Typical clown loach behaviour?

J

janger

AC Members
Jan 6, 2007
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Hey, I'm a noob to a lot of fishy stuff in general, and these forums, so feel free to attack.

My LFS talked me into buying a couple of clown loaches. After coming home and checking online, I found they'll get too big for my 39gal tank. I also realised they're real characters. But the following spun me out. Just come inside and they were both swimming up and sticking themselves in the water return. Is that a usual part of their clowniness? Might have to put a guard on it if so. Vid link follows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z0FIisG0m0

Sorry about the loud bang. It was me hitting the desk in laughter.
 
Yes, they are very playful fellows. They are also slow growers, but you will need a bigger tank sooner than you think if you are maintaining them in a healthy environment.

Their true behavior comes out when you have a group of 6-8, forming little balls of action and play.
 
Yeah, it's normal. Also, sleeping on their sides, sleeping in piles, crawling into spaces barely big enough for them, running up and down a corner of your tank, mock fighting for dominance, nose stands, tail stands, swimming in shoals and schools, wanting to be touching each other constantly. It's why they are called clowns. They do grow up to need big big tanks, and to be at their best, they need to be in groups of five or more. More being the key word. We've got a few members with huge clown tanks, filled with a dozen or more. You should see em go!
 
Yeah, that's what I've learnt. Might just grow 'em on a while and return them. I'm interested in fish behaviour, so might learn a thing or two during the experiment. I have a sump with good flow, so it should be fine for a few months. They don't attack plants much when small do they?
 
I had one that got into the box part of my HOB filter, and stayed there for almost a week until I found it.:sim: LOL
 
Well it happened. Turned the sump filter off yesterday to do some maintenance. Without the flow both clowns swam right up the pipe, around the first elbow and all. Luckily the return is made of garden irrigation parts so I pulled it apart and carefully shook them out. They don't look hurt or stressed at all. Think they enjoyed it:) Instead of putting a grill over the pipe, I drilled small holes around it and threaded fishing line through from one side to the other to make a "net" in the end.

I also made a sort of cave by half burying two small plastic plant pots so the openings are close together, but angled so there is a small gap between. The loaches love sticking their heads through the drain holes to see what's going on.

Anyway, I saw a community tank the other day with 5 clowns in it. They've been in there for over a year and they do grow slowly. Think I might get another one as it seems they'll be happier from what I've read.
 
jm1212 said:
you should get a prefilter so they dont swim into the filter when its on :eek:
Click to expand...
Can't happen. I have a sump to house the heater and stuff. Water is drawn from a surface skimmer and they can't fit through it.
 
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