Anyone ever keep small clown loaches alive for a long time?

[onepawnup]

Really wish i had seen this thread yesterday....
i bought a tank that included a 5 inch clown loach he is a very skitish fish and spends most of his time hiding and not really doing much. then i realized he was a schooling fish and maybe he was just lonely or something so today i bought 2 2inch clowns to give him some company (hopefully i dont have trouble keeping them alive) the big one noticed them immediatly and was out of hiding and watching the in about 3 secs. they aproached him first and he ran them off about 3 times. now they are chasing each other all over the tank playing (its been about one hour ) ive seen the big one more in the last hour than i have in last month. his change in demenor is incredble
guess theres a reason the are called schooling fish

just thought i would pass this along

 

[chefkeith]

Onepawnup- Be prepared for an ich outbreak because you didn't quarantine the new fish. If you see the clowns flashing or rubbing against objects you should start treating them for ich immediately. Ich spreads through Clown loaches very rapidly.

The salt and heat ich treatment works very well for clown loaches.
There is a good ich article written by Daveedka.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39759


BTW, Clowns are not schooling fish, they are shoaling fish.

 

[onepawnup]

Thanks for the ich warning .
i havent noticed anything yet. if its gonna happen how soon would it start and how long till im safe ?

should i quaranteen all new fish and if so for how long ?

im new to this hobby so any nfo is appreciated

onepawnup

 

[onepawnup]

whats the difrence in schooling and shoaling ? I looked in websters and the definition is the same for both words ?

Onepawnup

 

[Holly9937]

should i quaranteen all new fish and if so for how long ?

im new to this hobby so any nfo is appreciated

onepawnup

It is a really good idea to do so, that way you can observe the fish for any problems and treat them (instead of subjecting the whole tank to a disease or unecessary treatment) as soon as possible. In general, you should QT for at least a couple of weeks. I kept my clowns in QT when I got them for almost 6 weeks. There is a great article about quarantine in the article section.