Oriental weatherloach

A mottled, round-tailed bottom dweller needing cool care and its own meals.

Yellowish to greenish brown with dark mottling and a pale underside. The nearly cylindrical body has five pairs of oral barbels, a short-based dorsal fin, a rounded tail and usually a dark spot on the upper tail base. Mature males have an enlarged second pectoral ray. Golden and pale trade forms are the same species.

Adult length

Up to 28 cm (standard length, without the tail fin)

Water temperature

17.8–23.3 °C

Lifespan

Up to 10.2 years

pH

6–8

Hardness

1–12 dGH

Natural habitat

Inhabits shallow slow river reaches, swamps, oxbows, backwaters and rice fields, usually over soft mud or silt with vegetation, roots or leaves.

Keep at 17.8–23.3°C, pH 6–8 and GH 1–12 dGH (roughly 18–23°C). Do not keep it at prolonged tropical heat. Maintain stable clean water, gentle flow and oxygenation; air gulping is not a reason to accept low oxygen. Reaches 280 mm SL.