Prepared for the onslaught,but need advice!

[Amanda Killops]

Ok, I know that you are all going to come down on me like a ton of bricks, but I promise if you stick with me I can justify my stupidity. A few months ago I bought some live plants and ended up with pest snails. Went back to LFS (having done no internet research) and asked for a remedy (had tried the lettuce leaf trick but it didn't work). I expected the LFS to sell me a chemical of some kind, but they told me to take 2 clown loaches, telling me a pair would be fine. They asked me what size tank I had and I told them 26L. They said the loaches "may get too big" and if they did I could return them once the snails were under control. Got the little guys (1" max) home, THEN did the internet research. Found that shouldn't be in groups of less than 5 and needed a MUCH bigger tank. I thought I could keep them for a little while if I upgraded, so bought a 95L tank and re-homed the 2 x loaches, 3 x guppies and 1 x BNP. I still knew in time I would have to either upsize tank again or give loaches away. Short time after upsizing I lost one of the loaches to ich. We were due to move house in a few weeks, so decided the one remaining healthy loach could go back to the LFS at that time. HOWEVER, stupidly I told LFS I had lost one to ich, so they wouldn't take my remaining loach. House move went well, and since moving the one remaining loach has been out more, much more active and less shy, and has started to make the clicking noise when fed. (bizarrely seems to do this more over the algae pellet I drop in for my BNP than for the bloodworms put in for him to eat!). He happily tries to school with the guppies (which scares the daylights out of them!) and generally seems happy and content. Can a clown loach be happy on his own? I don't want to get more as I know that my tank is too small, but don't want to unnecessarily re-home what seems to be a happy fish for no reason......

Sorry to have gone on so long, but needed you guys to understand the history in the hope you can help me!

[LeahK]

I have a very similar story about buying clown loaches for the first time. So don't worry, I won't yell at you :)

In my case, I kind of got attached to my clowns, and it sounds like you've done the same. They pretty freakin cute, so it's hard not to get attached.

I knew all along that I would never be able to care for them long term, and I knew that I wasn't taking them back to the lfs, where they'd just get sold to someone with a goldfish bowl :irked:

So, I just calmed down and waited for the perfect new owner to come along. I knew that I didn't have my clowns in optimal conditions, but I also knew that I could keep them safe and healthy in the short term.
I posted ads here on AC and on Craigslist, and finally I got contacted by a guy who's a real loach enthusiast. He has them in a 75 now, but he's upgrading to a 180. I gave them to him for free, because all I was interested in was getting them a good home.

In the end, I had my guys for about 8 months--I enjoyed them while I had them, but I stayed focused on the long-term goal of re-homing them. That would be my advice for you. You're guy is little, and he's in the equivalent of about 25 gallons, which will be fine for a few months. So just start posting some ads or putting out feelers to people in local aquarium societies--you'll find someone who can take him and give him a good home.

One thing I'd add--ich infects the whole tank. It spends part of it's life cycle in the gravel. It would be weird if just one loach had it. Did you treat the tank with ich meds or salt? If not, then you may still have the infection.

[Amanda Killops]

Thanks LeahK! Appreciate not being yelled at! You're right, I am a little bit attached. I know I will need to rehome him but don't want to put him through the stress until it's necessary. I think I got rid of the ich.... I half dosed with the meds (which the lfs told me were safe to use full dose with loaches but I didn't believe them). My (ignorant) thinking is that if ich parasites were still present, the stress of the house move would probably have set it off again, especially in the loach??? Like I say, he seems happier now than he has ever been, I am currently watching him trying to play with my guppies! Do you think I am clear of the ich?

[fishorama]

How long did you treat the ich? It goes through a 3 stage lifecycle, meds only work when it's not on the fish. If you don't continue the meds long enough it can hide in the gills & come back later.

Is there any possibility you will get a larger tank in the next 6 months or so? I feel bad that your social little loach has no friends but I do understand your situation. If it's not a realistic idea, I'd do as Leah did, start looking for a good home now.

There are smaller loaches that could work long term for you like kuhlis or sidthimunkis but they need a group too.

Good luck!

[Amanda Killops]

Hi Fishorama, thanks for the reply. I only used one (half) dose, then I lost the poorly loach. Another fish forum (better not name it!) said I shouldn't have used ANY meds as this is probably what caused death of CL No.1, so as the others were showing no signs I didn't do the second dose (I used Interpet no.6 anti white spot which was recommended by LFS). This all happened almost a month ago, and remaining fish still all seem healthy. What do you think?

