clown loaches

[Crashed]

My clown loach lives up to his name, makes clicking noises at feeding time & plays dead, he was very timid for a few days when we first got him, but eventually he was king of the tank (slight tension between red tailed black shark, mr mean) I found clown loaches look dull if they are new to the tank or if they are not happy, if your clown is vibrant in colour than it's happy.

 

[Sharkey G]

Yes, very true Crashed.
The best way to restore back the orangeness and black in a ClownLoach is by water changes and simply allowing them to settle.
Loaches as I've mentioned are very prone to whitespot, so good water quality with no ammonia / nitrite etc is important.

 

[jimboid]

I have a group of 5 clowns, they spend a great deal of time under the bog wood in my tank. Although they tend to come out during late afternoon. Its amazing how they all hide away under the same bit of wood. The tank looks empty when they are all hiding. They are cool fish though as each one has its own character.

When I first starting keeping fish i lost a clown to white spot, as i didnt know the symptoms, it was flicking on the rocks and the bottom of the tank and by the time i had read up on it one of them had died. So keep an eye out for that.

James

 

[Satek]

After reading all this I think next time I go to town,60 miles away, I will get
at least 2 more clown loaches. Satek

 

[Sharkey G]

I also lost one of my clown loaches at the time to whitespot, but it's best looked upon as a beneficial experience, rather than an error. WhiteSpot usually catches out the owner the first time it strikes.

 

[hellstorm]

My Clown loaches came out for about 20 seconds last night, i rearranged the tank to give it more spaces to hide, but now its hiding on the top of the heater i still have not seen it eat anything but one good thing is their colours are still very bright, bright orange and dark black.

 

[Sharkey G]

They may not eat straight away. Don't forget that Clowns are generally nocturnal, so will do most of their munching in darkness ( usually anything they can find in the gravel ) . ClownLoaches will also eat some snails which will usually fill them up for a while, hence another reason why they may not be eating - yet.

G

 

[Cayote]

I got my clown loaches x3 yesterday and now they are adventuring out more now, but on a night they are much more relaxed and are all over the place

 

[ostrow]

I've got a clown with bad ich right now,. and no, i'm not new and did recognize it early other fish had it first, and ammo and nitrite have never been above 0 in recent memory and nitrate is very, very low, only trace if any judging by color strip.

No idea what to do... see other thread ("I know this is a hard one...") esp pages 3 and 4.

Short version: I'm on round 2 of maracide (day 7, water change after day 5), and on day 2 of maracyn II. All other fish (dwarf gouramis, platies, siamese algae eater, otos, dwarf bristlenose pleco) all look fine. I'd earlier lost 2 platies, 2 dwarf gouramis and one clown -- earlier meaning 2 weeks ago -- for no apparent reason, no visible white spots, no wounds, no weird behavior. Just boom, gone. May have had ich not visible, in gills. Who knows.

Anyway, there's ich in there now and it's stubborn and spreading on the clown.

Anyone who has successfully treated a clown with ich in a community tank and can help, ideas would be most welcome! But please read the other thread first as there is history there and other questions are probably already addressed there.

 

[Danny - the lost soul---]

Crashed thanks for pointing a VERY important point that we all missed. duhhhhhh and we call ourselvs fish keepers. Shame on us.

But on a serious note that is the BEST way to tell a happy clown from an unhappy clown the color.
Alright thats all gotta go finish my essays. LOL

danny

 

[hellstorm]

i added my clowns in the middle of the cycle....thanks to my unpaiteint parents but anyway stillhavent come out still havent seen them eat still have lost any colour.

amm:0.5 dropping...
nit:0.9 rising...

 

[reef3]

hmm, i know a guy that breeds clown loaches, they are one of my favs, i have many, but i always put them in big groups with each other, the reason is, they are kinda a schooling fish, and feel more comfortable around eachother

when i have 3 or 5 around eachother they tend to be out all the time

 

[reef3]

also, ive done this, and seen the breeder i know do this, but he will take a couple of flakes and get a WOODEN closepin and put a string on it and dangle it near them, , usually they will come and eat some if you leave it alone for a minute or two

if that doesnt work, then i dont know?
also, the bigger the clown loaches the more friendly.....thats my expeirience

 

[hellstorm]

thanks reef3,
i finally saw one of them swimming out to hunt for once, but it only came out for about 20 seconds, i relise that they sleep the day and come out during night but ppl say they are very active during day time as well
thats sounds like a good trick to make them eat, ill try it sometime. and btw i have 2 clowns about7-9cm should i get another one? and another think i think is making them hide is teh water, theres ammonia and nitrite in the water cos its in the middle of cycling.

 

[hellstorm]

its been 2 weeks now and they dont even look like comming out, they never eat just hide and hide. i paid 40$ for two fish that never can be seen. i feel like just givin them back to the lfs.