Botiine Loach for a 120g cichlid Community?

[ameliaaahx]

I've been looking for a schooling fish for my 5-foot cichlid tank for quite a while but keep coming up empty handed. Current inhabitants include a couple of tbars and some juvie red severums. Then it occured to me -- what about a school of 8 or so botiine loaches? I have kept yoyos in the past and I am certain they are more than tough enough to hang out with my tbars and sevs. As an added bonus, they make excellent scavengers and will snuff out any uneaten food easily, and time they tend to utilise all levels of the tank and add a burst of activity to an otherwise lethargic tank.

I was thinking either yoyos, skunks or red-finned blue botia. Any opinions/suggestions?

[jaysee]

The blue botia and the skunks are pretty aggressive fish.

I have angelicus, zebra and kuhli loaches in my 125, with red severums, chanchitos and bolivian rams. Angelicus are by far my favorite loach.







and I caught them spawning after a water change - hadn't even turned the filters back on yet.

[ameliaaahx]

Wow that's cool Jaysee. I always liked angelicus, that's why I got my dwarf chains, I thought they looked similar.

I thought the aggression of the skunks and blues might be a good thing because I do plan on putting more aggressive cichlids in there. I have an electric blue jack dempsey growing out in my community tank or I might go for a firemouth.

[jaysee]

My sevs are definitely not aggressive. I wouldn't consider firemouths to be aggressive either. It's all relative though. But, I more meant that their aggression is conspecific.