[fishorama]

I'm not familiar with Interpet meds (UK?). I have used malachite green & formalin with loaches, I think it may be similar. I start with half dose then add second half 8-12 hours later if the fish seem ok. Vacuum well then repeat dose as directions say, usually every other day for 7-10 days as I recall. Lights need to be turned off, water level lowered to help oxygenate the water with a splashy return or add an airstone.

Some people use heat & salt but especially with loaches it needs to be added (& removed) a bit at a time over a few days to avoid osmotic shock by sudden drastic changes in TDS (total dissolved solids). It takes a while to treat this way & many people think because "it's just table salt" that it's safer. I don't, salt is a drug that needs to be taken seriously. The same fish, loaches, catfish, tetras, that are sensitive to "meds" are sensitive to salt. Discus & koi keepers scoff at such thinking & just dissolve & dump it in, yikes! But it works for them.

Ich can kill fish, I'm sorry you lost the 1. Are you positive it was really ich? It goes through 3 stages basically on the fish, then it drops off into the substrate (hence the vacuuming), then into the water column to look for a host. It can only be killed in the last stage so even if your fish no longer have spots keep a very close eye on them. All 3 stages can be present at ther same time so treatment needs to be long enough to get it when it's killable. Even just a few parasites hidden in gills can reproduce & start the cycle again. Heat speeds up the lifecycle but also can reduce oxygen levels like meds can.

[excuzzzeme]

Ick treatment needs to be maintained for 14 days for thge best results. You would see improvement much sooner but we are talking the life-cycle of a parasite. Many parasites cannot live in salt water, hence the temperature/salt method.

It might be a better idea for you to rehome the CL while small as it is easier to ship and your attachment to it will only become greater.

There are many shoal type fish that can do surprisingly well w/o a school. I wouldn't stress over the fact of having a single fish unless (or until) it shows signs of needing a school. I wouldn't isolate a fish on purpose but since since yours appears OK then I think you shouldn't overly stress on that count. Getting a larger tank is the immediate need.

[Amanda Killops]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Excuzzeme, sorry to sound thick but what would be the signs of him needing a school. The last few days he has been darting around the tank a lot more than normal.. Could this be a sign? He seems quite healthy and is eating well, but in the evenings he goes vertically up and down in one corner really fast, then bombs the length of the tank a few time before repeating the process in the opposite corner.

[fishorama]

Sounds to me like he's looking for some friends ro zoom around with. Be careful! He can jump!

[LeahK]

There are many shoal type fish that can do surprisingly well w/o a school. I wouldn't stress over the fact of having a single fish unless (or until) it shows signs of needing a school. I wouldn't isolate a fish on purpose but since since yours appears OK then I think you shouldn't overly stress on that count. Getting a larger tank is the immediate need.

I would agree with this in the context of your situation. That is, if you'll be keeping him for a few months while you look for him a new home, then there's no reason to buy him any friends, unless he seems particularly stressed. And in the short-term, I'm sure your guy will be fine solo. After all, if you get him friends, then you'll just have more clowns to worry about rehoming.

But, if you're considering keeping him long-term, then I'd say you'd eventually need a much bigger tank and shoal of at least 5, no matter what. There's a pretty clear consensus over on loaches.com on that clowns need to be in a group.

[Amanda Killops]

Hey guys, thanks for all the tips and advice. Wanted to update you all. Finally re-homed the loach to a very knowledgable friend with 7 loaches. I am a bit sad but to be honest I am very relieved that I did the right thing! Was very stressful catching him, MAN those guys can shift!

[fishorama]

Glad you were able to find a new home for your clown so quickly

[LeahK]

Good job! I bet he's very happy with all his new friends.

[nanguz]

I had a clown loach. she was the biggest girl you ever saw. Someone gave her to me when she was pretty small because the place where she came from they were going to flush her down the toilet. I had her for years. she grew to about 8 inches long. she lived as an only loach until she caught a terrible disease and passed away recently . she was always very content and the first one to come for food. I tried putting my 3 smaller clown loaches in with her but they got stressed and one died so I put them back into thier original tank. she was my favorite fish. I miss her terribly.

[dat mat]

gl

[excuzzzeme]

Good move, you cam feel proud of yourself once more for doing what was right.

You can usually tell if a fish is stressed by a change in behavior or eating. My comment was not to say don't opt for a school, rather not to worry about it until you can get things settled and plans made. I have a single silver dollar left out of a small shoal of 4. He is the lone survivor as one of my super aggressive angelfish killed the other 3. He has adopted the other tank residents to shoal with. I got lucky.