Fire-eyed loach

Barbucca diabolica

Also known as Devil loach, Scooter loach

FreshwaterFish

Fire-eyed loach (Barbucca diabolica) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 5.5–7.0
Adult size: 1.2 in (3 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Malay Peninsula and western Borneo
Family: Barbuccidae

Overview

Keep this tiny loach in a group of six or more in a mature, dimly lit blackwater nano tank, where it scoots between shadows and picks tiny foods from the leaf litter. It is peaceful and needs the company of its own kind to settle, though it will squabble mildly over favourite spots. Gentle, mature tankmates only, and a well-established tank with plenty of microfauna does half the feeding for you. Offer small foods: micro pellets, crushed flake, baby brine shrimp, and small frozen items, and let it graze biofilm from wood and leaves. A tank of around 40 litres with sand, leaf litter, and gentle flow suits a group.

In the wild

It comes from quiet forest streams and peaty margins of the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, shaded, soft-water habitats over sand and leaf litter with only gentle flow. Recreate that with a dim tank, a soft, acidic to neutral pH of 5.5 to 7.0, warm water of 22 to 26 degrees Celsius, fine sand, driftwood, and a good layer of leaf litter to forage through.

Good to know

It reaches only about 3 cm and is the flagship of its own small family, Barbuccidae, within the carp and loach order. Its species name diabolica, devilish, comes from the glowing orange-red ring around its eye and its spiky tail. There is no record of it being bred in captivity.

Did you know

Science gave one of the hobby's smallest fish its most dramatic name. At barely three centimetres, it was called diabolica, devilish, for the burning orange-red eye that glares out of its small mottled face.