Guntea loach

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep a group in a tank of 90 litres or more with soft sand, at 18 to 28 C and pH 6.0 to 7.8. It is an omnivore that sifts sand for worms, insect larvae and detritus, and takes sinking pellets and frozen foods readily. Peaceful with tankmates too big to swallow, it works well in community tanks, though it will dig, so anchor plants firmly.

In the wild

A hardy, adaptable loach that usually reaches 6 to 8 cm but can grow to 15 cm in good conditions. In the wild it copes with everything from clear streams to muddy, low-oxygen ponds, which makes it forgiving about water chemistry. It likes a soft sand bed to dig in and some rooted plants and cover. Almost any clean tap water suits it.

Good to know

It can breathe air through its gut to survive in stagnant, oxygen-poor water, gulping at the surface when needed. First described as Cobitis guntea in 1822, it is one of the most widespread and commonly caught loaches across the Indian subcontinent.

Common questions

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