chefkeith said:
Clown Loaches prefer tanks with soft sand substrates, lot's of cover, driftwood, or caves, and low light. They are not mid or top dwelling fish, which by the look of it, is what your tank is set-up for. A bare bottom tank for clowns loaches puts them completely out of their element. It's like they are living the life of a feeder fish.
Do you care about the clown loaches and want to give them what is best for them or are they just ornaments to you?
I agree that clowns prefer cover, but even with plenty of driftwood to hide in, my group of 5 loves to swim all over the tank, including the top just like in neoprodigy's photo.
The thing is, he's used to a different style of keeping aquaria... you'll notice a lot of the guys over at MFK have bare bottom tanks with lots of inhabitants (what most resident AC users would call overstocked), and hefty filtration systems to go along with them. The bare bottom tank is primarily to ease maintenance.
Although my clowns do prefer to sleep in the crevices of the driftwood in my tank, I have to say the clowns in his tank look great in terms of health.
Hey neoprodigy, do your clowns ever display their dark black colors, or do yours stay in the gray-state of coloration?
nice tank btw