Dojo Behavior Question

[Roan Art]

I bought three dojos and they are in QT. Behavior-wise they seem to act a lot like kuhliis, so I'm thinking they really should be in groups. Seems that most people are keeping them as singles and I've been reading mixed stuff on the web -- SHOULD they be kept alone? Or, like other loaches, should they be kept with others?

Please, I don't wanna hear "well i had my one for a year and he was fine by himself and he was happy and ate a lot".

I want facts from people who have kept dojos alone AND in groups who can tell me based on experience which way is best for the fish.

Sorry if I sound picky, but I am. I want my fish to be as "natural" as I can possibly manage in the confines of aquaria.

Roan

[Roan Art]

Sorry, merged the 2 threads. A thread that's open for less than 12 hours and hasn't been responded to doesn't warrant duplicating it someplace else. OG

[little_bitt]

I love Dojo loaches! I actually have a 75g with 4 of those approximatly 8-9" long accompanied with 3 6-7" clown loaches. The Dojo loaches love to interact with each other. One day when I was on my computer doing my thing, I looked over just on time to see one fly out of my aqaurium. I exidently left the lid open. When I stick my hand in there to move things to place a new plant in or move something around, it won't move out of the way. It seems to like it when I move him better. The one seems to do it intentionally almost every time on me (of coarse he is the fattest). Anyways... I definatly would not get a single Dojo.... they love each others company to much.

[Roan Art]

Thank you, little bitt ;)

That's what I figured. I'd like to hear from more people though.

Roan

[1HungryGoldfish]

I used to have 7 of them, but after many years and many deaths, only 1 is left. It is hard to gauge how he likes being the only one, because he plays with the chinese algae eaters as much as he did with his loach buddies. He (the Loach) will swim with the algae eaters and lie on top of them or allow the algae eaters to lie on top of him. So he isn't really "alone".

[fishyaddict]

thanks for posting this thread roan, i asked a similar question a couple of days ago and got only one reply. My girlfriends son talked me into buying the last dogo my LFS had the other day, and i was wondering if i should buy more. I checked loaches.com and i didn't seem to have any info on this topic.

[dino_eel]

I believe that loaches would be fine alone or in groups, the one I have just likes to hang out with the bottom feeders such as a raphael cat and a CAE, and the advantage of keeping them in groups would be that the possibly could breed, I read about one guy that did it.

[OrionGirl]

I prefer them in groups. I've kept them both ways, and in groups, they are much less prone to jumping, and display better behavior. Kept solo, you'll deal with tons of big splashes, the occassional exit of the tank, and the other fish tend to be harrassed more. My solo dojo would drape himself over a chocolate pleco--the chocolate mostly ignored him, but every now and then clearly didn't want to be snuggled with. In groups, they ignore the other fish in the tank.

[switchcats]

I definitely think that more is better. I originally started out with two, and they hung out together, and went their own ways at other times, but seemed to be rather bored. So the next time that I saw them at the store, I picked up the last two they had.

And what a difference. All are much more active, especially when any food hits the water. It's so funny to see all their heads attached to a single shrimp pellet with their bodies wiggling around on all sides, and yet other pellets are just inches away! Their eyesight isn't that great, which is neat, because you can put your face right up to the glass and they won't freak out. They also like to string themselves out in the plants and just hang there, like socks on the line!

I haven't seen behaviour typical of clown loaches, like the loach pile, but you can tell that there is community interaction. And at other times you'll find them all in different corners of the tank.

Plus, they are really hardy little fellows! I've had the first two for almost two years now, and they have never gotten sick (cross fingers, knock on wood).

They are my favourites in the big tank.

[Roan Art]

I believe that loaches would be fine alone or in groups, the one I have just likes to hang out with the bottom feeders such as a raphael cat and a CAE, and the advantage of keeping them in groups would be that the possibly could breed, I read about one guy that did it.
Loaches, as a general rule, need to be in groups, not alone. He's hanging out with the others because he has no choice.

This is why I posted my query: to see if dojos were any different from any other loach.

Roan

[Roan Art]

thanks for posting this thread roan, i asked a similar question a couple of days ago and got only one reply. My girlfriends son talked me into buying the last dogo my LFS had the other day, and i was wondering if i should buy more. I checked loaches.com and i didn't seem to have any info on this topic.I saw your post and didn't answer because I honestly did not know and couldn't find any info.

So far it looks like everyone one feels they should be in groups.

Hrm.

Roan

[Roan Art]

Here's a different horse:

Does anyone know of ANY loach that does not group in the wild?

Roan

[DaisyTattoo]

I have a horseface loach and I would assume that they are better single since he spends so much of his time buried under the rock and has not had any interest in any of my other loaches.

[switchcats]

I've read that hillstream loaches are solitary types, but they are a colder water species, and I have yet to see any in the stores around here.

[mduros]

Here's a different horse:

Does anyone know of ANY loach that does not group in the wild?

Roan

Horseface loaches are supposed to be "territorial." I would assume that they avoid grouping. My horseface has hidden for weeks at a time, and often the only time I will see him is when he's scuttling about long after the lights have been off. Here's one of my only pictures of the elusive Naughty (reminds me of a nautilus :) )
Good luck,
Mary.http://www.maryduros.com/fish/naughty.jpg

[Roan Art]

Thanks, Mary!

Roan