Weather Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) Fish Species Profile
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The Weather loach might not be the most striking of fish, but its charming behaviour and lovable personality more than make up for such a shortcoming.
Weather Loaches are a peaceful, active and hardy fish that are often brought as a starter fish for the aquarium. They can become relatively tame, sometimes allowing hand feeding and physical contact.
You can keep these fish singly, but they seem to fair better when housed in a group of at least three of their own species. The Weather Loach does best alongside medium to large-sized, active fish that swim at higher levels in the aquarium.
The Weather Loach comes in a variety of different colours ranging from a brassy, almost metallic colour to a dull brown. Some fish are strongly marked, while others have almost no markings beyond light speckling. A golden variety is available, which retains some of its black pigmentations but loses its colour and has dark eyes and very occasionally you can see true albinos.
| Scientific Name | Misgurnus anguillicaudatus |
|---|---|
| Other Names | Dojo Loach, Oriental Weather Fish, Pond Loach |
| Family | Cobitidae |
| Genus | Misgurnus |
| Origins | Asia |
| Temperament | Peaceful |
| Aquarium Level | Bottom |
| Difficulty | Beginner - Intermediate |
| Shoaling | No |
| Best kept as | Trios |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Reproduction | Egg-Layer |
| Lifespan | 4 - 5 years |
| Maximum Size | up to 30 cm |
| Water Type | Freshwater |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 50 - 77 ℉ (10 - 25 ℃) |
| PH | 6.0 - 8.0 |
| GH | 1 - 12 |
Origins of the Weather Loach
The Weather Loach is Native to Siberia, Korea, Japan, China, northern Vietnam, Sakhalin island and possibly Laos. They inhabit shallow, slow-moving regions of streams and rivers or calm habitats such as swamps, backwaters, oxbows and paddy fields. These are often heavily-vegetated or littered with submerged branches, roots and leaf litter, with substrates formed of soft silt or mud.
Diet
In the aquarium environment, Weather Loaches will accept sinking dried foods such as pellets and wafers. Still, they should also be offered frequent meals of small live and frozen fares such as blood worm, artemia, daphnia and suchlike. A varied diet is essential to maintain them in the most excellent health.
Sexing the Weather Loach
It isn't easy to distinguish males from female Weather Loaches. However, from above females are noticeably plumper when loaded with eggs than the males, and the males tend to have larger and longer pectoral fins with a thickened second ray.
Breeding the Weather Loach
Unfortunately, reports of captive breeding Weather Loaches are scarce, and the information available contains no significant detail. Presumably, these fish are induced into spawning using hormones.
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