Loaches with Plecos?

[Hooked Newbie]

Ok, I know the conventional wisdom is simply to say "no", but why? Has anyone actually had a tank with them co-existing? I'm asking mostly out of curiousity, but also because I'm contemplating moving up to 3 BN into a 55 that has 7 loaches (Schistura mahnerti & Sinibotia robusta). The tank currently has an algae problem that doesn't really concern me (I know the cause and want the extra light for plant growth temporarily). But, I'm tempted to at least allow the plecos to benefit from it.

What do you think? Experiences? Thoughts?

[Tophat665]

My Botia kubotai will actually snuggle up to my big male bristlenosed pleco when they're stressed. They dive right under his pectoral fins. I've never had any issues.

[Lupin]

A lot of plecos and loaches are found in fast flowing parts of the rivers and streams. I see no reason why they cannot however Hooked Newbie, you are choosing to move those plecos with the slightly more aggressive Sinibotia robusta which shouldn't be done at all. The Schistura mahnerti won't be a problem but the Sinibotia robusta can be. Your Ancistrus may be able to handle them due to their territorial nature but I would rather the plecos are not to be stressed by constant harassments especially if you may have plans to breed them.:)

[Hooked Newbie]

I've not chosen anything yet and was hoping that you'd see this thread. The advice is appreciated and you can call me HN. ;)

[TwoTankAmin]

My loach and pleco cohabiting experience is limited to clowns and sidthimunkis with bristlenose. The former, when they get bigger than the BN, can be a problem. I lost 6 bn before I figured out it must be the clowns. On the other hand the sids being way smaller than bristles are just fine.

The potential problems is that both loaches and plecos tend to inhabit similar areas and love caves.

[Lady Ns]

I've only ever had Clown Loaches and some zebra looking things, but they've always gotten along with my 3 plecos, 2 common and 1 BN.

[TwoTankAmin]

Size matters. My clowns are all in the 4+ to 8 inch size range.

[Joergen.Schoppe]

Have 4 clowns (3.5 - 4.5 inch), 4 sinobotia robusta (3.5 inch), 1 sinobotia pulchra (4 inch) together with 2 longfin bristelnose (~4.5 inch). (And two sandsi cory cats)
Have not discovered any problem so far. Would like to add more Loaches, but can I? Have a 120g tank.

[Lupin]

Your tank has more space than a 55g although Sinibotia robusta can at times be snippy. If it works for you, then I see no reason to stop you from that although in generally, care must be taken when selecting tankmates with Sinibotia robusta. I'd add more Sinibotia pulchra if I were you. Any other fish with them?

[Joergen.Schoppe]

The s. pulchra was the only one I saw, was inbetween the S. robusta, but will check next time I go to that market.
but was rather thinking of other loaches. the robusta are out, most of the time, the pulchra is more into hiding, except at feeding time...
S. robusta are a little 'snippy', agree, but no harm done to other fish. The Serpae tetras are more aggressive, according to my experience...

[bluekrissyspike]

i've had clown, yo-yo and zebra loaches all living with pl3cos and no issues

[1after09]

I have a 4" pleco with a similar sized tiger botia and they share almost everything together...I do notice however that the tiger loach took control of the driftwood cave ( the pleco will hang off the outside )... if anything the tiger botia goes after my 'huge' green terror and sometimes will put him the corner and yet leave all the other fish alone!

[Hooked Newbie]

I have plenty of caves, but based on the advice here have decided to not add the BN to the tank. I may rethink it once the BN is of equal or greater size than the loaches, but the loaches are bigger than the plecos now. If you have a single loach, I'd recommend adding unless the tank can't support it. They need to be in groups.

I do like the way this thread has turned out though and have been reading along. It seems that those of us that lean to the bottom all like plecos and loaches and the number of possible mixes are innumerable.

[1after09]

Let me ask you another question, if I add more tiger loaches will they ALL go after my other fish ( namely my Green Terror ) or will they just staert hanging with each other and leave the others alone? And how many is a good number? Thanks!

[Hooked Newbie]

Let me ask you another question, if I add more tiger loaches will they ALL go after my other fish ( namely my Green Terror ) or will they just staert hanging with each other and leave the others alone? And how many is a good number? Thanks!

Ok a few questions... when you say "Tiger Loach", what species are you referring to? (www.loachesonline.com (http://www.loachesonline.com)). What size tank? What are the residents? My gut feeling is that adding to the loaches (with the same species) would be good in a cichlid tank, but I can't be sure without the details.

[Dangerdoll]

I've kept large school of skunk loaches, which I loved with my whiptail and lemon spotted pleco and there was never a problem. I did have the floor of the tank with caves and crevices everywhere and then a thick bunch of plastic plants so not sure if there was going to be tension, the large number of the loaches and the ground cover settled it out or not.

[1after09]

Ok...the type is botia helodes ( silver with lightly black bands and a yellow bottom fin ) Fairly aggressive but very shy. He lives with a very small jack dempsey, 2 yellow labs, 3 small tin foil barbs, 1 tiger barb and of course my pleco and green terror. I have a 38 gl tank, plastic plants, substate gravel and 1 piece of driftwood. I plan to move any fish onward that outgrows their surroundings. No one else is aggressive and all water parameters are normal...tank is fully cycled and 6 months old.

