes to a shop, a club or another keeper. Our about page covers what this site does and does not recommend.
Two loaches, two growth curves
Fish Laboratory is the only source with a rate: the dojo loach grows very quickly until they reach about five inches and significantly slows down to about a little over an inch a year for the next two or three years. Our clown loach record publishes about 6 inches at three years from a different source. The two loaches here grow in opposite shapes, and a buyer reading only the adult size would expect the same wait for both.
Dojo loach plants, and the four records this site already holds
A digger in a planted tank
Aquarium Store Depot puts the problem the right way round: growing live plants in your aquarium is pretty much always a great benefit for your fish. Sometimes, however, the fish are not so good for the plants, and this can be the case with the dojo loach. These fish are natural-born diggers, and they just love to crawl through the roots of plants, which often disturbs the plants and sometimes uproots them completely.
Its conclusion is a qualified yes: while dojo loaches are not a great choice for carefully designed aquascapes, you definitely can keep them in planted tanks. Aquarium Source reaches the same place through the planting rather than the plant, asking for tall plants such as hornwort and adding that you should make sure the plants are properly anchored to prevent them from being uprooted when they dig.
The plants those two name
Aquarium Store Depot names java moss, java fern, anubias nana and water sprite. Aquarium Source names hornwort. Between them that is every plant record on this site: our java moss, java fern, anubias and hornwort records are the four we hold, and water sprite, the fifth name on their two lists, now has a record of its own, written because this record and our guppy record both named it first.
The list is not a coincidence. Three of those four are plants that do not live in the substrate at all: our java fern and anubias records both carry the instruction never to bury the rhizome, and java moss attaches to hardscape. A fish that digs cannot uproot a plant that was never rooted, and that is the whole reason those names appear on a dojo loach care sheet.
The plants one source refuses
Aquarium Store Depot names three to avoid: dwarf hairgrass, Micranthemum Monte Carlo and baby tears. All three are carpets, planted shallow across the substrate, which is exactly the layer this fish spends its time inside. Two of them, dwarf hairgrass and Monte Carlo, are names in the queue on our plants silo, so this is a refusal our grid will be able to carry only once those records exist.
Flow, and the one place these two sources part
Aquarium Store Depot: when it comes to dojo loaches, any type of filter is fine, although these fish do not enjoy very strong water flow, and it asks for filter intakes to be covered because loaches hide inside them. Aquarium Source asks for a moderate flow and suggests an undergravel filtration system or air stones to get it.
Those are close enough to act on and not the same instruction: one is telling you what to avoid and the other what to aim for. Neither publishes a turnover figure, and no source here does.
Caves, and water changes
Aquarium Store Depot: apart from burying themselves in the substrate, weather loaches also love to hang out in caves and other hiding places, and you can make up your own by stacking rocks or driftwood carefully. Aquarium Source agrees that the only thing to prioritize is giving the fish plenty of hiding spaces and allows plastic decorations as long as they are big enough for the fish to fit in.
On maintenance the two differ in the same mild way as on flow: Aquarium Store Depot asks for regular partial water changes every one to two weeks, Aquarium Source for regular testing and 30 percent water changes every week. A dojo loach tank is a large tank kept cool with a soft bottom, low flow and something to hide in, and the water figures in station 02 are the part of that a heater would undo.
Sexing and breeding, and the source that says nobody publishes this
Telling them apart
Seriously Fish is the only source with dimorphism: adult females are typically heavier-bodied and a little larger than males, and males have enlarged pectoral fins with a thickened second ray and horizontal swellings on the body. Nothing on the other four pages contradicts that and nothing repeats it.
The spawning nobody has a method for
Seriously Fish: reports of captive breeding are scarce, with natural spawning between March and July at two to three years of age. Aquarium Store Depot calls it difficult to breed in home aquariums. Aquarium Source asks for several months of cold temperatures without giving one.
Fish Laboratory is the only source that describes the act: the male wraps around the female to fertilize the released eggs, and the female lays around 50 eggs. Four sources call it hard and one describes it, and none of the five publishes a temperature to trigger it.
What this record will not answer
- How much warm water costs
- Three sources say above 75 °F shortens the life. None publishes a figure.
- A growth rate anyone confirms
- One source publishes one. The other four do not mention growth.
- A hardness unit
- Two of the three sources that publish hardness label it dKH, which measures something else.
- A breeding method
- The most technical source here says reports of captive breeding are scarce, so there is nothing to summarize.
- Whether it is safe with goldfish
- One source recommends the pairing and one reports attacks. Both sentences are printed above.
