Banded loach facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Banded loach |
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The Lesser Katy Loach (scientific name: Syncrossus helodes) is a type of freshwater fish. It's also known as the banded loach or tiger botia. This fish belongs to the loach family, called Botiidae. You can find it naturally in rivers across countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.
The Lesser Katy Loach looks a lot like another fish, S. hymenophysa, which lives in places like Borneo. Because they look so similar, people often mix them up! But there are small differences. For example, the Lesser Katy Loach doesn't have a dark spot on its dorsal fin (the fin on its back). It also has 10 to 12 stripes on its body, which don't have blue edges.
What Does the Lesser Katy Loach Look Like?
This fish is the biggest in its group of "tiger botia" fish. It can grow to be about 25 to 30 centimeters (10 to 12 inches) long. Like its relatives, the Lesser Katy Loach can be a bit aggressive. Because of this, it's usually not a good fit for a community aquarium where many different types of fish live together.
If you keep these fish, it's best to have them in groups of five or more. This helps them spread out any aggression and lets them form a natural pecking order. As they get older, young Lesser Katy Loaches might lose some of their bright colors.
For these fish to be healthy, the water should be soft and slightly acidic. The pH level should be 7.0 or lower. The water temperature should be warm, between 25 to 30 degrees Celsius (77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit).
How Do Lesser Katy Loaches Reproduce?
It's thought that female Lesser Katy Loaches have a rounder belly when they are ready to lay eggs. These fish are not known to have bred in home aquariums. In nature, they likely move to different areas to lay their eggs during certain seasons.
