Clown loach & Discus catfish

[Beesboer]

Hi every one! I have bought a Clown loach & 2 Discus catfishes "that's what the LFS called it".
My first question, are my tank big enough for the Clown (260L) and is it better to get another clown?
Second question, I can't find any information on the "Discus catfishes". Can someone tell me what are there real name? They will be 6-7cm when they are adult. They are rather flat and always suck on the glass wall.

Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[platypus]

Hi Beesboer,

The rule for fish is 1" of fully grown fish to 1 gallon of water. However, I'm not actually sure if this is UK or US gallons! 260 litres is 68 US and 57 UK gallons (there's a link to some great conversion calculators here). Clowns will get to about 8 inches in captivity (although they can grow to a foot in the wild), so I would say you can comfortably get a few more - provided you don't have any other monsters in your tank!

Clown loaches are very sociable fish and love having some buddies that they can swim around with. I've found this website to be really useful and informative on the subject. They also give good advice on the subject of water conditions - clowns really don't like any ammonia or nitrite in the tank and are quite susceptible to ich.

Good luck with keeping this beautiful and entertaining fish - they are such characters!

 

[sharkbait]

I was going to buy a clown loach on my way home tonight. Rather glad I read the link about them. Keeping them however seems rather daunting. As they are happiest in schools of three and above my concern is that they will grow rapidly and outgrow the tank. (3ft.)
I think perhaps I will leave them alone for the time being, as looking after them properly seems to be rather labour intensive.
btw
How quick do they grow?

 

[platypus]

Sharkbait,

They grow quite slowly - I have had mine for 6 months and they are still only about 2 1/2 inches but they were tiny when I got them! My tank is only 30 gallons (UK) so as soon as I can afford it I'll be getting a bigger home for them.

Yes they are a bit particular but provided you get them in groups and give them a nice environment with bogwood and loads of hiding places and give them a varied diet they will love you for it! They are my favourite fish and I would definitely recommend them to anyone who has the right setup!

 

[Alien Anna]

The rule for fish is 1" of fully grown fish to 1 gallon of water. However, I'm not actually sure if this is UK or US gallons! 260 litres is 68 US and 57 UK gallons (there's a link to some great conversion calculators

It's US gallons, which are about 0.8 UK Imperial gallons.

 

[Beesboer]

The discus catfish is actually a Hillstream Loach. It looks to me as if the LFS don't always know what they are selling. I want to add later a Bala shark, Red tail shark, Discus and some catfish. Do you think my tank will be big enough for all these fish after I have added another Clown Loach?
Another question, 2Clowns or more & why?

Thanks again for all your help!!

 

[platypus]

Another question, 2Clowns or more & why?

I think you should definitely have at least 3 clowns. In fact I have heard it said that at least four is best so that one doesn't get ganged up on - but I have 3 and have never had this problem. Just make sure when you get new ones that they are all roughly the same size so there's no obvious 'boss'.

I want to add later a Bala shark, Red tail shark, Discus and some catfish.

Bala sharks get BIG I think. Sorry I can't be more specific! Sites like this list the maximum sizes of quite a lot of species, hope it helps! You can have up to 68 inches of fully grown fish with that tank, which gives you a fair bit of room . If you take away the size of 3 fully grown clowns that still leaves you with 44" - so knock yourself out!

One other thing - there may be aggression issues with having two different types of shark together - others may be able to help you more on this.

 

[CFC]

The bala sharks will get far too big for your tank, they too are shoaling fish and should be kept in groups of at least 3. Take into account that they can get to 13"+ and you need a very big tank to keep them till adulthood, 400 litres minimum!
Whether or not you can keep discus depends on the height of your tank, discus grow to around 8" round and require tanks with a 20" depth of water, they are also very shy and would not do well with a redtailed shark as a tank mate.