Catfish vs loaches

by **blenny** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 12:04 am

Which do you like better? Can you have both, assuming your tank is big enough and has enough filtration?

by **a201** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 4:24 am

I like catfish over loaches.
I currently have a small school of green cory' s, 3 plecos: gold nugget, dull eyed royal, bristlenose and a Synodontis catfish.
Yes you can mix the two with some exceptions. Some catfish grow large and are predatory. Some loaches grow big too and require being in schools.
Most of the loaches and catfish you find at petco and pet smart are probably compatible. Do your research.

by **kate_kuhli** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:28 pm

Just be aware that some species may be too aggressive to be kept with peaceful species, such as redtail botia and skunk loaches.

by **a201** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 4:50 pm

Had a small group of tiger botias a while back to eradicate a big snail invasion. They quickly took care of the problem but then started attacking every other fish in the tank, including big cichlids. A beautiful, interesting fish but too aggressive for me. - just another example.

by **kate_kuhli** » Sun Jul 16, 2017 2:50 pm

Yep, aggressive loaches like these need to be kept only with other aggressive fish that can hold their own against them. I've actually heard of people keeping them with african cichlids.

by **xxluckxx** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:25 am

I'm curious as to whether loaches or catfish are good dither fish? I'm thinking of like hyper clown loaches and synos cats?

by **a201** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 12:37 pm

Catfish and loaches are probably not good choices for dither fish. Both groups are primarily bottom dwellers and often hide during daylight hours.
My cichlids, for the most part, ignore all the catfish in my tanks.

by **kate_kuhli** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:03 am

That's a good question, luck. They would be very unusual dither fish but it could possibly work since I guess any highly active fish would make the other fish think 'hey, it must be safe out there'. But there's better dither fish out there like danios, rainbowfish, barbs, etc. Those kinds of fish are commonly used for dithers and are pretty easy to care for and keep with community fish. With loaches/cats you'd have to cater to the needs of them to some extent, and not have small fish that the catfish would eat.

by **reefer171** » Wed Jul 26, 2017 3:57 am

There are many combinations of loaches and catfish that would be fine together. I've always liked the idea of keeping sid loaches with some cories and a small pleco. You definitely wouldn't want larger predatory catfish with these - the sids only max out at about 2 inches, not to mention the cories are small as well. Do a little research and you'll find a combo of compatible fish you're pleased with.

by **xxluckxx** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 4:43 am

Catfish vs loaches

10 posts