Problem with clown loaches

[IMCL85]

Hi all first time post here. I recently got 5x clown loaches from a local fish store. I love the way they look . This ain't the first time I have Clown loach the last time I have 5x die to dirty water like few years ago . But back then I do water change like once a monthes or so. And thats probably why they die. Any ways now I have an 25g planted tank fully set up and cycled no problem. At first I bought 2x from a store which is like 3 cm long pretty small. Then I get another 3 from an old store I always go to which is alot bigger like 6cm one. Those 2 dont seems to get along with the other 3 very well I guess the other 3 must bullying my little one . The little guys always hide some where under my wood during day and some times come out exploring but those big one seems kind of stress and swim all around the tank when people go near they like gone crazy and swim immediately to the back of my tank hiding behind the woods. I have set up an hole with rock cover to previde them dark place to hide during day time but they dont seems to like it much only 1 of those 3 go in there sometime. Any one have idea how to get them less stressed? Oh yea the tank also have 17x neon and cardinal tetra inside before I have these loachs they seems to do pretty well so thats why I thought I can give clown loaches another try.

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

i think that you should hav bought all the clown loaches at once from the same tank and this would have solved the problem but you shoudlnt be buying them anyway!!!!!!!!

clown loaches grow to 12 inches and will eventually need at leat 75 gallons of water and in your tank their growth will stunt and it will kill them

i recommend taking them back to the LFS

 

[IMCL85]

acturally I have a 75g tank with 4 dicus. If they do get bigger I will toss them over. But that would have wait for abit since if my discus get sick my loach will get cook due to temperature I rise. Offen during time when my discus is not well I put temperature of my tank over 90 and add midicain I dont think loaches can take that kind of heat. And also I cant return those large one since I'm not getting them from store such as LFS. I got them from an store where I get a good dail for mostly all the aquarium supply like alot lower then LFS. Those bastard from big company makes alot of money out of it. See I live in canada if I get those 2" loaches from large aquarium supplier its like $21 for 1 after taxes and in this store I got off like $7.5 for 1.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Surely the most important question is not whether you can get a good deal from the shop, but whether you can provide good conditions for the fish you buy. Or have I missed something?

 

[IMCL85]

yea but oh well but those fish comes in great condition like no white spot and healthy. I could provide them bigger tank but atm I think they r still small. Probably will wait a few monthes until I can get my uv light to my dicuse tank I will toss them over. And I agree at some point about condition of fish u make. But I could also use that little money I saved for like a better home for this little fish. rather give the money to those big company's pocket. However since I cant return them atm so I would just let them stay here for a while and then move them to my other tank.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hi there and welcome to TFF
Im a little concerned about your situation and also curious as to what you already know about fish keeping to help give us a clearer picture of your situation, so a couple of questions and pointers;

a. Do you know what ammonia, nitrates and nitrites are and dechlorinator/water conditioner? Do you test your tank for these at all?
b. How many tanks do you have, what and how many fish do you have in them, and how many gallons do the tanks hold?
c. How often do you do water changes in your tanks and how much water do you take out roughly in each one? Do you dechlorinate the tap water that goes into the tank?
d. What do you feed your fish and how often and how much on average?
e. Are any of your fish unwell or showing any odd behavior/symtoms?
f. How often do you clean your filter out and how do you go about it and do you clean it sparkling clean or just half clean it?

You need to answer these questions just so we know you are going in the right direction and to help avoid any mishaps in your tank .

 

[IMCL85]

oh ok
I have 4x tank
75 g tank with nothing but 4xdiamond dicus and a drift wood I tend to like it this way for clean up tank.
0.5 tablet daily mostly sun set time
ammonia = 0
ph=7
DH=5
nitrate=<0.3 mg/L

25 g planted tank with 17xneon/cardinal tetras and 5x clown loaches
0.5 a tablet daily and flake for tetra in the morning
ammonia=0
ph=7.5
DH=5
nitrate=<0.3 mg/L

20 g pure planted tank with massive plants have co2 system install and placed next to my window for healthy sunlight
no feeding of any kind due to no fish
ammonia=0
ph=7.5
DH=5
nitrate=>0.3 mg/L

35 g plain tank with nothing but 6xgolden severum size 10-15cm(recently having ich problem and have 2x sevy pass away because of black out during treatment )
feed once daily with 2xtablet of blood warm
ammonia=0
ph=7.5
nitrate=<0.3 mg/L
haven't test dh yet but probably similar to others

I do weekly changes of water like 25%-50% depend on tank and fish except the planted tank I do water changes once every 2 weeks

I feed all my fish once daily except my tetra I feed them twice a day. mostly all fish I feed them blood warm and for tetra I feed them flake in the morning before work and feed blood warm when I go to bed due to clown loach.

I clean up filter sponge weekly and do sparkling clean once a monthes wash everything.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It sounds like you are going on the right track, although i may add that it is best only to clean the filter out in water from water changes once every 10days at most because your beneficial bacteria lives in the sponge and over cleaning or cleaning it out in undechlorinated tap water can cause it to mini cycle, which is a bad thing.
It will be best you move out the clown loachs into the 75gal tank when they are a little bit bigger as they will need this kind of space to grow up in otherwise they will get stunted in the smaller tank and this will affect their health and life expectancy.

 

[IMCL85]

Yea I will remember that what about during the period of time when u have ich because atm my clown is kind of stress so I was force to take everything in my filter out and leave it running just empty to ensure the medican get to clown. What to do with the sponge after the treatment? They be just laying on my container for like 4-5 day with no water so the bateria would die off inside the sponge I think do I still need to use tank water to wash it or should I just use tap water with conditioner in it to wash it? And if so after I washed it I have this cycle liquid chamical from nutrafin to make the water cycle again. Also I use stress guard right now to make fish less stress from transportation and handle does that help?