Animal-World > Freshwater Fish > Freshwater Loaches > Dojo Loach

Dojo Loach - Weather Loach

Oriental, Japanese, or Chinese Weatherfish, Dojo, Amur Family: Cobitidae

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Misgurnus anguillicaudatus Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy Ken Childs

   The Dojo Loach or Weather Loach is a true curiosity! Its name is derived from their habit of becoming very active when there is a weather change!

   This remarkable fish is quite hardy and adaptable, very easy to care for. They wiggle about in an eel like fashion scavenging the bottom for leftover bits of food, even munching on snails. They also like to dig and burrow into the substrate often burying themselves. Provide an aquarium that is large enough for its playful antics, have a soft substrate of sand or fine gravel, and have a good filter for the detritus they stir up. They are most active in the evening, so during the day they like hiding and resting places created with rocks and wood. Plants are nice but be sure they are potted.

Gold Dojo Loach
Misgurnus anquillicaudatus (Color Morph)

Photo © Animal-World: Courtsey Ken Childs

   The Dojo Loach or Weather Loach is available in both its wild form and in a gold variety. In its wild form this loach has dark greenish gray to dark brown spots over a yellowish brown body (often mottled) with a paler belly. The body is cylindrical, it can be thin or heavy, and there are five pairs of barbels around the mouth. The gold variety can range from a yellow to an orange color and they are usually thin bodied. They do have spots but they are usually extremely faint.

   The Weather Loach we are describing here, Misgurnus anquillicaudatusis, is one of three species commonly referred to as a weather loach. The other two are Misgurnus fossilis and Cobitis taenia. They all come from similar environments and have similar behaviors. The two Misgurnus species are identified by their color patterns with the M. anguillicaudatus being spotted and the M fossilis having horizontal stripes along the body. It is still being discussed whether the spotted one is simply a subspecies of the striped one, though they come from different geographical areas.

   These fish have some very unique qualities. The Dojo Loach or Weather Loach are very 'pet-like'. They can be trained to take food from your hand and even enjoy being touched. They are jumpers. Should they happen to leap out of their home they can survive for a time even out of the water. A couple of ways they do this is by producing a thick mucus coating that keeps them moist; and by being able to swallow air, absorbing atmospheric oxygen through their hind gut.

   The Dojo Loach or Weather Loach makes an excellent community fish with other non-aggressive tank mates. They love to socialize with other fish and loaches sometimes resting with them or sometimes chasing them about, but they don't hurt them.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Dream Aquarium Build your own aquarium The Coolest and Funnest Screensaver in the World.

Distribution:
   The Dojo Loach or Weather Loach are found in Asia: Myanmar and Northeastern Asia and southward to Central China, Japan Siberia, Korea, and Hainan. They inhabit rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, and rice fields; preferring the muddy bottoms. They have also been introduced into the wilds of Australia and Hawaii.
   They are a food fish in many Asian countries, especially Japan.

Size - Weight:
   These fish reach about 6" (15 cm) in the aquarium, but in the wild these fish are generally reported to reach up to about 10" (25 cm), and the Baensch Aquarium Atlas, Volume 2 reports up to 20" (50 cm).

Social Behaviors:
   A very good community fish, they get along well with other loaches and tank mates that are non-aggressive. They are quite lively and active, especially in the evening. They will scavenge about the substrate for tidbits of food and love to dig and burrow. Good for snail control.

Sexual Differences:
   Mature males can be identified by the second pectoral ray being long and thick, and it appears more triangular than rounded.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish are mostly bottom dwellers, but will spend some time in the middle and top of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Hardness: no special demands
   Ph: 6.5-7.5
   Temp: 50 -77° F (10 -25° C)

Breeding/Reproduction:
   It has been said they have been spawned accidentally, scattering tiny red adhesive eggs, but not much more is known about the breeding habits of the Dojo Loach or Weather Loach and they are not yet bred commercially.

