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The Golden Dojo Loach is one of the fabulous creatures that not only keeps one's tank clean, but will also entertain the aquarist.

Quick stats:

Listed tank sizes are the minimum
Size:	Grows up to 12 inche(30.5 cm) , but usually top out at 8-10 inches
Tank:	10 gal (37 litre) minimum per fish
Strata:	Benthic (bottom-dwelling)
PH:	Soft, acidic water, PH 6.0-7.5
Hardness:	5° - 20° dH
Temperature:	60°F to 77°F (15.5°-25° C)

Classification:

Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Cobitidae
Sub-Family:	Cobitinae
Genus:	Misgurnis
Species:	anguillicaudatus

 

Common name:

Dojo , Weather loach, Golden Dojo Loach

Additional species photographs

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Distribution

Asia: Myanmar and Northeastern Asia and southward to Central China

Like many other loaches, they are slender and eel-like. The mouth of the loach is surrounded by three sets of barbels.

They can vary in color from yellow to olive green, to a common light brown or gray with lighter undersides. Some fish are boldly marked, while others have almost no markings beyond light speckling. A Golden variety is available, which is hypo-melanistic, with dark eyes, occasionally true albinos are seen.

When caring for this loach, be sure to provide a fine sized substrate for them to bury into, as one of their favorite activities is to bury and expose only their head. In addition, be sure to provide the fish with only non-aggressive community fish mates, such as gouramis , charachins, and other loaches. Do not be alarmed if you find this fish to be active one day, and then find him the next morning back up or head facing up. This is their normal sleeping habit. The loaches will be more active given more space and greater numbers. Solitary weather loaches tend to spend much of their time hiding. They will spend a lot of time hiding or staying still, but should be given a place to stay which will have cover and shade. Tank decorations that they can swim through and driftwood both work great for this. Due to their ability to survive out of the water, the fish will often jump out of an aquarium. A cover is required to keep them in their tank. Weather loaches are omnivorous and may also feed on tubifex worms and other small aquatic organisms. Hardness and pH matter very little as long as you keep their water clean.

Occurs in rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps and rice fields. Prefers still or gently flowing water.

In the home aquarium it is highly unlikelyas they need a cool period to trigger spawning

Your comments:	Add your comments:
Please remember that the following comments are personal experiences and may or may not apply to your setup. Use them as guide to help better understand your fish, like us all individuals will behave differently under different circumstances.
From: Eddie Date:12/18/2008 About 10 years ago I had a spotted dojo I bought on a whim at the pet store and let me tell you that little fish grew to be about 8 inches long and was the best fish I have ever owned. He loved these turtle food sticks called "Repto-min" he would even eat them out of my hand and swim around my fingers he was AWESOME! Fast forward to today I have a new tank and was so happy when I found the little 4 inch golden dojo at my pet store. I bought him instantly and what a little funny personality this guy has. He has one brown spot on top of his head and thus he is now known as "Spot". He is very friendly and loves shrimp pellets and blood worms. It is also true that this little guy has the ability to sense change in the barometric pressure (thus the weather loach status)he will start to swim frantically and get very active right before it rains and then once it starts to rain or storm he settles down. At any rate I would recommend tank owners to purchase one of these great fish if your aquarium conditions are right they will bring you endless fun watching and interacting with them! From: Pavel Date:1/28/2008 Dojos are the most favorite loaches I could think off. They give you good laughs and keep your tank floor clean. Dojo golden Dojo's I own are active and hyper all the time while the grey spotted type loach doesn't move around much. Weather loaches grow to almost a foot so require a bigger tank later on. These loaches are not aggressive and I have never seen them damage any type of other fish. Some Dojo's should keep the tank clean from snails while others ignore them. There favorite food are bloodworms. I keep my Dojo's with lots of plants the sometimes bump into them and the plant unlatches itself but that's no problem at least they don't eat any of the plants. From: Rich Date:6/15/2007 I just purchased my first dojo loach, which we happily call Larry. He is in a 55 gal tank with a 6 inch upside down catfish, a rainbow shark, a bichir, a 5 inch pleco, a 4.5 inch convict who surprisingly minds his own business, and a 5 inch jack dempsey who also minds his own business and seems to run from every other fish in the tank. So far, Larry seems to be doing very well. He is about 3-4 inches and looks healthy. I think that I will pick up one or two more for him to hang out with, as I have been reading that they are more active in groups. I was able to mix them with my cichlids because from what I understand, loaches are not territorial and, as I said, my cichlids are on the passive side. From what I have seen so far, if you can provide your dojo loach with places to hide and keep them with somewhat passive fish, then they should be okay. i cant wait to see if they can really predict7 the weather!!

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