Clown Loach & Neons.. bad start?

Gomisan

Gomisan

Man in a hat
Feb 9, 2006
109
0
0
Adelaide, South Australia
www.ufo-x.com
Hi,

I've just setup my first Tropical tank, and in my eagerness bought the following fish to start it off (I was with a friend whose passion is Marine's so his advice probbaly wasn't all that great in hindsight)

10 x Neon tetras
2 x Serpae Tetras
1 x Clown Loach
and some plants, not sure exactly what, but pics are here...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11576733@N00/97111041/

They all seemed pretty happy, but I started reading up on the combination and it seems I have a 'bad' combination. Not enough Serpaes and a lonely loach.

Well it's been a week now, and my happy school of neons has become 6 scattered individuals... I've looked for corpes, but can't find any. So would my little Loach be eating the poor buggers?

I'd like to pop another 10 neons in and give them a bit bigger school to play with, but I don't want the loach to get too fat on fresh fish! (makes for expensive food)

I HAVE added 2 more Serpae tetras, and they seem happier now in a small group. I've also added a couple of Golden Mystery Snails as garbage collectors, and they seem to enjoy zooming around the tank.

and lastly.. I've added a webcam :)

http://150.101.100.47:8080/view/index.shtml

if you want to check out the tank live.
 
Well it is important to know the size of the tank. Those fish could live together but clown loaches need to eventually have a 75 gallon tank min as they get to be 10 inches or more. Also they are a school fish and do bets when kept in larger groups (like tetras).

The fish are dying from the cycle that is happening. Neons are weak fish and do not do well in high levels of ammonia and nitrites which your tank will have due to the massive amount of fish you added at once. The loach will eat the dead bodies but they do not eat live fish. The snails will also eat dead fish.

Serpae tend to be aggressive fish and will pick on the neons. Plus they get rather large as well, around 3 inches or so each.

I would read the stickies in the newbie forum , especially those on cycling.
 
TKOS is right, usually is, I only have 2 clowns at the moment and they tried hanging with my goldfish when he was in there. I'll be buying another clown as soon as I know my tank is stable. I just set up 2 new tanks.

On a better note....Love the webcam!
 
Couple things:

1. As already stated, clown loaches get HUGE, and therefore need a huge tank. They are also very social, preferring to be with others of the same species.

2. How big is your tank?

3. Instead of getting more neons, I'd go with more serpaes, as they are a schooling fish. (Depending on your tank size)

4. Welcome to the site!! :bday:
 
Thanks, The tank is only 38L ... so an upgrade is definately going to be needed. It seems I got some pretty bad advice at the Aquarium Shop that set me up, ahh well, pays to research first :)

I've been reading up on cycling and stock levels etc, and can see I have a lot to learn, and probably haven't made the best start. But I'm going to start some water changes and get a test kit (was told at shop I wouldn't need a test kit!!) and hopefully it will turn out OK.
 
But I'm going to start some water changes and get a test kit (was told at shop I wouldn't need a test kit!!) and hopefully it will turn out OK.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're on the right track. :)

How long has the tank been set up? I'd start doing large water changes daily for a while, with your bio-load the ammonia spike is going to be massive.
 
The tank has been setup since Monday night, so this is it's 4th full day. Seems longer somehow.

i've been keeping records of feeding, temp AM & PM etc etc and will start water changes and testing for other stuff this weekend after a quick trip to the store for buckets, syphon tube and test kit.

My girlfirend is going to kill me when I tell her that I'm going to need a bigger tank :rolleyes:
 
Yeah the little buggers seem pretty happy. I tested Ph & Ammonia levels this afternoon. Ph was 8.0 , Ammonia was around 0.3 to 0.6 .. virtually indistiguishable between the 2 colours on the chart.

According to the charts this puts it in the high, but still Ok area.

I've just done a 20% water change and the neons have schooled together again, probbaly scared 'em into is as I mucked about straightening things up. No more went missing today, which is nice.

I'm going to pop some night lights in the tank, so the webcam will get a few more hours watchability :) I get to enjoy my fish at work and at home... so it's pretty cool.
 
A range of .3 to .6 is too much of a difference in scale. Are you using strips? If so, please get a test tube kit instead. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes the best one for the money and it is far more accurate. It's the Freshwater Master Kit. All you'll need, cheaper than strips and it will last you at least a year.

You'll want to keep the ammonia to .25, no higher, or you will risk your fish. Do 50% water changes and get the ammonia down. Keep the nitrites down to .25 as well when they start to show. 20% isn't a lot of water. Do *not* be afraid to change the water or to change lots of it! Fresh water good. Old water bad ;)

Clowns -- all bottom feeders -- are very sensitive to water quality and you will have to keep the water as best you can if you don't want to lose him.

Roan
 
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