Clown loach advice please

[Drekkyk]

I think I 'm going to try to add clowns to my Tiger Barb tank. How many should I add? The tank is a 110g with a 48x18 footprint. I plan to have about 30-40 barbs. I've read that Loaches will get huge, but I dont think a tank larger then what I have now is in my future .

Another question is Substrate... I have natural colored gravel, but it is large instead of small. All of the rocks are about 1/4 to 3/4" in diameter. Is this ok for the clown loaches?

What are their temperature and water parameter requirements... I did search on this, but mostly found that they like it hot, or a range of 72 - 82 :huh: . I run my tank at 77, and has a PH of 6.8.


Thanks!!!

[da1jewfish]

I have had my clown loach for about 5 years along with my pictus cat raised in a 29gal and the last year in a 55 gal. The gravel is regular size (smaller than river rock) pH is usually 7.0 but drops sometimes between 6.8-7.0. He has never had another loach with him just him and other various fish. IMO get a school of them (4 or so) because they do school and enjoy the company. 110 gallon is plenty of room for all, I have never seen them get bigger than 8" in captivity. They love blood worms and hiding places. Also, they tend to lay on their sides like their dead, but they just chillin.

[tanker]

Everything (water, temp, tank size) sounds good, but the gravel (3/4inch??--that's rocks not gravel) is a little big and their food may/will fall into the cracks where they cannot get at it. Get some smaller natural gravel.

Clown loaches do grow big, but they also grow very slow.

[Roan Art]

I echo what everyone has said thus far.

Make sure you put some tunnels in there for them. PVC pipe works good. I've got some tubing running from the back of my 75 to the front and that's where they hang when they are sleeping. I've also a few coconut shell houses, but they like the tunnel better.

Roan

[carpediem]

Your water parameters sound good. The only thing I would change personally is to bring the temperature up to 78-79.

I don't see any problem with larger gravel. If the food falls in between the rocks, believe me, the loaches will dig it out. 1/4 to 3/4" in *diameter* isn't very big anyway. That sounds like the larger natural gravel that is commonly found in the pet trade and that will work just fine.

As Roan said, you want to give the loaches plenty of places to hide. If you don't like the look of PVC, use shale stacked up to make lots of little hidey holes.

[Drekkyk]

Thanks!

Yes, this is just the larger natural gravel, but more like small rocks. It gives a little bit of a different look without having to go away from the natural feel. I will get some hiding places for them, and I will rearrange the tank prior to adding them so the barbs dont pick on them. I want to get the loaches before the rest of my barbs for this reason also.

My tank was at 79 but it was pretty cloudy. I understand this is normal for a new tank, but it seemed to last a little too long. I dropped the temp to 77 and my water was crystal clear within 30 hours. Coincidence? Anyway, why do you reccomend 79 over 77 degrees for the loaches?

So 4 is the magic number of them for my aquarium? Although it is a 110, it is tall so it's foot print isn't that large.

[budrecki]

Loaches like it warm. I keep mne at 80f.

[Drekkyk]

Isn't 80 at the extreme upper range for your other fish? Do you have any algea or cloudiness issues at that temp?

[budrecki]

No algae, except in the corner overflows, probably because I have plants. All the fish do fine, even the otos. Rufus the big fat pleco is most likely to react poorly to higher temps, and he is fine. I've treated 1 out breack of ick in the last 2 years, and used salt at 86f with no loss of life.

[Roan Art]

I keep my loaches with my rainbowfish and they need it cooler, so my temps are around 77-78*.

If they were not with the bows I'd have them at 80*.

Roan

[carpediem]

My loaches are more active and feed more readily when the temperature is hovering around 80 degrees. My clowns are among my favorite fish in my collection and I just love to see them get excited when I walk up to the tank. I just love those guys :dance: