Clown Loaches

T

TipStylez

XCELMotorsports.com
Jun 3, 2005
1,075
0
0
Seattle WA
I have alot of questions on Clown Loaches since i plan on getting a school going, and any info you would like me to know please post, i just wanna learn all there is about these guys.

I had 2 of my clownloaches for almost 2weeks now, when i first got them they were active and swimming around, now there just lazy and sleep inside the cave (kinda cute cause they sleep on their side) and hardly come out untill light for a few mins and go back in. What do you guys think is the cause of this? And what can i do?

And i searched google on them, and heard they eat bannanas and cucumber, tryed boath and i put it by their cave, and they just stare at it. Is it even true they eat it? And how should i cut it up.

Do they like calm water or moving water, cause i have a water pump and dont know if i should use it.

Do they like dark areas or lighted? If dark i will ad a bigger rock decor and some more live plants.

And i plan on having a group of 4Clown loaches in a 30gal Tall with 1 pelco, Any other fish i should put in there to make them happy?

Any other info i left out that could be usefull please post!

Thanks
-Q
 
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Minimum tank size for a clown loach is 65 gallons. I wouldnt be thinking about having a school of 4. Think about replacing them with something more approiate. There are other kind of loaches that should be fine in your tank but not clown loaches. Also check out what kind of pleco you have as some can grow out of a tank pretty quickly.
 
You could try Pakistani (also known as Yoyo) loaches or zebra loaches (those look really nice IMO). Burmese loaches get a bit bigger (up to 15cm/6 inches), so I dont know how well they'd do in a 30 gal. Chained loaches may be an option but I'm really not sure how large they grow, some sites say 15cm (6 in.), others say 5cm 9(2 in.).

I'm not sure if they'd behave the same way as clowns, though I'd imagine they'd be similar. If you want something a bit different you could also try kuhlis too.
 
Yoyo (Pakistani) loaches like to play dead, like laying on their side motionless for awhile. They don't school as tightly as clown loaches but are very active. They are also excellent snail eaters for those that have a snail problem.
 
Il see if one of my lps holds Yoyos they do seem nice, Whats the price range on them?

Thanks
-Q
 
Clown loaches are a constant source of entertainment. You can still keep a few (4 is okay) small clowns very successfully in your 30 gallon for a few months before they grow bigger and need to be moved to a bigger tank. I have 4 small clown loaches in my 20 gallon at the moment and they are having a ball in there, despite the tank size. They eat everything i give them, there are plenty of hiding spots/caves and plants and they love to dig and roam around and their colors show up beautifully. When they get bigger i will move them into my bigger tank.

They kind of remind me of puppies... they love to play, eat, laze around and do strange things. One of mine has turned a few of the leaves on one of my sword plants into a nice comfy bed where he always goes to rest, upsidedown, after a meal. Occasionally they will all pile on top of eachother under a piece of driftwood until they decide to go looking for food again.

In answer to your questions... Make sure your water is clean and conducive to clown loaches (mine seem to like ph 6.5-7.0, 27deg celsius, soft water). Get 2 more small guys to form a small shoal of 4, this will make your original pair feel much more comfortable and less shy.

Yes they do eat bananas and cumcumber (and zucchini, and peas). Mine love cucumbers and will never turn down bloodworms (frozen/live/dried). Refer to this excellent site for more feeding info...

http://www.loaches.com/almanac/feeding.html

They dont seem to be too fussy about water current (gentle current is fine)

Lighting not too bright... MAKE SURE PLENTY OF HIDING SPOTS... CAVES/DRIFTWOOD/PLANTS... this is an absolute must. Be careful of your plants though... they will nibble at them and uproot them on occasion.

Maybe put some small mid/top dwelling fish in there... rasboras or tetras or something like that (i have green-eye rasboras).

Obviously your best bet is to get a bigger tank now or sometime in the near future to put you loaches in, as they will get bigger but you can definately still enjoy 4 small dudes in your 30 gallon for now (sometimes they are better off in your tank than in the LFS store, where you see hundreds of them swimming around under bright light with nowhere to hide). I have kept many different fish over the years but clown loaches are definately the most entertaining of all the freshwater fish IMO.

Check out the picture of my tank... you can see the piece of cucumber which the loaches have been nibbling on. I dont keep a very powerful light in this one (just a 20W powerglo, soon to be 60W).

http://www.users.on.net/~iduthie/IMG_0573.JPG
 
I had to educate my clowns to the delights of eating veggies. The first time I put them in..they ignored it. I figured commercially raised fish are probably used to algae wafers, so I got some and they chowed down on them. I persisted with the veggies and they eat them now, but it took a while.
 
Thanks for the links Vudu, my loaches are eating the cuecumber now but they dont finish it all, and they are playing and more active now, they dont hide in the cave and sleep all day anymore, they eather swim around looking for food or play in the bubble walls or just sleep outside.

Heres some pictures of my 2 clown loaches(ghetto phone cam)
Sleeping
115d6dc7f5cc.jpg


Bubble walls
1da0c8ced1fd.jpg


Thanks
-Q
 
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