Assam banded loach

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a small, genuinely peaceful stone loach that spends its time working over the bottom between pebbles and stones. Keep a few together, since they are sociable and settle in better with their own kind, and pair them only with equally small, calm fish that will not outcompete them at feeding time. Fine sinking foods suit its small mouth: crushed pellets, micro wafers, and frozen items like daphnia and small bloodworm. Give it a floor of smooth gravel and rounded stone with gentle flow to pick through. A modest tank of around 54 liters or more is enough for a small group.

In the wild

The Assam banded loach comes from clear hill streams in the Brahmaputra drainage of Assam and neighboring parts of northeast India, water that runs cool and quick over gravel. Recreate that with a bed of fine gravel and smooth pebbles, some gentle current, and good oxygen. Keep it in the range of 20 to 26 degrees Celsius with a pH from 6 to 7.5. Clean, steadily moving water keeps it in good condition, so avoid warm, stagnant setups.

Good to know

Neonoemacheilus assamensis is a small nemacheilid, growing to only about 4.5 centimeters, marked with a row of narrow transverse bars along the upper body. It was described by A. G. K. Menon in 1987 from the Pagladia River in Assam and is considered near threatened in the wild. Its aquarium breeding has not been recorded. The genus name means, roughly, a new relative of Nemacheilus, coined when that catch-all genus had grown too crowded to hold every stone loach.

Did you know

Its genus name, Neonoemacheilus, literally reads as new Noemacheilus, a piece of taxonomic housekeeping from the days when the old loach genus was so overfilled that describers started building fresh drawers beside it.

Tank mates

Assam banded loach is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• Tiantian barb

  Pethia tiantian

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Pridi loach

  Schistura pridii

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Cross loach

  Micronemacheilus cruciatus

  Freshwater

  1.6 in (4 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Butterfly hara catfish

  Hara hara

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Walker's killifish

  Fundulopanchax walkeri

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Guinean panchax

  Epiplatys guineensis

  Freshwater

  2.8 in (7 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• Mini zebra loach

  Yunnanilus pulcherrimus

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)64–75°F (18–24°C)
• Thuttinjet stone loach

  Nemacheilus stigmofasciatus

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)20 gal (75 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Barito loach

  Kapuasia falaris

  Freshwater

  2.6 in (6.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
• Pridi loach

  Schistura pridii

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Mango loach

  Physoschistura mango

  Freshwater

  1 in (2.5 cm)11 gal (40 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Corica loach

  Nemacheilus corica

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)20 gal (75 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)