More On Clown Loaches

[minnnt]

Oscars and giraffe cats with Neons is nothing to due with tank size, just incompatible, in any tank. The issue there is their tank mates that are causing them to be scared s******* not that they are in a 2 ft tank.

Clowns actually can reach 18" I know a guy with several at 15"+

And I know well how clown loach behave thanks, having owned a shoal for more than 20 years. These are kept with a large shoal of cardinals among others all are well fed and healthy.

And lecturing was used in the right context.How many replies start " what size is your tank"? "It's not big enough", "You should keep them in larger numbers" etc, etc.

Do those questions help the OP cure his white spot?

So all you would pick up on is that Oscars and Neons aren't compatable? Not the fact that an Oscar/Clown Loach/Giraffe Cat in a 2ft tank is totally ridiculous...

Asking simple questions like how big is your tank is a lecture? Maybe we should just refrain from asking/answering questions then for fright of offending someone or being accused of lecturing them then! Would be a boring forum. Infact, it wouldn't be a forum at all... Someone advising that a SHOALING species should be kept in larger numbers is offensive also? Wow... just wow...

 

[tribalbrit]

your scenario was why do my neons look washed out. Because they are kept with Oscars and Giraffe Cats is the answer.

This would be the case whether they were in a 2 ft tank or a 6 ft tank.

Therefore the fact that the Neons are in a 2 ft tank is irrelevant, they looked washed out because they are in the same tank as the Oscars in the first place.

Therefore tank size in your scenario is irrelevant.

 

[minnnt]

Exactly!

 

[fluttermoth]

I think it behoves on us all to consider the whole tank; stocking, filtration, water quality, size, whatever, when we're replying to a query.

All these things have a relation to each other, and we should definitely mention things if we see problems up ahead.

Just to take clown loach as one example, there's no point telling someone how to treat their clown's whitespot if we don't also mention the fact that it's too cold, stressed, cramped or lonely; those problems would still be there even if the ich is cured and the fish wouldn't be that much better off.

It's not like forum members are going round to people's houses forcibly removing clown loaches from people's tanks!

People can do whatever they feel is for the best, but that doesn't, and shouldn't, stop us from advocating best practice. At least if people hear that, they'll have the information and know what they're aiming for, even if they can't/don't/won't follow it to the letter.

 

[tribalbrit]

pfft, looks like minnnt and i are the only wind up merchants here today

May be, may be not.

 

[lloyd]

i think the op has a very good point in one sense, although i dont agree with every thing he says. i have personally found that people quite often jump on the usual bombardment of qquestions about tank sizes and so on without even giving any indication that they can or plan to help with the original question.

in my opinion,it is true what fluttermoth says that we should always try to give the best advice to our knowlede for the welfare of the fish in question. but there are ways of doing it and there will almost certainly be somebody willing to do it the right way, there for i dont think its appropriate for a "bombarder" to jump in and start "bombarding" as im sure alot of people just switch off when they get "bombarded"

i do find it interesting that people question the ops tank size (as do i) and "bombard" him, considering some of the fish that people on here keep and the tanks that they dont and never will be able to house the fish

surely as fish keepers we should all be promoting keeping smaller fish in bigger tanks.

the stream near my old house which is about 2cm deep in most places had 2 "holes" if you like about a 16" round and 8" deep both home to some sticklebacks. one had three and the other had 2. when they bred in the summer i collected some for my old pond. in a 5' by 2' by 3' pond i had 5 stickle backs. . . . .i could look at those fish (when ever i caught a glimpse)and know that they were better off, happier and safer.

If i could of heated the pond i never would of dreampt of keeping anything like a clown loach in it because i wouldnt be able to look at them and have the same feeling. hoewever at least with clownloaches they have mental stimulation in the sense of there company which is more than what can be said for some fish people keep in small tanks

 

[minnnt]

Key word being "bombard" then yeah?

 

[Lestat999]

Interesting "rant" and has some good points but I will always advise on the adult size and social preferences of Clowns to those who are keeping them (IMO) incorrectly. For example, keeping juveniles in a 4' tank is one thing but a fully grown adult? and Clowns on their own just look sad to me!!!

 

[minnnt]

Interesting "rant" and has some good points but I will always advise on the adult size and social preferences of Clowns to those who are keeping them (IMO) incorrectly. For example, keeping juveniles in a 4' tank is one thing but a fully grown adult? and Clowns on their own just look sad to me!!!

 

[ShinySideUp]

Well, I started this post so I'd better finish it.

I thank you all for your input.

Unfortunately my mention of guinea pigs tended to blur the issue as it was taken out of context because my intention was to show that no domestic creature is kept in 'wild' conditions not whether or not they had the right sized living space. However I have finally solved all my problems with the clown loaches and the guinea pigs. Basically, I have killed all my clown loaches and fed them to the guinea pigs before letting them go free in the fields where they were eaten by foxes. So, job done, everyone should now be happy.


Really though, for now my clown loaches are fine in a 240 litre tank, they are happy and not too big for the volume they have. I expect at their rate of growth, which has slowed during their adolescent phase, they will be good for up to two years at which time I intend to divest myself of both my tanks -- I also have a 120 litre that has small zebra loaches and also black phantom tetra's in it -- and purchase a 6' x 2' x 2'. If that still isn't big enough then see paragraph 3 above.

Regards

Martin