Dojo loach questions, answered from the record
Do dojo loaches uproot plants?
One source says yes and still keeps them in planted tanks. Aquarium Store Depot: these fish are natural-born diggers, and they just love to crawl through the roots of plants, which often disturbs the plants and sometimes uproots them completely. Its verdict is that while dojo loaches are not a great choice for carefully designed aquascapes, you definitely can keep them in planted tanks. Aquarium Source asks instead that the plants be properly anchored to prevent them from being uprooted when they dig.
Which plants can go in a dojo loach tank?
Aquarium Store Depot names java moss, java fern, anubias nana and water sprite, and Aquarium Source names tall plants such as hornwort. That is every plant record this site holds, our java moss, java fern, anubias and hornwort, plus water sprite, which we hold nothing for. The three to avoid on that same page are dwarf hairgrass, Monte Carlo and baby tears, all carpets planted in the layer this fish digs through, and the first two are in the queue on our plants silo.
What filter and flow does a dojo loach need?
Any filter, kept gentle. Aquarium Store Depot: any type of filter is fine, although these fish do not enjoy very strong water flow, and it asks for intakes to be covered because loaches hide inside them. Aquarium Source asks for a moderate flow from an undergravel system or air stones. No source here publishes a turnover figure, and on water changes one asks for a partial change every one to two weeks against the other’s 30 percent every week.
How big does a dojo loach get?
Six inches in a tank and twelve in the wild, and two sources publish exactly that split. Wikipedia: wild pond loaches can grow up to 12 in, 30 cm, long, but may only reach a length of 6 in, 15 cm, in captivity. Aquarium Source says usually no larger than 6 inches when fully grown. Seriously Fish gives a maximum standard length of 280 mm, and Aquarium Store Depot opens with 10 to 12 inches. The 12 inch top end ties our oscar, goldfish and axolotl records and is beaten by our clown loach and flowerhorn.
What size tank does a dojo loach need?
Two sources say 55 gallons, one says 40, and one asks for a shape instead of a volume. Aquarium Source adds at least 4 feet long to its 55 gallons, and Seriously Fish gives base dimensions of 120 by 45 cm, which is 48 by 18 inches. Our record prints 55 gal, which ties our angelfish record and is beaten by four records here. A 40 gallon tank in the common 36 inch shape is a foot shorter than the length one source asks for, so the two figures are not as close as they look.
Do dojo loaches need a heater?
No source here asks for one, and the most technical says the opposite. Seriously Fish: this is not a tropical species and should not be maintained as such for extended periods. Aquarium Store Depot writes that above 75F long term it will have a shortened, stressed life. What the fish needs is a room that stays inside the band rather than a heater holding it above one, and in a house that runs warm that is a harder ask than a heater.
What temperature does a dojo loach need?
68 to 72 °F is what this record prints, and it is the span every source’s own recommendation contains. The published ranges are much wider and none of them agree: 41 to 77 F tolerated by Seriously Fish with 64 to 74 recommended, 59 to 77 in the Aquarium Store Depot table against 65 to 75 in its text, 50 to 82 from Aquarium Source with 65 to 75 to aim at, and 68 to 76 in the Fish Laboratory table against 68 to 72 in its care section. Wikipedia will only say that water temperatures above 70 to 75 F are not recommended.
How many dojo loaches should be kept together?
Four sources give four answers: one, three, six and eight to ten. Seriously Fish says it can be kept singly but seems more at ease and active in the presence of conspecifics. Wikipedia, Aquarium Source and Fish Laboratory all say three or more. Aquarium Store Depot argues with that directly, writing that guides will say minimum 6 and leave it at that when in reality it is 8 to 10 or more. At 55 gallons and six inches a fish, the difference between three and ten is the whole stocking plan, which is why this row names both.
Do dojo loaches eat snails?
Yes, and two sources say so plainly. Aquarium Source: dojo loaches are also known to snack on freshwater aquarium snails and small invertebrates as well. Aquarium Store Depot: these bottom dwellers feed on invertebrates like snails, crustaceans, and insect larvae, which means that they are not good tank mates for shrimp and snails. Our pairings grid refuses this record against our nerite snail and ramshorn snail records on those two sentences.
Can dojo loaches live with shrimp?
Our sources say no, and one of them addresses the biggest shrimp by name. Aquarium Store Depot: although larger shrimps like Amanos will probably hold their own against Weather Loaches, I would not recommend taking the risk. Fish Laboratory lists shrimp among the animals to avoid. That covers all three shrimp records here, the cherry, amano and ghost shrimp, and the amano is the one the quote is about.
Can dojo loaches live with goldfish?
