Clown Loach Loner????

[Rory the cat]

I bought 3 baby clown loaches back in May for my community tank. My plan was to keep them in there for a year or so then as they grew to move them to a bigger aquarium.

They all looked very healthy for the first week, but I noticed one was very much more boisterous than the other 2, barging them off the food (sinking pellets, blanched peas, cucumber, bloodworm) and generally bullying them. He was also much more colourful and the other 2 grew very pale. The 2 palers ones exhibited the normal clown loach behaviour (follow my leader etc) but he wasn't interested, preferring to follow around the corys. I rejigged the tank to allow lots of hiding places and quiet spots, but he seemed to seek the other clowns out to chase them - 1 in particular. After a month I awoke to find that one dead. I examined him carefully and there were no outward signs of illness. I checked water perams - perfect.

The brighter one turned his attention to his tankmate, bullying and shoving him around, trying to push him off the food. I added even more hidey holes - nothing. He ignored his other tankmates (neons, barbs), but still seemed to enjoy spending all his time with the corys. I tried all sorts, but after a few months one morning I awoke to find the next one dead. I took the corpse to the LFS and we checked it really carefully - no outward signs and no other fishy deaths.

Now I want to buy him some more clowny companions, as I know that they should be in groups of at least 3 - but at the same time he seems perfectly happy. He's growing well, in beautiful condition and hangs out and plays with the Corys and occasionally the Serpae. He's not bullied anyone since the death of the other clowns.

What should I do? As much as I would love more clowns, I would rather look after his wellbeing first and if I am going to upset him by introducing more of his own species I would rather not.

Anyone ever come across this sort of thing before

 

[Hooligan]

Thats really strange are you sure thats what killed them they are inheritedly peaceful. You could try getting two bigger clown loaches.

 

[Rory the cat]

Not sure what it was. It wasn't anything visible as they looked perfect from the outside (if a little pale but then many clowns are) and the water etc is all fine and I've had no other fishy deaths.

The only thing that I know was wrong was the ceaseless bullying. I was considering maybe 2 slightly larger clowns, my clown is 2inch, so maybe two 3 inch fish might be okay?

 

[Hooligan]

Yeah if it is that one it will find it harder to pick on them.

 

[David]

Not sure what it was. It wasn't anything visible as they looked perfect from the outside (if a little pale but then many clowns are) and the water etc is all fine and I've had no other fishy deaths.

The only thing that I know was wrong was the ceaseless bullying. I was considering maybe 2 slightly larger clowns, my clown is 2inch, so maybe two 3 inch fish might be okay?

That is very strange. Usually the bigger, more dominant fish go a lighter shade of grey, while the small submissive ones are a very dark jet black. My big dominant male has grey stripes and always chases my two smaller darker ones around, but it's very harmless, and noone ever gets hurt.

 

[chefkeith]

baby clowns are really hard to keep. I've had some success and a quite a few failures in building up my 15 pack of clowns.

Here's a timeline on how I finally got to my total of 15 clowns-
2/22/2003- Bought my first 4- 1" baby clown loaches, only 1 survived.
3/28/2003- Bought 3- 1.5" clown loaches, only 1 survived.
8/11/2003- Bought 4- 2.5" clown loaches, all 4 survived.
10/4/2003- Bought 8- 1.5" clown loaches, only 1 survived.
12/12/2003- Bought 8- 2" clown loaches, all 8 survived.

I'll never buy a clown loach thats under 2" again. The toughest part is over with for me, thank god.

Goodluck Rory..

 

[Gix]

Usually the bigger, more dominant fish go a lighter shade of grey, while the small submissive ones are a very dark jet black. My big dominant male has grey stripes and always chases my two smaller darker ones around, but it's very harmless, and noone ever gets hurt.

That is precisely my experience.

My advice is to get bigger clowns. If they don't calm him down, then maybe he really is some kind of loner. Never heard of one though.

 

[David]

Usually the bigger, more dominant fish go a lighter shade of grey, while the small submissive ones are a very dark jet black. My big dominant male has grey stripes and always chases my two smaller darker ones around, but it's very harmless, and noone ever gets hurt.

That is precisely my experience.

My advice is to get bigger clowns. If they don't calm him down, then maybe he really is some kind of loner. Never heard of one though.

Clown loaches are gregarious by nature, and it seems to me that your small ones died from the stress related to the bullying, not as a direct result of the bullying itself. Usually the younger and smaller the fish, the more sensitive it is and less likely to survive. Leave the raising to the experts, and only get mature clowns that are 2-3 inches long.

 

[Rory the cat]

That could be it then. I had never heard of problems with baby clowns, but maybe that's what it was.

I'll go search out a pair of 3 inch clowns and see where that gets us.

Thanks everyone B)

 

[Nidge]

Sorry to hear about our clowns, I have recently experianced seeing one of my clowns what looked like attacking my RTB shark and my Texas cichlid but that has since stopped.
I have kept clowns for years and until then i have never seen that sort of behaviour. It looks like they died of stress as someone else said.
If ever buying clowns always buy the biggest you can get because they are so much more sturdy than small ones.
Im lucky i have never lost a clown and i hope i dont lose any soon.

 

[Red]

I was in my LFS a week ago and noticed they had 1 clown loach in a tank with about 10 or so catfish of some sort, this little guy was VERY, VERY pale. When I went back there yesterday he was still there - all lonely & pale. I asked about him and they said that someone had bought his mates and he was left over. (How sad - if there's one left over when I buy fish I usually persuade them to throw the last one in for free!) He didn't seem sick in any way - just lonely.

I wonder if I should go back and rescue him or would he be just as lonely and pale in my tank? I have a school of 16 danios (half of which will be moving out soon as I'm just babysitting them for a friend) and a couple of catfish in a 4ft tank I'll be getting a total of 5 clown loaches just as soon as I can - sadly the ones I went to the LFS for were quarantined and won't be on sale another 2 weeks.

What do you think, should I rescue him?

 

[Rory the cat]

I appear to have had some success (touches wood). After the advice I had on here I went round 3 of the LFS and scouted out the largest and most healthy clowns. I now have 2 new 3 inch clowns along with my existing clown (guy at the LFS got very fed up with me as he was trying to catch just any fish from the tank and I was very insistent about the 2 I wanted! )

So far, so good. No bullying and lots and lots of happy clowny behaviour. My existing clown is very much the leader and (oddly) within a day went suddenly pale (bearing out what others have said). So far their favourite haunts are playing in the filter stream (all 3 of them in a circle) and playing follow my leader around all the nooks and crannies in the tank. They are very active, but after the first day have not sought out any of the hidey holes I have created, instead preferring to be out in the open, except when asleep. They even come to the front to demand food when I go near the tank and have learned that they can float upside down to guzzle the flakes I put in for the Tetras.

The Corys seem a bit miffed that they have lost their 'friend' but apart from that it seems a very happy tank indeed. The funniest thing is that serpae seems to have declared himself an honorary clown and is following them around like a lap dog - even sleeping with them. They have taken to sleeping vertically behind the filter (as you do ) and he floats next to them or tries to squeeze in too.

There's a pic of them in my sig. Thanks guys!

 

[David]

They look great! Good luck with them.