Dojo loach enrichment? Glass surfing / climbing

I have 4 dojo loaches (2m 2f) between 6 and 8 inches long in my patio pond. For the most part they’re loaches. They hide, they eat, they noodle about. Lately however, a male has been glass surfing one side of the pond, same line over and over. Occasionally he tries climbing the bird bath.

The bottom has cinder blocks, geoduck shells, ceramic vases and reed knit hides. The surface has reed grass about 1.5 in emerged (they love swimming and maybe spawned here) the containers those are in have caves into the roots and I have some floating pvc pipe (black so it’s a warm spot) submerged plants are just starting to grow here so there is a bare half for now. Other tank mates are goldfish and some Endlers for the summer.

Food is pond pellets, Hikari sinking shrimp pellets and I toss in mystery snails weather permitting.

Any thoughts? He’s been at it about a week now.

 

Has anything new been added? What are the water parameters?

 

Only thing new is the annual goldfish spawn. Unless those were loach eggs. The filter was redone this year, same medium just moved to give them more swimming space. I’ll have to check parameters. Everyone else is fine and I don’t normally bother monitoring the pond. I’ll check a bit later when it’s cooled off and they’re active again.

 

I think I’ve appeased him. He missed his splashes / bubbles. I had moved a couple rocks from the bird bath that directed water over the side. Put that slate back and he’s playing in the flow again. Pent up mating energy too. My goldfish just spawned.

 

I suppose that could explain his behavior too. Victory laps? lol

I have found two so far.

 

Dojo Loach fry do not swim in the open water, they would sit on the bottom like the adults. That appears to be a Goldfish fry.

They're cousins of the Weather Loaches, and many of these species react to changes in barometric pressure the same way. When the barometer drops, it indicates a coming rain, and they become active in hopes of breeding. People have been using them to predict the weather for a long time.

 

Dojo Loach fry do not swim in the open water, they would sit on the bottom like the adults. That appears to be a Goldfish fry.

They're cousins of the Weather Loaches, and many of these species react to changes in barometric pressure the same way. When the barometer drops, it indicates a coming rain, and they become active in hopes of breeding. People have been using them to predict the weather for a long time.

The eggs were laid on moss and moved into a container with tadpoles. There’s plenty of detritus for them to hide in so I assume they were very recently hatched. Found one while harvesting mosquito larvae, and the next an hour or so later.