This is the disagreement on the record. Aquarium Source names different types of goldfish among the tank mates it recommends. Aquarium Store Depot writes that there are too many reports of Dojo Loaches attacking Goldfish to ignore. The water works: our goldfish record runs 68 to 74 °F and contains this record’s whole band. So the grid carries the pair as one setting only, and the objection is behavior rather than arithmetic.
How long do dojo loaches live?
Seven to ten years on three sources, and one of those three also publishes 10 to 15 years on the same page. Aquarium Store Depot has 7-10 years in its table and lives 10 to 15 years in its opening paragraph. Seriously Fish and Wikipedia publish no lifespan at all. Every source that mentions warm water ties it to a shorter life, and none of them puts a number on how much.
Why is it called a weather loach?
Because of what it does before a storm. Wikipedia credits it with the ability to detect changes in barometric pressure before a storm and react with frantic swimming or standing on end. The name travels with the fish: it is the dojo loach in the United States and the weather loach or oriental weatherfish elsewhere, and two of our five sources use both names on the same page.
Do dojo loaches jump out of the tank?
Four of our five sources ask for a lid, which is as close to unanimous as this record gets. Aquarium Source calls them cunning escape artists and asks for a secure tank lid with a clip or tape. Seriously Fish: cover the tank well as most loaches do jump at times. Aquarium Store Depot asks for tight-fitting lids and describes fish that climb filters and squeeze through gaps. Fish Laboratory asks for a tight-fitting lid to prevent them from jumping out.
What substrate does a dojo loach need?
Soft, and all five sources say so. Seriously Fish asks for a soft, sandy or fine gravel substrate and adds that some of its time is spent completely buried. Aquarium Source and Aquarium Store Depot both ask for fine sand, the latter allowing rounded gravel and warning against sharp substrates. Fish Laboratory allows smooth pebbles or fine sand. Wikipedia allows a bare bottomed tank as well, which is the only source that does.
What do dojo loaches eat?
The food lists agree and the labels do not. Wikipedia, Aquarium Source and Fish Laboratory call it an omnivore; Seriously Fish calls it chiefly a predator and Aquarium Store Depot a carnivore. Sinking food is on four of the five lists, because a fish that will not come up for flake has to be fed on the bottom. Live and frozen foods named across the sources are tubifex worms, bloodworm, brine shrimp or Artemia, Daphnia and insect larvae.
Are dojo loaches aggressive?
Not to fish their own size. Seriously Fish calls it peaceful both with its own kind and with other species and pairs it with medium-to-large sized, active fishes. Aquarium Source: thanks to their peaceful nature, dojo loaches do just fine in community tanks too. The two exceptions our sources name are not about temperament: invertebrates are food, and one source reports attacks on goldfish.
Do dojo loaches breathe air?
Yes. Wikipedia: the pond loach can burrow into and hide in soft substrates, breathe atmospheric air through enteral respiration if necessary. That is why the water column row on this record has three positions rather than one, and it puts this fish in the same shape as our african dwarf frog and ramshorn snail records: a bottom animal that has to be able to reach the surface.
What a dojo loach needs that a tropical community fish does not
Three things our sources ask for, and one of them is the absence of a heater.
- A lid, clipped or tapedfour sources ask for one. Aquarium Source calls them cunning escape artists and Seriously Fish says cover the tank well as most loaches do jump at times
- Sand or fine gravel, deep enough to disappear intoall five ask for a soft bottom, one says some of its time is spent completely buried, and one warns that it uproots what is planted in it
- No heater, and a room that stays under 75 FSeriously Fish: this is not a tropical species and should not be maintained as such for extended periods
Every item our records ask for is gathered on the tank setup topic.
Nothing here is a paid link. It is the shortfall between what this record asks for and what a boxed kit contains.
How this record was compiled
- By
- Verified
- Sources
Seriously Fish, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Wikipedia, Pond loach, Aquarium Store Depot, dojo loach care, Aquarium Source, dojo loach and Fish Laboratory, dojo loach
- Conflicts
Printed rather than resolved: Aquarium Store Depot publishes one temperature and one lifespan in its table and different ones in its text; Fish Laboratory publishes one temperature and one pH in its table and different ones in its care section, where its own Celsius does not match its own Fahrenheit; the group figures run one, three, six and eight to ten across four sources; and goldfish are a named tank mate on one source and a named risk on another.
- Not recorded
A growth rate from more than one source; a number for how much warm water shortens the life, which three sources assert without one; a hardness unit all three sources that publish hardness agree on; and a captive breeding method, because the most technical source here says reports of captive breeding are scarce