Botia striata, the Striped or Zebra Botia

 Botia striata (Striped or Zebra Botia). These Indian Botia from hill streams in the Western Ghats and Maharashtra, are gregarious and mildly competitive, but not scrappy, so keep at least a trio. They are crepuscular, but I give them a densely-planted substrate and plenty of handy caves and coconut shells, and I find they're less shy than B. modesta, but not as bold as Yoyo Loaches. They will methodically hunt down and eat every small snail in a tank, and the planted-tank gurus swear they won't uproot plants. They need some live food, though they'll go for sinking spirulina wafers. Supplement their diet with greens, like a zucchini slice. They'll get to about 4 inches (10 cm), but they'll take their time doing it. Like other Botia, they remain shy about breeding in captivity.
 
Links. Martin Thoene's brief fan note, Emma Turner's introduction to keeping Botia and a species profile with a good photo are all at Loaches on Line, the first place you'd look for loach information . Another good portrait of this "Zebra Loach" is Miguel Agullo's at Age of Aquariums.
Botia striata at FishBase.