My new clown loaches

[GuZZiZZiT]

Well, the other day i was at a fish shop thats not very local, but one i visit when ever i'm in the area. They are in the process of changeing ownership so the fish selection was rather bleak. After some looking, i found one tank had two 4.5-5 inch clown loaches!!! I didnt see a price on them so, mainly out of curiosity i asked one of the employee's, who had to ask a manager how much he could sell them for. I was expecting them to be rather pricey because of there size, so i almost fell over when the manager came back and said i could have them for $16.99!!!! (that's about what most stores in the area sell ONE of there 1.5-2 inch clown loaches for)

Needless to say, i told him i'd take them and darn near RAN to the checkout then out the door before he could change his mind.

The odd thing is, i used a piece of PVC pipe with a chunk of red granite leaned against it to make a loach motel thinking they'd like the hidding spot. However, instead of hanging out IN the pipe, they climb between the slate and the pipe, leaveing the pipe for the corries.

Go figure. CLOWN is most deffinatly a good description for these guys.

 

[H3D]

Clown loaches prefer to hide in spots tight enough for their entire body to be hidden completely.

 

[GuZZiZZiT]

Yeah, i thought thats what i was giveing them, but i guess they wanted to be a little cozier. Thay lay side by side and almost seem wedged in there.

Oh well, my pleco seems to like the pipe now.

 

[Red Tailed Wonder]

Which tank are they in? (not in sig?)

RTW

 

[Malefic23]

Clowns do seem to love jamming themselves in as tightly packed as can be. I think it's possible they have a psychic link with the sardine..Canned variety.

If you've got room in the 125 for more, you might consider adding three more clown loaches to the pack. These guys do best in groups of five or more, and you see more activity out of them. You don't have to worry about any others being the same size as the bigger ones you found, they'll adopt smaller clown loaches, or get adopted by the big daddy ones. Don't be surprised when they sleep on their sides, or loachpile your pleco.

 

[lovemybarbs]

All three of my loaches all share the same spot. One of these days I'll lose them all.

 

[GuZZiZZiT]

I'm planning to add a few more to my loach clan. If the LFS had 3 more, i'd have taken them too. I was just amazed at the deal i got on them.

The loach pileing on my pleco is my only concern about them right now. I've seen them do it twice and the pleco dosnt seem real thrilled by it. But as soon as he wiggles around a bit the loaches swim off. I'll hafta keep an eye on that.

while on this subject, can anyone tell me if clown loaches alwayshave there Bifurcated suboccular spines or if the develope them later in life? If later, dose anyone know about when? Would they be likley to injure my pleco with them if they keep loach pileing him?

 

[wataugachicken]

seems like they've just adopted your pleco as an honorary loach. it happens. if there's no fighting (deliberate shoving or flaring mouths) then you shouldn't worry.

 

[Brian Anderson]

get some pictures!

i have an empty 125g tank and was gonna get 5-7 loaches...but everyone says my tank is too small. can someone clear this up once and for all? some people say id need a larger tank, others say go for it.... :rollseyes:

thanks. and remember...i wanna see some pictures

 

[wataugachicken]

125g is fine, probably for several years if you start with little ones, but eventually a properly sized group should be upgraded to a 180 or so. i go by the inch per gallon 'rule' as a quick check to see if things are overstocked, so if you have 6 fish who each reach a foot long, then you will have 96" of fish in 125 gallons. . since the inch per gallon is a load of uselessness, however, you can see that the loaches, fully grown, take over that 125.