Clown loaches with African cichlids

Bump... is it OK in your opinion or is it not?

The water temperature is 80 (good for clown loaches) the pH is 7.8 and my fish are relatively peaceful.
 
A prerequisite for selecting residents of a community tank is that all species thrive in water of the same chemical makeup. That not being the case here, it sounds like a bad plan to me.
 
monkey_toes said:
A prerequisite for selecting residents of a community tank is that all species thrive in water of the same chemical makeup. That not being the case here, it sounds like a bad plan to me.
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I've scrapped that plan and am now educating my fellow Rift Lake cichlid hobbyists. They'll of course argue their clown loaches are doing good.

In any case, what I've always been after is the [SIZE=-1]Synodontis njassae (a Lake Malawi catfish) but I've heard these have been plagued by hybridization. They're also hard to find. [/SIZE]
 
This is an interesting question with varying points of view....here is an article that is supportive of the idea of housing Clown loaches with african cichlids.....

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/clown_loach.php

There are many references on the internet discussing success in maintaining loaches in african tanks. I have also seen pictures in cichlid books of african cichlid tanks with clown loaches in them. In the 25 years I have been working with african cichlids, I have never housed loaches with them, due to the difference in water parameters. I use synodontis species in my african tanks, which I think are a better suited bottom feeder for the african cichlid tank. Still, this is another example of an "exception to the rule" that has had enough success to generate strong opinions from both perspectives.
 
YoFishboy said:
This is an interesting question with varying points of view....here is an article that is supportive of the idea of housing Clown loaches with african cichlids.....

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/clown_loach.php

There are many references on the internet discussing success in maintaining loaches in african tanks. I have also seen pictures in cichlid books of african cichlid tanks with clown loaches in them.
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That article is full of many inaccuracies. Clown loaches can exceed 18 inches in the wild and 12 inches in an aquarium. They can live for well over 25 years in an aquarium and possibly longer than a human being in the wild. It also fails to mention that pH is not the only difference between their habitats as the waters of the Indonesian rain forests differ greatly from an African rift lake.
 
back when i was keeping Malawi cichlids in my 300 gallon tank, i had a group of six clown loaches in with them. i kept them for 6 years and they grew from 3 inches at purchase, to about 8-10 inches before i converted that tank back into CA and SA. at that time, i gave the clowns to a friend with a 300 gallon tank which he devoted to them. the clowns did and are still doing VERY well in my opinion. they're about 9-12 inches now. my water, like my friends, is naturally hard and alkaline, with a pH of 7.8.
 
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