Rescued Clown Loach Questions

[confused mermaid]

To make a long story short, my son and I took home two tiny clown loaches (about an inch long) that we rescued from undesirable circumstances. I have been teaching him a lot about large chain stores and how they mis-label a lot of their fish and the proper care. (such as the dragon goby we really wanted the needs brackish water). I was going to keep them till Monday when I can take them to the LFS. Well now he is all attached to them (I guess I am a little bit too) and he doesn't want them going to the LFS where another person will get them that doesn't know what they're doing. SO...my questions are.

Right now they are in a 46 gallon with 25 or so other fish that include glass cats, dwarf gouramis, 1 male betta, yoyo loaches, 1 tiger loach and two angel fish. I do 50% water change once a week and my tests are good. My questions are as follows:

1. It will be about Feb. probably before I can afford a bigger tank. (6 months). Will they be ok in the tank I have till then?

2. I know they should be in a larger group....But the biggest tank I see myself being able to get is 75 to 100 gallons. Which probably healthily won't be able to fit more than the two. If they have each other and the other fish do you think it will still be a problem of being too few?

3. If they make it and get large (which I know will take some years) will I still be able to keep my smaller fish with them?

Thanks....I know you guys are huge on doing the proper thing for the fish and I am too. But I can't help agreeing with my sons pleas and thinking that I can take better care of them than definitely where they came from and probably where they would go from LFS.

 

[Lestat999]

Hi,

It's nice to see some people still care about fish.

At 1" they will be fine in a 46g tank for 6 months, They would be happier in a group but you would then need a much bigger tank in a year or two, they will be fine as a pair but maybe a little reclusive. Do you have plenty of hiding places for them?

They will grow a lot in the next year or two but then their growth will slow down, mine got to 6" within 18 months but took many more years to get to 10". They will be fine with the fish you have at the moment.

How many YoYos do you have?

 

[confused mermaid]

Hi,

It's nice to see some people still care about fish.

At 1" they will be fine in a 46g tank for 6 months, They would be happier in a group but you would then need a much bigger tank in a year or two, they will be fine as a pair but maybe a little reclusive. Do you have plenty of hiding places for them?

They will grow a lot in the next year or two but then their growth will slow down, mine got to 6" within 18 months but took many more years to get to 10". They will be fine with the fish you have at the moment.

How many YoYos do you have?

I have four YoYo's and one zebra loach. I have a rock cave, two other rocks with holes and crevices and an amazon sword plant(aside from other plastic plants). One seems to hang out by/in the plant and the other tends to go all over more. They have been a little reclusive since Friday but seem to be coming out more and more. I haven't seen them eat although they appear to browse for food. One thing I think is odd is that they will hang with other fish from time to time, but they pay no attention to each other AT ALL. They can be on the same side of the tank a few inches apart and go their separate ways. My kuhli loaches and the yoyos all hang out together.

By the way thanks for responding