Angelicus Botia Loach

<p>These fish have black horizontal and vertical stripes, both horizontal and vertical stripes have yellow dots in them, each fish has its own pattern and there are no two fish alike. In an aquarium, these fish may reach 5 inches. To keep these fish, water should be extremely clean and have some movement, its temperature should range from 72ºF to 86ºF and water pH should be between 6.0 and 7.5. The tank should have a sand or fine gravel substrate, rocks and a tight fitting cover since these fish may jump.  Angelicus Loach likes to enter every small gaps it sees so sharp edge items should be avoided and any gap or hole in the décor should be filled with aquarium silicone sealant. These fish can be kept in community aquariums, however, small or slow-moving tankmates should be avoided, long-finned species should also be avoided because these loaches may nip their fins. They should be kept in groups of  6 or more.</p>

<p>This species is omnivorous. In the wild it feeds mainly on insects, crustaceans, worms and mollusks. In captivity it can be fed with pellets and flakes, algae and live foods.</p>

<p>Females are wider and have a round snout while males have an elongated snout with fleshier lips.</p>

<p>Botiids are very susceptible to a disease called “skinny diseases” which is characterized by weight loss. It is thought to be caused by the flagellate genus Spironucleus.</p>

<p>This species is endemic to India and Myanmar.</p> <p> </p>

<p>The water in which these fish are packaged is different from the water in the tank, since these fish are extremely sensitive to water conditions the acclimation process is very important. This process should never be rushed. Aquarium lights should be off for at least the first 4 hours of the fish in the new tank and it should not be fed in the first 24h. There are two acclimation methods: Floating Method and the Drip Method.</p> <p>Floating method -  the aquarium lights should be off and lights in the room should be dim, the bag in which the fish is should be placed in the surface of the water to float for about 15 minutes, this allows the water in the bag to adjust to the water in the tank. The bag should then be cut under the knot and the top edge of the bag should be rolled down one inch, then ¼ cup of the aquarium water should be added to the bag, this step should be repeated every 4 minutes until the bag is full, then half the water of the bag should be discarded and the bag should be put to float again and ¼ cup of the aquarium water should be added to the bag every 4 minutes until the bag is full. Afterwards, the Discus can be moved into the aquarium.</p> <p>Drip method – the aquarium lights should be off and lights in the room should be dim, the bag in which the fish is should be placed in the surface of the water to float for about 15 minutes, this allows the water in the bag to adjust to the water in the tank. The bag contents should be poured into a 1 gallon bucket that has never been cleaned with any chemicals, the fish should be enterally submerged. A siphon, using airline tubing, should be set up and a drip line should run from the main aquarium to the bucket. Several loose knots should be tied in the airline tubing to regulate flow. Sucking the end of the airline tube that goes to the bucket will begin a siphon, the flow should be regulated to 2 to 4 drips per second. Once the water in the buckets doubles, half should be discarded and the process should be repeated until it doubles again. Afterwards, the fish can be moved to the aquarium.</p>

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