Shy Clown Loach?

[loubega]

hi,

im fairly new to the whole aquarium business but have had my tank for about a month now. I took it off the hands of a mate who was getting bored of it, so the water was already mature and didnt need cycling.....it already had 1 clown loach, 2 copper tetra and one rather large plec....since then i have bought 6 black neon and 6 neon tetra (these both shoal together), but also decided to get 2 more clown loach as i thought the one i had in there was looking lonely

however, i hardly ever see the loaches anymore, as they are either always under the bogwodd or they hide round the back under the plants...is this normal or should they get more active as they settle in more?

the tank is 70l and is hexagonal...

any suggestions on new fish would be great as well....

thanks

lou

 

[Davo86]

hi,

im fairly new to the whole aquarium business but have had my tank for about a month now. I took it off the hands of a mate who was getting bored of it, so the water was already mature and didnt need cycling.....it already had 1 clown loach, 2 copper tetra and one rather large plec....since then i have bought 6 black neon and 6 neon tetra (these both shoal together), but also decided to get 2 more clown loach as i thought the one i had in there was looking lonely

however, i hardly ever see the loaches anymore, as they are either always under the bogwodd or they hide round the back under the plants...is this normal or should they get more active as they settle in more?

the tank is 70l and is hexagonal...

any suggestions on new fish would be great as well....

thanks

lou

Hi
I'm afriad the tank is way too small for clown loach and most likely the plec too.

The clowns probably feel most secure in that area and so are staying there, (for 3clown loach and a common pleco you should really have at least a 60-70US Gallon tank)
If they where in a much bigger tank then they would have multiple places where they could feel secure and so they would be more confident in swimming around the tank.
Also have you tested the water at all? 70L is only 18USG and with 14 tetras and the clowns and plec it could be poor water thats stressing the clown loach and making them feel unsecure.

 

[kewskills]

I have already given my advise on your other thread about this

 

[drobbyb]

I'd have to agree with the others. That tank is way too small for 1 clown loach much less any more. The tank being a hex tank has very little surface area at the top. This makes it a poor choice for large fish or alot of fish. I'm sorry to have to say that as I know you want to keep more than what you possibly can. Stocking for a 70L hex would be a small school of neons and that's about it.

 

[atariacid]

clown loaches are very shy creatures anyway
i have 2 in a 95Lt tank and they have been fine now for the last 3 years.
just about to move to a bigger tank though because of these two getting bigger.

you'll find also that if you set your lights to turn off for 2 or 3 hours during the day (say an hour or so after feeding)
the clowns will happily venture out and amaze you with there gravel throwing without diving for cover at any movement from outside the tank.

agree with the chaps above on the tank size .. you'll need to upgrade soon enough.

 

[gr7174]

hi,

im fairly new to the whole aquarium business but have had my tank for about a month now. I took it off the hands of a mate who was getting bored of it, so the water was already mature and didnt need cycling.....it already had 1 clown loach, 2 copper tetra and one rather large plec....since then i have bought 6 black neon and 6 neon tetra (these both shoal together), but also decided to get 2 more clown loach as i thought the one i had in there was looking lonely

however, i hardly ever see the loaches anymore, as they are either always under the bogwodd or they hide round the back under the plants...is this normal or should they get more active as they settle in more?

the tank is 70l and is hexagonal...

any suggestions on new fish would be great as well....

thanks

lou

Hi
I'm afriad the tank is way too small for clown loach and most likely the plec too.

The clowns probably feel most secure in that area and so are staying there, (for 3clown loach and a common pleco you should really have at least a 60-70US Gallon tank)
If they where in a much bigger tank then they would have multiple places where they could feel secure and so they would be more confident in swimming around the tank.
Also have you tested the water at all? 70L is only 18USG and with 14 tetras and the clowns and plec it could be poor water thats stressing the clown loach and making them feel unsecure.