Redtail Botia Loach

 Quick Care Facts

• Care Level: Moderate   • Temperament: Semi-aggressive   • Maximum Size: 10"
• Minimum Tank Size: 55 gallons   • Water Conditions: 76-86° F, KH 8-12, pH 6.0-7.5
• Diet: Omnivore   • Origin: Southeast Asia   • Family: Cobitidae
• Species: Loaches   • Aquarium Type: Community

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The Redtail Botia Loach or as they are also commonly known as Red-finned Loach or Blue Botia are available both in local fish stores and online fairly regularly. Yasuhikotakia modesta are a large species of Loach with heavily built bodies that can reach lengths of 10 inches in the wild and 8 inches in the aquarium environment. While they can be raised in aquariums as small as 55 gallons, the Redtail Botia Loach will outgrow the aquarium as they mature.

They prefer to live in groups, thus a large aquarium (220 gallons or larger) is required to properly house an adult group. Being a large somewhat territorial species, the Redtail Botia Loach should only be kept with other large Semi-aggressive community species like large Barbs, Loaches, Plecos and other species with similar temperaments.

In order to properly house the Redtail Botia Loach (Yasuhikotakia modesta) the hobbyist should do their best to replicate their native tropical stream habitat. Redtail Botia Loach live in tropical Southeast Asian streams that have a sandy substrate, vegetation along the banks along with a steady water flow. This steady water flow means that the Redtail Botia Loach is used to an environment with very low in dissolved nutrients and is highly oxygenated.

Ideally this species should be kept in a group, which means that excellent mechanical, biological and chemical filtration must be used along with plenty of water movement in order to properly simulate their natural habitat. Smaller aquariums ranging from 55 to 90 gallons are adequate for a single specimen; however, a group of Redtail Botia Loach will require an aquarium of 180 gallons or greater.

Provide them a sand substrate with both open swimming areas and areas with well rooted vegetation and submerged driftwood or root. Additional power heads should be used to provide water flow and keep the substrate clear of debris and leftover foodstuffs. Redtail Botia Loach are territorial and competitive amongst themselves, and will squabble during feedings and over territory.

Adequate feedings and an aquarium designed with multiple areas of vegetation and submerged roots will go a long way towards mitigating this behavior. They are also known excavators, thus it is important to securely root all plants and place rocks and wood roots directly on the glass before adding the sand to insure that they remain stable.

Redtail Botia Loach are easy to feed as they will readily consume a wide variety of meaty and vegetable based foods. In fact hobbyists usually find the toughest part of feeding this species is to not overfeed them, as they will greedily consume much more food than they need. It is best to offer them a variety of foods multiple times per day in amounts that they can consume within 5 minutes.

It is best to feed them a variety of food items including: quality commercial flake, pellets and crips, sinking pellets, algae wafers, chopped earthworms, thawed frozen Bloodworm, Mysis Shrimp, chopped raw shrimp and other similar items.