Clown Loaches Eating My Plants!

[MissT]

I got 2 of them a week ago, to eat the snails, which they are doing at an incredible rate, but they have also ruined my green cabomba! My Cardinal Tetras look so lost without the tall plants to swim through.

I feed flake for the tetras, algae wafers for the Bristlenose and frozen bloodworm for all of them. The BN are fed every other day and I feed twice a day with the other. I am tending to feed flake mostly, with the bloodworm once every other day or so. (I was told that the loaches will eat anything, so flake and bloodworm and even the alage would all get eaten by them).
I think my problem is that the loaches hide (so well) when it's feeding time and for a good while after, so when they do come out, there's nothing left for them to eat!

Can anyone recommend anything for me to do/feed?

Thanks

 

[Torred1771]

I got 2 of them a week ago, to eat the snails, which they are doing at an incredible rate, but they have also ruined my green cabomba! My Cardinal Tetras look so lost without the tall plants to swim through.

I feed flake for the tetras, algae wafers for the Bristlenose and frozen bloodworm for all of them. The BN are fed every other day and I feed twice a day with the other. I am tending to feed flake mostly, with the bloodworm once every other day or so. (I was told that the loaches will eat anything, so flake and bloodworm and even the alage would all get eaten by them).
I think my problem is that the loaches hide (so well) when it's feeding time and for a good while after, so when they do come out, there's nothing left for them to eat!

Can anyone recommend anything for me to do/feed?

Thanks

Would be good to know the answer to this as well, as I am considering getting some clown loaches

 

[Tizer]

dont bother, unless you got a big tank and can support 6 or more of them. They hide because they are nocturnal, shy fish and will be most active around dusk / when your lights go out. I suggest, if your tank can support more, you get more and feed when the lights go out. Buying clown loaches to cure a snail problem, ranks up there with one of my biggest hates.

PS, clown loaches love to eat and uproot plants, so you have to just accept that.

 

[MissT]

dont bother, unless you got a big tank and can support 6 or more of them. They hide because they are nocturnal, shy fish and will be most active around dusk / when your lights go out. I suggest, if your tank can support more, you get more and feed when the lights go out. Buying clown loaches to cure a snail problem, ranks up there with one of my biggest hates.

PS, clown loaches love to eat and uproot plants, so you have to just accept that.

I am sorry for annoying you and while I don't feel that I should explain myself, I will just say that I researched fish types, understand that there are other options in snail control and don't buy any living thing on a whim. I spoke to several aquatic shopkeepers and this scenario suited me best, seeing as I actually wanted to keep clown loaches. I appreciate the loaches are shy and like to hide, however, they are out and swimming (obviously ) eating, clicking and 'dancing' most of the day. They just hide when I open the top to put the food in, thus not getting the food. The snail eating was a bonus for the fish. I have no intention of getting rid of the fish once the snails have gone, so the snails were not the sole reason for getting these fish. Now that the snails pretty much are gone, I would appreciate some advice on getting some food into them, seeing as they are carnivores. I don't mind re-planting the plants they uproot - I have to swish the sand about anyway - but it is important for me to actually feed them.

Thanks

 

[Tizer]

Well it is different if you want to keep clown loaches and take their requirements seriously!

What size tank do you have? 4, 5, 6 foot? Anyone with a tank big enough to keep Clown loaches should post pics up here! They are my favourite fishy, its nice to see what other people have.

I can recommend JBL Novo Tabs, stuck to the glass half way up after lights out.

My tank a while ago before i changed it and removed the kribs.

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=87gY19B1MjA

Can see the clowns about half way through it enjoying a snack. If they are happy fish, they WILL come out to feed.

 

[MissT]

Aha! Thank you!! How often will I need to feed this?

I have a corner tank, not bow fronted, 150L. I have no idea what that means in length, as the floorspace is quite large, with it being a corner. However, I already have 4 Bristlenose, so I don't want any fish to feel crowded. I would love to have more of them, but I think this would compromise all of the fish's quality of life. I was assured, as I did raise this concern, that 2 would be perfectly ok. Not as perfect as having 6 of them of course, but they would be fine and they do seem to have settled quite well. I love that clicking noise

 

[Tizer]

and you are aware how large they get, right?

 

[MissT]

Haha - Yes. Hence only getting two. Although the people I spoke to have said that after 6-10 years, theirs haven't grown more than 6 inches. I will enjoy seeing what happens in the years to come.

I will try to post a pic (if I ever work out how to do that)!

 

[Fishy friend2]

Probably cause the fish were stunted

 

[Iiriva]

Clown loaches should never be kept in a tank which is smaller than 500 litres, because they get big! And they become dwarfs in too small ones, which gives them loads of health problems...

They are shoaling fishes anyway.

I wonder that what's wrong with people constantly keeping certain fishes in tanks way too small for them, clown loaches and goldfishes for example?

And yes, they eat plants, that's what they do. I feed my 6 clown loaches all kinds of sinking pellets, and they eat them, and they like prawns as well. My clown loaches are over 20 cms in lenght (almost 8 inches?) and I keep them in 612 liter tank.

They are slow growers, and can live to 15 or even 20 years if kept in good conditions. Still I wouldn't keep them in a tank smaller than 500.

In my country keeping clown loaches in 150 liters would be considered as animal cruelty. Nicely done. Not.

 

[MissT]

In my country keeping clown loaches in 150 liters would be considered as animal cruelty. Nicely done. Not.

Ouch. I'm glad I am not in your country!

As previously stated, I am following advice from more than one aquarium stockist/fishkeeper and I was under the impression that this forum was here to help one another? I didn't think rudeness, insults and insinuations had any place here.

However, to ease your discomfort, I would just like to say that I will be moving my fish into a bigger tank once we have moved house. Unfortunately this is taking longer than planned due to a problem with the plumbing in the West Wing.

 

[Iiriva]

In my country keeping clown loaches in 150 liters would be considered as animal cruelty. Nicely done. Not.

Ouch. I'm glad I am not in your country!

As previously stated, I am following advice from more than one aquarium stockist/fishkeeper and I was under the impression that this forum was here to help one another? I didn't think rudeness, insults and insinuations had any place here.

However, to ease your discomfort, I would just like to say that I will be moving my fish into a bigger tank once we have moved house. Unfortunately this is taking longer than planned due to a problem with the plumbing in the West Wing.

And I think that any proper fish keeper / fish shop keeper should know about how to keep their fish. Keeping big fishes in small tanks is like keeping a cat in a cardboard box for it's whole life and saying it's happy in there.

Anyway, I'm glad they are going to get into a bigger tank sometime in the future. Better later than not at all, as long as they are still young and not starting to dwarf.

 

[ian]

the OP realises that these fish need a larger home in the future, could we please stick to the question in hand.

 

[SaTiVa1984]

My clowns are quite the opposite of shy, they never sit still

Mine especially like to chew on my amazon sword roots and leaves, and when my plec smashes everything else up the clowns will go to the surface and start pigging out on the uprooted plants lol.

These fish are great, i only have 2 at the minute but i intend to get a few more, especially as i have plans for an 8ft tank in the near future.

 

[tribalbrit]

Put some cucumber or courgette in the tank and they will leave the plants alone, also IF you had 6 or more they would not be so shy when you lift the lid. They are a very sociable fish and find safety in numbers.


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Mine too are always out and about, not shy at all.