[Lupin]

I have plenty of caves, but based on the advice here have decided to not add the BN to the tank. I may rethink it once the BN is of equal or greater size than the loaches, but the loaches are bigger than the plecos now. If you have a single loach, I'd recommend adding unless the tank can't support it. They need to be in groups.

I do like the way this thread has turned out though and have been reading along. It seems that those of us that lean to the bottom all like plecos and loaches and the number of possible mixes are innumerable.
Good advice, HN.:) Loaches are not to be deprived of their companions no matter the excuses. One can say it seems happy, but is it really happy? There have been plenty of cases wherein loaches resort to harassing other fish constantly to death because they cannot establish a social hierarchy without members of their own species.

Let me ask you another question, if I add more tiger loaches will they ALL go after my other fish ( namely my Green Terror ) or will they just staert hanging with each other and leave the others alone? And how many is a good number? Thanks!
Tiger loaches are all aggressive species, no more, no less. All your fish are at risk having their eyes ripped out, fins put in shreds and even worse get bloodshot marks around their bodies. Tiger loaches along with the skunks, modestas and eos are gram for gram very aggressive loaches. I kept a large group of Syncrossus helodes along with my Yasuhikotakia modesta and I can't help but notice the clicking sounds become more audible as days pass. What species are yours or perhaps a pic can help?

I will add that my LFS once again made a mistake of mixing common plecos and the above mentioned loaches much to my horror. First, glass catfish wherein 3 died out of 6 while the other 3 up to now are still recovering from the damage. Several common plecos had their underside skins peeled off and eyes ripped out. I was enraged and again almost lost control of my temper. I warned them before that they are putting a lot of fish to risk being harassed to death. I suggested only the red-tailed black sharks, rainbow sharks and tiger barbs can be mixed and it worked well. All are capable of defending themselves and can escape at near lightning speed but this is not the case for cichlids at all. They're rather slow moving and despite their ability to defend themselves, they are still no match for the loaches who can move at a fast speed.

Ok a few questions... when you say "Tiger Loach", what species are you referring to? (www.loachesonline.com (http://www.loachesonline.com)). What size tank? What are the residents? My gut feeling is that adding to the loaches (with the same species) would be good in a cichlid tank, but I can't be sure without the details.
No, it is not good to mix the cichlids and loaches, most especially those from Rift Valley. We've said before some people can try the mix but the aggression levels are far different and cichlids are pushovers at times and can readily disrupt the loaches' pecking order established in their social hierarchy. As far as loaches are concerned, they will not appreicate being pushed around by other fish species other than themselves. They prefer nooks and crannies and will not appreciate either being removed from their territories.

Proper link:
www.loaches.com

I've kept large school of skunk loaches, which I loved with my whiptail and lemon spotted pleco and there was never a problem. I did have the floor of the tank with caves and crevices everywhere and then a thick bunch of plastic plants so not sure if there was going to be tension, the large number of the loaches and the ground cover settled it out or not.
Oddly enough, I never have luck mixing skunk loaches with other fish. I had suffered cases of severe injuries and even deaths among my yoyo loaches and other fish thinking the skunks would never have gone beyond my expectations but I was wrong. These are, by far, the nastiest loaches I have kept. Second to them would be the Yasuhikotakia modesta.

The mix with plecos and loaches once again is dependent on the species, setup and possibly luck. Unless you are prepared to lose your prized fish with the well-known belligerent species of loaches, then it is not advisable to try at all. In the end, loaches and plecos never came from the same origin hence they have different lifestyle particularly social hierarchies. Neither are cichlids and loaches in the same origin.

[Hooked Newbie]

Bout time you showed up again Lupin! My Festi is fine with my loaches, but I found this quote particularly insightful....

"In the end, loaches and plecos never came from the same origin hence they have different lifestyle particularly social hierarchies. Neither are cichlids and loaches in the same origin."

I do think there are viable options to include both loaches and plecos in the same tank, but the variables (environment, species, numbers, etc.) seem to dictate what will work and have become fascinating. Many people keep Plecos with African Cichlids and have well documented results. Loaches with Plecos seem to be less so.

[King Lobster]

I can only speak for my own experiences with clown loaches and plecos.

I have 4 clown loaches, one of them is the king of them all, he's about 9 years old and is much bigger than the other 3.
The king clown loach has his own log cave, but woe betide any other fish that foolishly dares enter, whether he happens to be in the cave at the time or not! He will aggressively chase any fish away from his cave.

The only fish that he ever allowed in his cave was a my small clown pleco (approx 1 year old), they seem to be like old buddies.

I recently purchased a bristle nose pleco about a week ago, and to my suprise it too was allowed into the king's cave!
It's weird, he won't even tolerate any of the other clown loaches in his log cave, but plecos he seems fond of and allows them free range.
Perhaps he views them as the aquatic equivalent of attractive young ladies!:)