Common Pleco Or Clown Loaches

[Mako Man111]

I will be taking my severum back to the lfs as he really bullies my oscar, so all that will be left in my 105 gallon tank will be an oscar, female convict, and a senegal bichir.

I will have a little room for another fish or couple of fish.

Would a common pleco fit? If not would a rubbernose plec work?

Also instead of a pleco, how would say 4 or 5 clown loaches be?

 

[MasterP]

Lown loaches can grow and become pretty big. I say that if you have any algea than get the rubbernose but if not get something else.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

Clown loaches are good but they are scale-less and extremely prone to ich/whitespot.
a pleco however is extremely scaled lol. they are both great fish but im not sure if Clown loaches would be ok with the oscar. plecostomus get along with everything tho

 

[PlecMama]

Plecs can be a bit moody when there is food about, I've seen mine whack the heck out of the snails when they get to close at feeding time, they slap them with their fins. And they have been known to lay on their tank mates if their tank mates fail to move in time.

Also, plecs are armoured, not scaled, and I believe clown loaches have tiny scales in their skin (someone from the loach board please correct me if I am wrong), but I will always sing the praises of a good common plec - however, they are messy, they are bull-headed (think the equivalent of driving an armoured car across the bottom of your tank), and they could poo for England at the Olympic games - if there was a class devoted to pooping.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

sorry i meant armoured. i couldn't think of the word at the time.
clown loaches do have very small scaled on their skin but they are considered scaleless

sorry i meant armoured. i couldn't think of the word at the time.
clown loaches do have very small scaled on their skin but they are considered scaleless

i stand corrected. after reading, most of the Cobitidae family have tiny scales but clown loaches are scaleless

 

[KathyM]

I would recommend the clown loaches if they're big enough, as they can be kept quite happily with oscars and won't put the same kind of strain on your setup as a messy plec with a messy oscar.

 

[sophos9]

Clown loaches everytime, really good behaviour and exciting to watch their individual personalities! I have never experienced any issues with ich/whitespot and my clown's

Throw in some cucumber and watch them all in a shoaling frenzy whilst clicking like mad!!

 

[b.c.f.c]

Clown loaches are more prone to white spot yes but dont let this put you off them.They are a great fish and about 4 (no less) would be great in that tank imo.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

Throw in some cucumber and watch them all in a shoaling frenzy whilst clicking like mad!!

yea, what is that clicking? i noticed my littlest one doing it when trying to eat an algae wafer (with no success). the clicking manages to go through the glass too! must be pretty loud.

 

[sophos9]

Throw in some cucumber and watch them all in a shoaling frenzy whilst clicking like mad!!

yea, what is that clicking? i noticed my littlest one doing it when trying to eat an algae wafer (with no success). the clicking manages to go through the glass too! must be pretty loud.

They do it when they are happy!!

 

[lozronz]

I would have to go with the Clown loaches to or at least one of the larger Botias, there are some pretty funky fish in the Botia family and it always seems to be the Clowns that steal the lime light.

And just to support the underdog, Plecs make noises to, If taken out the tank they sound kinda like frogs!
Not that I'm suggesting taking them out, I'm pretty sure their noise is an unhappy one!

 

[vancouver]

Clown loaches are expensive.. and touchy.. I'm not sure a convict would tolerate clown loaches.. A pleco is really only useful if you've got an algae problem.

 

[sophos9]

Clown loaches are expensive.. and touchy.. I'm not sure a convict would tolerate clown loaches.. A pleco is really only useful if you've got an algae problem.

Loaches in the UK are not expensive?!

As long as your water stats are good and you change regular then they are no problem at all.....

 

[vancouver]

Around here they're not really cheap.. I'd expect to pay around $15 for a 1.5'' one here.

 

[b.c.f.c]

i wouldnt say that plcs are only useful for an algea problem, they too are a very nice fish, in my experiance they are not great at cleaning up algea, they just help a bit, so saying they are just good for cleaning alga is a bit of a unfair statment imo.
i have seen clown loaches for £12.50 near me, but have also seen them for as little as £3.50 both the same size fish as well , about 2 inches.