Availability:
   The Dojo Loach or Weather Loach is the most common loach and is readily available.

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Latest Comments
I have mine in an outside pond with Goldfish. I thought I had lost him about 8 years ago. This year when I relined the pond I found this fellow still very much alive, bigger and very healthy. Strange that he does not come to the surface like he used to. Mike 2008-05-04
I love weather loaches so much. They are very intelligent fish! They remember a lot, such as when I am placing thawed out blood worm in a certain area, they will gather in that specific area! My favoured fish are indeed weather loaches! Good luck with your weather loaches, weather loach keepers Cathy 2008-04-08
I got 2 dojo loaches. When I put them in the tank I thought they were dead because they were not moving. But the next morning they were swimming about like happy chappies. They like to lie in my castle ornament. Jack 2008-03-10
My dojo loach, cleverly named dojo, is a weird fish. When I try to pet him he swims away but then swims right back to my hand. He likes to lay on top of the gravel filter where there's moving water, and yes he farts. Tyler 2008-03-03
You guys should put how long the dojo loaches live on this site, also we named our dojo loach Hyfex. Oh, and his tricks are jumping out of the water and farting!(It reaks really bad!) chintooka 2008-02-13
Some of the coolest comments:
The reason this afforable little loach farts is related to its name: the weather loach. Most fish have swim bladders, small sacks filled with air that help maintain bouyancy. In this fish, the swim bladder is attached to some bone. When a low pressure system moves in (as when a storm developes), the swim bladder changes in size. Because of the bony attachment in the loach, it feels this change. This causes it to become more active, often racing to the surface to grab a gulp of air (something like us trying to pop our ears in an air plane). Sometimes this air goes into the digestive tract, and gets espelled. There is your farting fish. These fish do like to be touched; I've held one in my hand for several minutes. They are quite funny and anyone who dislikes them based on their looks don't deserve them. Christopher Hall 2008-01-28
We have had to dojo loaches for at least 2 years and although I didn't like the look of them at first my adult son purchased them for his tank. He went out of town to work leaving me to care for them. They are great fun to watch and indeed have their own personalities. We had not given a thought to changing the environment of the tank from that of our usual fish but after going online yesterday and learning more about them we have completey redone our tank with new gravel which is softer and they can burrow in. It is well worth the great effort we have gone through. They are in a 50 + 5 sided tank and enjoy zooming around like lightning. We added most of the old water back in as we needed more gravel and they were jumping like trout in a lake. Great fun to watch and lovable once you get used to their more eel like appearance. Our local pet store doesn't have a lot of success in getting them in alive but have agreed to special order some for us. We found we have a male and female so may in the future attempt the breeding instructions we found on the web. We have regular brown dogo's. We once had a pair that were more silver/blue but can't find any information on them nor do they show up online. Those who are part of this world of Dojo's seem to enjoy them as much as we do. While their tank was in a corner of the room for almost a year since moving them out into an area where they can SEE what's happening they are much more active and having a lot of fun. Any info. on tank mates of a more colorful nature would be appreciated, thanks all and help keep these wonderful creatures more known to other fish lovers who might not yet have discovered their special uniqeness. N. Damon 2007-04-25
Comments Dr Jungle REALLY Likes to Hear!
I read the info on this page and noticed that it said they liked to be touched, so i stuck my hand in the tank. My dojo was scared at first, but warmed up very quickly! He let me pet him quite a bit! I started at the tail and he eventually let me pet all over him! I thought it was a little odd that a fish was that trusting but it was very cool! Thomas Nett 2007-09-04
For sexing the fish, what it says in this profile is true. Also, a male's dorsal fin is noticabely larger than that of a female's. These means the male often tends to keep the fin semi erect. Danny Sinclair 2006-09-14
very informative about the dojo/weather loach, a shame there were no photos/diagrams to help explain things like sexing for the amature. i like the site though les 2006-06-07

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Author: Clarice Brough. CFS.

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