Clowns With Other Loaches?

[ryanp15]

I have 2 clown loaches, and instead of getting more of those would they get on with other loaches? I was thinking of maybe getting a couple of smaller ones. But I want to check if the clowns will be just as happy

it would be useful if they could eat lots of snails!

help appreciated!

 

[Colin_T]

Loaches are generally territorial and it isn't recommended to mix different species in the same tank.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I have 2 clown loaches, and instead of getting more of those would they get on with other loaches? I was thinking of maybe getting a couple of smaller ones. But I want to check if the clowns will be just as happy

it would be useful if they could eat lots of snails!

help appreciated!

Clown loaches do best in groups 3-5+ strong, however although they grow slowly they can grow to 12inches+, so its very important that your tank is large enough for them in the long term.
I keep yoyo loaches with my clown loaches for many months now and haven't had any problems with them together, yoyo loaches will eat snails however they prefer strongly filtered and very oxygenated tanks- both clown loaches and yoyo loaches do best in tanks with fine soft sand or small rounded gravel substrate .

Loaches are generally territorial and it isn't recommended to mix different species in the same tank.

Where did you read that? I've keep my clown loaches and yoyo loaches for a long time together now with absolutely no problems, its true that some types of loaches are territorial, however there's plenty of types that aren't .

 

[mikev]

It would certainly be best to increase the number of clowns to the required minimum first (5+) and make sure that the tank is sufficiently large to accommodate their growth, before considering adding any other loaches.

Notice that most *peaceful* loaches that can be kept together with clowns have similar minimum requirements, so you would need a large tank to keep them happy.

And, as Colin_T noticed, many loaches are highly territorial and should not be kept with clowns. While Yoyo's are OK (I keep Clowns and Yoyo's together too, 7 and 6 correspondingly), some others (Modesta, Tigers) should be avoided. Research before adding...

As for snails: a group of clowns should be able to control your snail population by themselves....

hth

 

[Davo86]

I keep clowns with yoyos and kubotai's with no problems at all,
as said above provided you avoid semi aggressive types like the blue botia (modesta) and tiger botia then you shouldn't have a problem

 

[ryanp15]

Thanks for your help, I'll have a think about it

 

[Steve Randell]

I have ten clown loaches two yoyo, three pokadot and three botia striata.
They all get on fine with no problems apart from the striata even though they are the smallest the seem very nippy.

One thing i didnt realize though is the speed that the modesta grow. went from a few centemetres to 3 inches in about 6 months. I find that these shoal with the clown loaches constantly.

I havnt found many problems mixing the loaches with each other, however i have found the clown loaches are by far happier with a few of there own kind.

 

[loachman]

You can mix botia loaches (polka dot/b. kubotai, yoyos, b. striatas, b. dario, b. histrionica, b. rostrata) and clowns w/o any trouble. These are all slightly territorial, but generally pretty peaceful.

It causes issues when you have Yasuhikotakia or Syncrossus loaches such as Y. modestas, skunk loaches or tiger loaches as these are much more aggressive.

I would get more clowns though if your tank can handle them. You'll see much more active loaches with a larger group.

 

[ryanp15]

Thanks for all your help
yep it'll probably be more clown loaches then!