Saw some gorgeous gold dojo loaches at Wal-Mart Sunday afternoon. They were on special for $5.97 apiece and some of them were pretty big. (Our remaining black kuhli loaches passed away recently, as did our mollies and adult guppies, so we are down to a couple of x-ray tetras, two adult platys, one baby platy, and a bunch of guppy fry.) A couple of these stunning dojo loaches would’ve been a nice addition to our tank, but there are enough fish in there as it is. Maybe next time.
Here’s a link to a picture of a beautiful dojo loach. They, like others in the loach family, are fascinating creatures.
At first I thought you were talking about karate gear. Didn’t get it until you mentioned guppies.
They’re also sometimes called weather loaches, apparently because they have a tendency to respond to changes in barometric pressure by swimming around more. People actually used to keep them for that purpose! When the weather loach starts standing on end or swimming around frantically, there’s a storm brewing.
the dojo standing on end is the fish ‘passing gas’ (getting excess gasses out of it’s system). but they do however swim franticly when at’s going to storm, stow etc. i was soooo torn up when i found out they are illegal in QLD (australia) and i can’t own one. i know so much about them now, lol. it’s probably for the best you didn’t get them, walmart shouldn’t be allowed to sell fish. they are like, 80-90% likely to get an illness within a week and often die. these fish will actually lett you ‘pet’ them once they get used to you. i <3 dojo’s! i got some black kuhlie loaches instead though, i am really happy with them. they actially do come out a lot during the day despite the fact they are nocturnal. tehy actually somewhat remind me of the dojo. a great fish. your blog is very interesting! i really enjoyed reading. and sorry for the recent loss of your brother-in-law!
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The golds do best in groups of four or more (prefer more) 55g or larger tanks and six will do very well. High temp is the biggest problem >78F. Dojos are no more prone to illness then any other loach. Great addition to a tank.