Water, like fire, calms and relaxes, and perhaps that is why a wonderful and soothing hobby - aquarium - has millions of followers around the world. Here everyone has the right to choose their favorite displacement reservoir of an impromptu pond, residents, plants and much more.
The great attention of a beginner or an experienced aquarium lover is attracted to fish, which are interesting not only in terms of appearance, but also in terms of behavior. A striking example of a harmonious combination of both of these together is the loach fish, which we will devote to this review. The fish is very difficult, has its own characteristics and advantages over other species. She is highly appreciated. For what? This we will try to find out.
Appearance Features
This fish is not in vain received such a name, which is essentially an epithet. Her elongated body is able to wriggle like a snake or a giant worm. The average body length is about 15, and sometimes 18 cm. However, there are cases when individual individuals reached a size of 30 cm.
A distinctive feature of loach fish is the mouth tendrils, the number of which can reach 12 in rare cases. Ideally, there are only 10 of them, although there are individuals equipped with only 6 such processes. Many aquarists are pleased with the special shape of the fish nostrils, reminiscent of two thin elongated tubes located right near the eyes. But the caudal fin has rounded shapes and is very compact for the serious dimensions of the loach.
The color of the species is quite diverse: from spotty, dark green and even silver to brown to a narrow longitudinal light strip. Also, individuals are completely dark (almost black). Only one thing is remarkable, no matter what color the loach fish, whether it is river, lake or aquarium, its abdomen will be light.
In general, there are a lot of subspecies of loachweed. Science knows more than 170 species representatives, united in 26 genera and 2 families.
Sexual dimorphism and reproduction
It is known that in all fish, sexual differences are weakly expressed. Sometimes this can only be recognized in the spawning process. However, the loach fish in this matter does not bother the owners, because even an inexperienced lover of aquarium fish, with careful observation, will be able to distinguish a female from a male.
The second ray of the pectoral fin of male representatives in loaches is thicker and longer than in females. The female also has a larger and wider head. It is worth noting that in an artificial environment, spawning in such fish is not easy, and if it does, it does not happen as often as in nature.
The population of loaches in nature is quite large. In one spawning season, the female is able to lay about 11 thousand eggs. In rare cases, it happens that this figure reaches 38 thousand. For a small river individual, this figure is pretty decent. Individuals become sexually mature when they reach the age of 3 years.
Compatibility
Loaches, although they are predators, are not aggressive. It is quite possible to keep them in the same aquarium with many species of fish, which also by their nature do not represent cruel and merciless individuals. It is noteworthy that they do not conflict with their own kind, especially with same-sex individuals, unlike other aquarium inhabitants.
Angelfish, calm temperament of cichlids, parrot fish and many others get along well with loaches. You only need to take care of a spacious dwelling, because the snake-like loach fish in the aquarium itself can grow to impressive size, and its possible neighbors listed above belong to rather large residents of the impromptu underwater world, equipped in a human house or apartment. Sometimes it happens that the owners acquire small aquariums specifically for the purpose of raising a few different babies there, but after 9 months or a year, adults mature are necessarily sent to spacious dwellings.
Habitat and lifestyle
Most often in nature, looms live where there is a lot of silt and mud in the reservoirs, and as for the current, it is practically absent. It can be rivers and even small artificial water oases, the main thing is that the water in them is fresh.
Most often, loach fish is found in the Kuban region, as well as in Polesie (Belarus). It is difficult to find such a wonderful fish in the reservoirs of central Russia, but in some parts of Europe and Asia it is quite possible to meet representatives of this genus.
Loaches are predators and excellent hunters. They do not have to disguise themselves or adapt to new conditions for a long time, because the elongated shape of the body perfectly contributes to this. The prey does not perceive the frozen loach as an object of danger, but in vain: the fish is very fast and agile.
main feature
Belonging to the class of ray-finned fish, loach fish, photos of which you can see in the article, can do without water for a long time. This snake-like fish can easily tolerate even several months of hunger strike. But this does not mean that you can set up such experiments by taking named fish into your home aquarium. It’s just that in nature, representatives of this species can live even in ditches, and when the water dries up, they burrow into the silt, where they wait a long time for better times.
If we talk about good conditions in captivity, then the fish may not be subjected to such extreme measures. In the aquarium, it is worth providing her with all the proper conditions, then she will live about 10 years. Cases are known that the lovers lived much longer than the announced term.
Food
Speaking about the main diet, it is worth noting that the fish of the loach family are gourmets. On the one hand, they eat insects and their larvae (this is nothing special for predatory fish), and on the other, they are not averse to feasting on mollusks and crustaceans. It is noteworthy that the described fish can even eat silt, but this happens in nature under extreme conditions that occur during periods of severe drought.
If we talk about the aquarium content of loaches, then in terms of nutrition, even for a beginner, there will be nothing complicated. You can purchase special food, but sometimes it will be quite useful to feed the fish with bloodworms or mollusks.
From the compiled description of loach fish, based on natural data, it becomes clear that this snake-like individual is pulled up and looks harmonious. Overfeeding her in the aquarium threatens not only obesity and, as a consequence of this, inactive, but in some cases even the death of a pet. By the way, excessive indulgence of all the inhabitants of the aquarium with dry specialized flakes or live food can significantly shake the settled balance in an impromptu home reservoir: first, the water gets cloudy from overfeeding, then it can bloom, and the peak of the wrong content will be a bacterial outbreak that can kill all living things.
The main rule for those who decide to launch their first aquarium
For a beginner aquarist, it is important to understand that it is better to undernourish the fish than to overfeed. It is necessary to carefully monitor the diet, be sure to arrange fasting days, at least once a week. This recommendation is explained by the fact that in nature fish for a very long time dispenses with food. When keeping it in the home underwater world, it is important to strictly follow the feeding schedule, constantly monitoring the condition of the fish.
Interesting Facts
There are several interesting facts about fish of the loach family. They can be useful to a novice aquarist who wonders about the characteristic features of an individual and its behavior, so we will list them:
- Night barometer - this is what the fishermen called the looms. The fact is that before bad weather, representatives of this amazing family begin to rise to the surface. They stick out their touching "muzzles" out of the water, as if watching what is happening.
- It is interesting that river fish loach adores the eggs of other fish, therefore, destroys the populations of many representatives of the underwater world. Their favorite delicacies include the offspring of crucian carp. Before you hook goldfish to the looms, you should think again, because when you find masonry in the aquarium, loach will certainly feast on it.
- The snake-like fish itself often becomes easy prey for pike, catfish, perches and burbots.
- Another name for the fish is piskun. This is explained by the fact that during the capture she begins to squeak frantically when they try to pull her ashore.
- Loach fish in aquariums prefer to hide in the same way as in nature. For them, by the way, grottoes and other shelters, which also play an aesthetic role (an artificial home pond can be decorated in any subject: from an abandoned bay with a long sunken ship to a rocky canyon).
- Loaches play an important role in nature. They exterminate mosquitoes and their larvae, so the benefits of these representatives of fresh water are very great.
How to cook loach fish?
In Asia, where loach fish are found, the meat of this river dweller is considered especially tasty. The method of its preparation is similar to the way capelin or any other small fish is fried in a pan in our country.
To do this, mix flour with salt in a shallow plate, which is taken based on individual preferences. Then washed and peeled fish are rolled in the resulting composition and spread on hot oil.
The only secret is that before preparing the loach, it is necessary to carefully process it: wash it, clean it of mucus and remove the black film inside the belly. Specialists, by the way, recommend doing this with absolutely any fish, because the film contains harmful compounds for the human body.
