Questions about clown loaches

[Blue Guppy]

A newbie in terms of loaches. Planning (but not too soon) to buy some loaches. Can these fishes mingle with Bolivian Rams and other peaceful cichlids. Do these fishes have the same temperaments as the red tail shark?

Also will they thrive in a well planted aquarium? I've also read in other blogs that some loaches prey and eat on aquarium snails. If so do clown loaches have the same habit? it'll be great though since my aquarium have a few numbers of snails that probably came from some plants that I bought from my LFS.

[TRDNiteLife]

People do have success keeping Clowns and other botia with Cichlids. Yes, Clown Loaches do eat snails. Don't buy them expecting them to be your snail solution though.

[W_Oz]

Clowns have a rather ridiculous temperament of being easy going and a little silly. They don't bother anyone in my experience, unless they're competing for their favorite hiding spot. They are anything but aggressive and love to play, school and crowd into small spaces with their kin and are best kept with their kin in good sized groups. If you buy them all at the same time they'll form a pecking order and a dominant individual (generally female as I recall) will arise and become the largest member of the troupe.

As for keeping them with Ciclids, I can't speak. But I'd imagine as long as their tank mates aren't too aggressive (they can hold their own with spines to prove it) minor harassers shouldn't be a big deal.

They will (as mentioned above) eat snails and can keep their numbers in check or even drive the snails to obliteration in your tank, but removing Clowns from the tank will typically see the reoccurrence of snails in the tank.

[angelcakes]

i wouldnt put with cichilds until the clown loaches are over 6-7 inches and there defensive barbels are more prominent and they have a better chance at self defense at a small size they could get eaten,clown loaches love snails:hmm3grin2orange:

Clowns have a rather ridiculous temperament of being easy going and a little silly. They don't bother anyone in my experience, unless they're competing for their favorite hiding spot. They are anything but aggressive and love to play, school and crowd into small spaces with their kin and are best kept with their kin in good sized groups. If you buy them all at the same time they'll form a pecking order and a dominant individual (generally female as I recall) will arise and become the largest member of the troupe.


spot on buddy:19:

[Dave66]

Just FYI, Blue Guppy, clown loaches can and do reach 14 to 16 inches long. A better bet would be Botia striata, which tops out at four inches.

Dave

[Spyder]

Just FYI, Blue Guppy, clown loaches can and do reach 14 to 16 inches long. A better bet would be Botia striata, which tops out at four inches.

Dave

I agree, another great choice would be Botia Kabotia. Kabotia also stay around 4" and they are more active during the day so you would enjoy their activity more.

[Blue Guppy]

Many thanks to all your advices. My LFS got a lot of Clowns and similar species. I'll go ask them about the Botia Kabotia and the Botia striata since I am not too familiar about them. But I must agree the Clown is the best looking of the bunch. Might consider getting a bigger tank in the future.

You guys are great!

[Demjor19]

I have my Loaches with my green and gold severums. The Loaches are all between 3 and 6 inches long and the Severums are 3" and 7". I have never seen any problems at all.

[Demjor19]

Just FYI, Blue Guppy, clown loaches can and do reach 14 to 16 inches long. A better bet would be Botia striata, which tops out at four inches.

Dave

How awesome would that be!!?? I have seen pics of these 'Giant' clown loaches, but never in person. The largest i have ever seen in person was 9".

[clgkag]

[QUOTE=angelcakes]i wouldnt put with cichilds until the clown loaches are over 6-7 inches and there defensive barbels are more prominent and they have a better chance at self defense at a small size they could get eaten,clown loaches love snails:hmm3grin2orange:
[QUOTE]

I disagree. I have cl in my cichlid tank and have several ca/sa over 8-10 inches. The clowns are from 3-6 inches. Nobody has ever bothered them. They also take forever to get big. My six incher took about 2 years to get that big in a 210 gal. tank.

One other thing, clowns are schooling and are happiest in groups of 3 or more.

[Crispy]

I keep 5 clowns with frontosas and eartheaters (both cichlids), and they're fine. Never picked on and always together. Mind you, my cichlids are on the docile end of the cichlid scale. But my clowns are always active and always fat (bout 4 - 5 inches now). Make sure you have plenty of hiding spots for just the loaches.

[mac]

Hi,
I can't comment about keeping Clowns with Cichlids, but I can say you should not really keep Clowns with Most African Cichlids.

Also since Clown's grow up to an larger than 16 inches, you would need a tank around 150 gallons.

other wise the I would look into the smaller Loach species like Botia Kabotia and the Botia striata.

mac

[Crispy]

Since we're on the topic of what to keep with clown loaches, I was wonderin'...
Someone wants to give me a dinosaur bichir (5 inches). I know they're predators and will eat smaller fish. The smallest fish I have are the clowns (4-5 inches). He won't eat them yet I'm sure, but he'll probably grow way faster. There are a million hiding spots for everyone in the tank, but my loaches are very active and almost always out and about. Any thoughts??????

[Dave66]

The loaches would have to fit into the bichir's mouth, which the don't at their current length. Nor will they when the clowns are 16 inches long. They slow down a bit in growth past six inches, but they will hit 16 within three years.

Botia-type loaches all have sub-ocular spines for defense, making them a prickly mouthful for a predator.

Dave

[Crispy]

The loaches would have to fit into the bichir's mouth, which the don't at their current length. Nor will they when the clowns are 16 inches long. They slow down a bit in growth past six inches, but they will hit 16 within three years.
Botia-type loaches all have sub-ocular spines for defense, making them a prickly mouthful for a predator.

I just want to make sure the bichir doesn't grow super fast and make a meal of the loaches since they grow fairly slowly. I had 4 loaches before with some baby jaguars, and after a year the jags either swallowed them, or buggered them to death.

[mac]

IMo if you feel concerned about the Loaches safty I would not bother getting the bichir.

Just my thought.

mac

[Crispy]

IMo if you feel concerned about the Loaches safty I would not bother getting the bichir.
mac

Yeah, I think you're right. No sense jeopardizing 5 loaches for the sake of one cool fish. Maybe I'll wait until they're 6 or 7 inches instead of 4-5.

[LORENZO]

[COLOR="Blue Clowns i have lots of them oh seven in a big tank. They love to have lots of room. That is the trick let them school. They must school. Mine are getting big now and were soo slow for awhile but now they seem to have put on growth! Why do people want to keep them with predatory fish? They are great community fish. They get along great with gouramis and angels and tetras. Why would you want to take the chance of a more aggressive fish getting big enough to eat them. They are such beauties in the tank. OH dojos with them now that is a sight!!!!! Don't clowns like the more acidic conditions and some nice black water extract for their water. I thought most cichlids like more alkaline water? When i had severums and convicts i know they did. Kribs I know like the slightly acidic water and can adjust and breed in it.