Above: The picture above shows a 4" long premium quality Royal Banded Loach, swimming in one of our aquariums, when one of us took this picture.

This is one of the very best aquarium fish.

Comments: This is a Premium Pet Fish, and we never see Premium Fish like this in any of the live fish stores or the online stores that we visit.

Premium Pet Fish are more energetic, hardier, and have brighter colors with a beautiful metallic sheen.

Click here to learn more about Premium Pet Fish.

Origin: These Loaches are caught in rivers from northeast India to Thailand, then exported by very skillful collectors of wild fish, and now these fish live in aquariums throughout most of the world.

Maximum Size: In aquariums Royal Banded Loaches can grow to be about 8.5" long, including their tails.

Rarely very old females are even bigger.

Behaviors: Royal Banded Loaches are active swimmers and quarrel gently with each other but are rarely aggressive.

They need to have a cave to hide in and spend a lot time hidden away to then come out and flash their beautiful patterns.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include Barbs, Rainbowfish, Danios, Gouramis, and many other small to medium size aquarium fish.

Click here to read more about compatible groups of pet fish.

Temperature: They live well from about 75 to 80+ degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 78-degrees F.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: Premium Fish Food Flakes when very small and small Premium Pellet Food when larger.

Click here to learn more about and shop online for premium fish foods.

Water Conditions: Royal Banded Loaches seem to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions.

Probably a pH of about 6.5 with moderate hardness is best.

Most water in the US has a higher pH and is harder but seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.

Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8. We ship them in this water.

Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.

Aquarium Size: It is probably best to house these fish in at least a 30-gallon tank, when they're less than 3" long, but a bigger aquarium is almost always better for the fish.

Allow at least 3-gallons of water for each Royal Banded Loach under 3" long.

They grow at a moderate rate and at about 3" should be moved into a 50 to 60-gallon aquarium.

Eventually they'll need to live in a bigger aquarium with 80-gallon or more water.

Decor: Royal Banded Loaches do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

Click here for more about aquarium gravel.

Live Plants are beautiful and improve the water quality. Royal Banded Loaches seem to do better in aquariums with live plants.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended.

A Penguin 200B Filter in an aquarium with 30-gallons of water is OK to start with a few Royal Banded Loaches that are less than 3" long.

At 3" long Royal Banded Loaches should move into a 50 to 60-gallon aquarium with a Penguin 350B Filter, and eventually a much larger aquarium with at least 80-ballons of water and as many Penguin 350B Filters as fit across the back of the aquarium.

Click here to learn more about aquarium filters.

The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range.

Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: Royal Banded Loaches can live in excess of 20-years, if they're fed premium food and kept in a very large aquarium with very fresh water.

Gender: As they mature females become larger and plumper than males who are raised in the same group.

Breeding: There've been a few reports of Royal Banded Loaches spawning in aquariums, but it's rare.

Popularity: Royal Banded Loaches are rare, and so they're not popular.

But they're wonderful aquarium fish and should become more popular.

Names: The scientific name of Royal Banded Loaches is Syncrossus berdmorei.

Variations: These fish occur across a wide area and so we expect there are variations and perhaps subspecies or separate species.

We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.

DrTom - 09/19/2015