Skunk loach

Care at a glance

Overview

The skunk loach is a small, famously feisty botiid that works the bottom in a group. It is best once you have some experience with community fish.

Caring for the skunk loach

Keep skunk loaches in a group of six or more, which spreads out their nipping and squabbling. Give the group plenty of caves and broken sightlines in 37 gal (140 L) or larger. Use a soft sand bed, with driftwood and smooth rock arranged into a network of hiding places. Crowding this territorial loach into open space brings out its temper.

Keep the water at 73 to 82°F (23 to 28°C) with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5 and moderate, oxygen-rich flow. Feed sinking pellets, frozen bloodworms and small frozen foods, with the odd vegetable. They forage through sand and cover and take pest snails.

The skunk loach is mostly peaceful toward larger fish, but it can harass slow or long-finned tank mates. Choose quick, robust companions and avoid timid species. Breeding is not recorded in home aquaria, and the fish in the trade are wild caught or farm raised.

Good to know

Yasuhikotakia morleti is a botiid loach with a pale, pinkish-gray body. A single dark stripe runs along its back and around the base of the tail. That stripe, like a skunk's, gives it its name. Like its relatives it has a sharp, erectile spine beneath each eye, used in defense and easily snagged in a net, so handle it carefully.

In the wild

Yasuhikotakia morleti is found in the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins across Laos, Thailand and Cambodia. It lives in flowing rivers and streams and moves into flooded zones in the wet season.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Spottail loach

  Yasuhikotakia caudipunctata

  4.3 in (11 cm) · 37 gal (140 L)

  4.3 in (11 cm)37 gal (140 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Splendid loach

  Yasuhikotakia splendida

  4.7 in (12 cm) · 42 gal (160 L)

  4.7 in (12 cm)42 gal (160 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Sun loach

  Yasuhikotakia eos

  4.3 in (11 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  4.3 in (11 cm)53 gal (200 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Redtail loach

  Yasuhikotakia modesta

  9.8 in (25 cm) · 75 gal (285 L)

  9.8 in (25 cm)75 gal (285 L)73–82°F (23–28°C)

• 

  Leconte's loach

  Yasuhikotakia lecontei

  5.9 in (15 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  5.9 in (15 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Zebra loach

  Botia striata

  3.5 in (9 cm) · 37 gal (140 L)

  3.5 in (9 cm)37 gal (140 L)70–79°F (21–26°C)