Clown loaches

[Kazzaye]

hi everyone
Until the last few months my loaches have been quite happy however I rarely see them these days. I've had these fish for about 8 years. They are in a 500 litre tank with lots of hiding places but they seem obsessed with a particular spot and spend all day there shifting positions. They all used to have unmarked and glowing skin. They appear now to have scars and dark pigment freckles. I also have in the tank a pearl gourami and a large orange rainbow fish. I have noticed the rainbow fish is a bully. I have seen him almost herding the clown loaches. I intend to move him to another tank in a week. They have all been together for some years and seemed to tolerate each other. Admittedly the rainbow fish is a pretty magnificent looking specimen but the loaches seem not to eat as well these days either. Anyway just putting this out there to others who have clown loaches

 

[Byron]

Changes such as you describe are caused primarily by stress, so you need to find the source(s).

How many clown loaches do you have? This can have a bearing on their health as stress from too few for example will weaken the fish, bringing on other issues.

The "bully" is probably a part of the problem. Aside from physical bullying, this fish is releasing chemical signals called allomones that the loaches can "read," and this will add serious stress, weakening them again. Rainbowfish are shoaling fish that must bee in a group, so being alone the Rainbow is undoubtedly stressed and aggression is scientifically proven to be the usual way a fish deals with severe stress. The fact that a situation may have been OK for this or that time does not mean it was OK. At some point it can get too much.

A 500 liter tank is not huge for clown loaches and it is the length that really matters.

Byron.

 

[Karen_2656]

You need a bigger tank, 500l is to small for them, when you are moving them to the other tank make sure it's at least 150gallons (round about 570 litres) if you can't get a tank that size you will have to re-home them elsewhere. You also need a school of at least 5 at the smallest, any smaller and they won't be happy. Like Byron said the rainbow fish needs to be in a school, when it's alone it will behave strangely and aggressively.
Hope this help
~Karen



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[Kazzaye]

I have 4 clown loaches I won't be getting another tank. I already have 3 tanks and the 500 litre tank is huge. I will rehouse the rainbow fish very soon. I will get him some tank mates. If anyone lives in the Macedon ranges in Victoria, Australia you can pick him up for free.

 

[Kazzaye]

 

[Karen_2656]

View attachment 85745 View attachment 85744

Nice tank, loving the decor! In honesty the rainbowfish is fine in that tank, but the clowns won't be happy they will outgrow the tank. You seriously need to take them back, it's really not fair on the clowns [emoji29][emoji29]


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[Kazzaye]

i got the tank for the clown loaches and according to different threads on here there is a lot of contradictory views on this issue. if I do move them it wont be for quite some time and whats going to happen if I take them back to the fish shop? they will be split up and sold and put in small tanks. as for another tank am I made of money?

 

[NickAu]

When it comes to everything Loaches there is only 1 place to go http://www.loaches.com/



Have a look at this.
http://www.loaches.com/articles/my-clown-loach-aquarium

 

[Kazzaye]

Ye just had a look and the guy has 9 clown loaches in a tank smaller than mine.

 

[Karen_2656]

Ye just had a look and the guy has 9 clown loaches in a tank smaller than mine.

Oh god [emoji33]
Is it me but this is horrible to the clowns [emoji17][emoji17]
They HAVE to be in a tank with a minimum of 150 gallons (570 litres)
You need to rehome them because your not getting a new tank! I'm not changing my answer they have to be rehomed! The rainbow fish is fine! The clowns arnt!! You need another 70l ( that's a huge difference)
In honesty this is really not fair on the fish, non of this is amusing [emoji24][emoji24]


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[Kazzaye]

I've had three clown loaches in a 75 gallon tank for about 7 years now. They're pretty large - about 6". One of them died a few months ago, which I think was due to a problem with our water. It's all sorted out now and my remaining two clown loaches are doing well. However, two loaches is not enough loaches. I know they do better in large groups. I can't possibly buy additional loaches the same size as the ones I have now - stores don't even carry ones this size and even if they did, they'd be prohibitively expensive. I'm wondering if it's alright to add some small ones. Our local stores have loaches that are only about 1"-2". I think it should be fine because loaches aren't excessively territorial, but thought I'd try to find out if anyone has ever added much younger clown loaches to an established tank to see if there were any suggestions on how to make it a successful addition.

Thanks!

 

[Kazzaye]

have 15 clown loaches largest at around 9" tapering down to smallest at approx 2"
i have introduced new loaches to te tank over the period of the last 5 years and there has never been any
conflict or aggresion (apart from dominance battles) the largr loach pretects the smaller ones against all my other fish. I wouldnt expect much growth from the smaller loach (tank size depending) due to the hormones the dominant loach releases into the water,
Hope this helps

Steve

 

[Kazzaye]

Many people keep groups of mixed sizes. Shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Kazzaye]

Hi Everyone- first post, been in the hobby about 7 years, but not had Clown Loaches for quite a while, as I get really upset when they die and they are so sensitive, but so much fun...Anyway, got 4 Clowns Yesterday from my LFS to go in my 280 litre tank which consists mainly of Tetras, 4 Danios, a Plec and a Siamese Algae Eater and around 10 little Corydoras (Pandas, Albinos and Peppereds). So Other than the Clowns, most fish are only around 1 inch long. When I've had Clowns previously, they've always been elusive and hiding most of the time, but these guys are manic, to the point plants and bogwood is flying! Is this just rough play/ dominance battle? They haven't sat still since I got them, chasing eachother madly up and down the tank. They've had some blood worm this morning which they loved, and there was a lot of clicking which is always lovely to see, but getting a bit worried its getting a bit rough and manic in there, even the Siamese Algae Eater has ducked for cover! They're eating well, and the Cory's are schooling with them and seem to be joining in, jsut worried if they are happy, there's plenty of hiding places for them, 2 castles and plenty of rocks and bogwood, just had horrible feeling they might not like the water to be so crazy in there- paramters are good, Ph6.8, Nitrate, Ammonia and Nitrite all Nil, Tank well cycled as its had tetras in for as long as I can remember, Stress coat is in, nothings died in there, it's just I'm used to Clowns hiding in the most riduculously small places and coming out only of a night. They're about 2inches long at the moment but still by far the biggest fish in the tank, there's plenty of space in there, its pretty understocked really, so there's no need for them to fight over the same castle..I missed having them so much, its lovely to see them so active as long as they're ok, they've even managed to unseat the filter of its housing trying to squeeze up the back of it last night, and one in particular seems to be left out in the cold and getting chased. There's no greying out yet though...Am I missing something? I thought the bloodworm would settle them down, its made them ten times worse!

Thanks guys...

 

[Karen_2656]

Yes you need about 5 minimum of clown loaches, and im surprised there okay in ur 75g that's very small for them.



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