Aggressive Clown Loach

[hikinandbikin]

I have a single clown loach (5 inches) that came with my fish tank. I haven't had money to buy him friends (I probably don't have tank space 55G). Since I bought my tank the loach has always been pretty private and not a real big eater (3.5 weeks). After a week, I added 5 Rasbora and there was basically no change. I waited 2 weeks and added 3 Male Gouramis. I have been feeding the gouramis several times a day in order to manage aggression between them. But yesterday I noticed that my loach has totally changed. He has started eating a ton 3-5 sinking wafers a day plus a fair amount of flake that sinks from the Gourami and Rasbora. The weird thing is that my Loach has gotten really nippy. He has become very teritorial whenever the light is off and he is out and about. He chases the gourami and the rasbora way up past the middle of the tank if they come anywhere near his cave (within a foot. It is just really strange. He used to come out in the evenings around 9:00pm and then dig around and eat a bit basically staying near the bottom and snooping around the plants and rocks. He seems fairly active for a single loach, apparently he had been alone for about a year prior to me buying the tank so maybe he is used to it.
I am planning my weekly water change tonight but normally my water is 78deg, PH 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 nitrate between 20-40. I think the relatively high nitrate is due to mild overfeeding that I am doing to help my gouramis establish individual space. I will stop this week as the Gouramis seem to have calmed down.
Is this normal and generally harmless? (He doesn't seem to actually bite anyone).
Could this be as a result of him not eating much for the first couple weeks and now he is just making up for lost time?
Thanks for any help.
Wyatt

 

[donna123]

hi,
bless him, maybe hes stating his terrotory, who did he share his tank with before? my uncle had a clown on its own for a year or more but he got a new tank along with 2 more clowns and his clown was so much more happy, would you part with him? maybe see if you can find him a new home with others of his kind they really do like to be in groups, good luck with what you decide to do donna .