Introduced young adult golden dojo loach to a baby loach. HELP

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nikashar

Registered Member
Aug 25, 2021
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I had a baby golden dojo in a 55 gallon tank where he swam around all happy and he would nuzzle my hand. We then introduced our female 6 month old golden dojo into the tank the baby is really stressed now. Everything I read said fellow loaches would get along and the female is very gentle and has lived with kuhlis before, but the poor baby has been digging holes in the sand to hide and he freezes up whenever the female swims by. They ate a meal together and the female has interacted with the baby many times and sometimes the baby won't freeze up but I feel so bad and the baby won't leave the driftwood or hidey places and he's breathing pretty fast. Shoukd I separate them again? The poor baby just seems so freaked out. :(
 
How long have you had the little & big loaches? It can take some time for a small fish to get used to a big 1, just size difference can be a bit scary at first. It sounds like you got the big 1 after, so suddenly little's not king of his tank. Try adding a couple hiding spots, see if that helps with security.

The heavy breathing is concerning. The new loach may have come with a disease or parasites.
 
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nikashar said:
I had a baby golden dojo in a 55 gallon tank where he swam around all happy and he would nuzzle my hand. We then introduced our female 6 month old golden dojo into the tank the baby is really stressed now. Everything I read said fellow loaches would get along and the female is very gentle and has lived with kuhlis before, but the poor baby has been digging holes in the sand to hide and he freezes up whenever the female swims by. They ate a meal together and the female has interacted with the baby many times and sometimes the baby won't freeze up but I feel so bad and the baby won't leave the driftwood or hidey places and he's breathing pretty fast. Shoukd I separate them again? The poor baby just seems so freaked out. :(
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Update. The baby got used to the female and they have been snuggling together!!!!!!!❤ I'm so happy! The female kept finding him and gently touching him with her whiskers until he started following her around a bit. Then he started swimming to the top of the tank and exploring more. I went out for a bit and came back and found them napping together. It was so sweet.
 
They are very social and more is better. I know that adding more would eventually mean you have to do extra maintenance, but it would be more ideal if you had more loaches, I'm not asking you to keep a full school of 6+ but even a group of 3 is better for these social butterflies.
 
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