Fish profile Botia Rostrata

[Paradox]

The Botia Rostrata also called Botia dayii in some books is a loach similar in a appearance to Botia histrionica but there is a distinct difference. Both have a gold/tan body overlaid with black stripes. The Rostrata's stripes are always in pairs were as Histrionica's are not, see below.


Botia Rostrata


Botia Histrionica



It seems that no one can agree on a size for Botia Rostrata do to the fact that
I have seen size ranges from 2.4 inches to 8 inches. The four that I have now
are larger then the 2.4 inches at just about 3 inches now my guess would be
that the maximum size will be about 3.5 to 5 inches.

Sexing of these loaches is possable females are larger and have a light stripe between the dark double striations.

They are very peaceful and shy fish that require a heavily planted tank with plenty of hiding places. Mine especially like a medium size cave that I have in the tank spending most of the daylight hours in it. However I have noticed that with time they are coming out more and more during the day.
They also have the habit of playing dead and roleing onto their sides at times. During the day you can occasionally see them come off the bottom of the tank and start swimming with other schooling fish in the tank. Mine do this with the 8 tiger barbs in my 30 gallon. They prefere to have a group of 4 to 6 and will often sleep in a group.

They eat shrimp pellets and algae wafers readily it had been reported that
they also eat flake if it reaches the bottom of the tank but I have not seen
this do mainly to the fact that it is rare for flake to make it to the bottom
of my tank. They relish small snails but do not seem to bother shrimp, or larger
snails such as apple snails, I have 11 ghost shrimp in my tank with them and
they all started out rather small and are now nearly full grown.


Once acclimated to the tank they are quite forgiveing on water although this
is no excuse to let things degrade in you tank. Tempature sould be keep around
the mid to high 70's even the low 80's are accepted. As with most Botia's they
are scaleless and are very sensitive to medications.
In all the Botia Rostrata seems to be a good addition to the community tank,
care should be taken when placeing them with other fish more for their safety
then the other fish, mainly because of their slow growth rate and small initial
size. They should be house in no less then a 20 gallon long tank but prefer
larger, this is assumeing that their maximum size is not more then 4 inches.
Also be sure to feed just before the tank lights go out for the night to ensure
that they get enough food. With time they will come out during the day to eat
but not for the first two weeks at least.
Here's a few pictures for your viewing pleasure and comparision to other loachs




enjoy
Paradox

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