Black GhostKnife with Clown Loaches?

[Sully]

"So yes, size does depend on the level of care... but so does health. Poorer conditions would be harmful to a fish's health."


there is really no "debate about how large fish get. The "debate" is created by individuals that keep fish in conditions that are not conducive to appropriate health and growth. Stunting does occur when fish are kept in environments not suitable for development (ie., tank size). Deformed skeletal and musculature occurs. Odd fin shapes are a consequence. Internal organ deformity happens.

So, yes you can keep a fish from growing properly when kept in inappropriate conditions. People can then join the "debate" and explain how the specific species, when kept by them, never reached the size that they expected. Or were told it should achieve.

And, typically the fish dies an early death. The consequence of sunting leading to health issues.

A clown loach that is 6' long is just reaching "adult" size. They are reaching the size that, when in the "wild", indicates sexual maturity.

Can clown loaches get larger than 12". Yes. That is rare--even in the wild. Is a BGK at 6-12" achieving proper growth--no.

I guess it becomes not a question of "Can you keep certain fish together? Or, can certain species be kept in certain sized tanks?" The answers being "of course you can, and of course they can,"

At which point you have to ask yourself a couple of very basic questions:

Are you keeping the fish for your personal enjoyment regardless of their health?

Is it right to keep the species of fish if you know you are condeming them to defirmities, disease issues, and significantly shortened life spans?

But back to the point. I got philosophical as a result of other posts in the thread and got away from the main topic and the question posed by the original poster.

A 125 gallon tank will be fine for the clown loaches. It is only adequate as a temporary, grow-out like tank for the bgk.

Good luck. Enjoy the fish.

 

[kooter]

Thank you all for your posts. I have never seen a clown over 5", let alone 6" so that is why the question arose. Possibly this is unfortunately caused by the clowns' surroundings, parameters, etc. or because I have never seen an older clown. Obviously I want the best for the fish. I don't want to keep them in any stressful environment. I have a question on how many inches of fish you can keep then! Does it matter on the height of the tank, width of the tank, length, etc. on how many linear inches of fish you can have?

Besides water parameters and filtration, does the physical characteristics (shape of the tank) reflect how many fish can be kept?
ex. same gallons of water but different dimensions.

hope this makes sense.
I came across a site that calculated the amount of fish you could have in your tank and it said 99in. To me, this means even if I got 6 clowns that grew to 6" ea. = 36" and 1 ghost knife at 20" = 56" of fish. That is only half of the amount of fish I could get.

I must REALLY be missing something here. any help would be appreciated.

thx.

 

[sardesign]

I am setting up a 125 gallon (36"x33"x24"). From what I read the clowns average 6" at adulthood and the BGK is one of the smaller ones in the family and rarely get to 18". According to my tank dimensions I can hold approx. 90 - 100in. of fish, of course it all depends on filtration, kind of fish, etc.
I am building my tank around the loaches, so just figuring out what would look the best and the coolest!

Please don't go by the INCH Fish per GALLON rule. One size does NOT fit all tanks. You have a squarish tank so you should not get anything that needs room to swim fast. You will want fish that are not very active and that prefer to just float rather than cruise. You also might want to find a variety of fish that will inhabit the top, middle, and bottom of your tank. Otherwise, alot of the top space will be wasted (just water with nothing up there). These are just suggestions to keep the fish (and you) happy. A tank that size, I would only keep a school of clowns and the Knifefish... if you do get anything else, make sure they stay small when they mature.

 

[Sully]

There is no "rule" for fish per tank. The "rules" are based on the type of fish.

Cichlids are more aggressive and territorial, Some "pair", some are harem breeders, and others sort of promiscuous. Some are egg layers, some are mouth brooders--some intermediate mouth. Cichlids tend to react to others that are the same sex.

Then you have a fish like an oscar. Large, territorial, and messy. The thought tends to lean to 55-75 gallons per specimen.

Then you have fish that need certain water characteristics to thrive. Rift Lake Fish v. New World fish. Very disparate water conditions, decor required in tank is different, and diets are different.

Basically it gets down to the territory required, congeniality, body mass, breeding type, decor and water conditions, m/f ratios required......the list can go on and on.

Basically it boils down to researching the fish you want. Books, online, the lfs, Publications produced by fish organizations (Buntbarsche Bulletin from the ACA is an excellent example), hobbyist magazines are all valid resources. Keeping fish is not always as easy as we think. It involves coming to boards like this (there are a few very good ones online) and asking.

Maybe it is coming up with a stocking list and posting it at a couple of the boards--then read the thoughts offered by other hobbyists. Many times the thoughts come with the underlying reasoning. A great way to learn a bit about a lot of the variables.