Aggressive loaches :twisted:

[AKI]

I had four loaches three died one was still left but was super friendly. So i was worried that he might get stressed so i got anothe loach a bit smaller but
the smaller one started chasing the old one. I read articles on the net the groups of three do fine so i bought a 3 inch loach the biggest of all, they are peaceful to their species but are hurting the other fish like my angelfish and the others. So what should i do to stop them, i need suggestions about why they could be doing such things. Any help would be appreciated.

[William]

Loaches can be aggressive sometimes. Try to decorate the aquarium so that the loahes has plenty of hiding places and preferable a cave with many entrences and exits.

Is there any fish that are large enough to stand up agaist the loaches?

[AKI]

Yes my angel, and bala sharks are a bit bigger than the loaches, but still they dont defend or respond to the attacks they simply swim away. I have noticed that they try to defend the hiding spot i bought for them. My spot has many entries and exits they like it my tanks also has alot of plants.
However, i have recently seperated the loaches from others by putting them in my new tank. But now others in the old tank try to hurt each other for example shark hurts angel
then angel hurts the other and so on, they are not niping but kinda like bitin but not hurting.

[Full3R]

Well i had the same problem when i had a 4 inch clown loach then i planted the aquarium and put numerous hiding places and that stopped them feeling so threatened so they stoped hurtin my other fish

[DemonShark]

You can buy a speacil strees coat wich kinda drugs the fish untill you get the nessesary hiding places

[Slinky_Bass]

What kind of loaches do you have? I've had my 6 skunk loaches for three weeks now, they're still quite small, say 2 inches or so. About a week on from getting them they started getting really aggressive with my bronze corys, hassling them and nipping their fins.

From what I had read about them they usually only get aggressive and territorial once they reach full size, but alas fish don't work by the rules (especially my fish). So I made six caves for each of them, added some bogwood and rearranged the existing bogwood and plants to create separate little areas and hiding places.

My loaches have since re-established their territories and now leave my corys alone (barring a few run-ins here and there) and they completely leave the angels alone, being content with their spaces on the bottom of the tank. They are now very active and a pleasure to watch.

So, perhaps add some individual caves that your loaches can call their own, that will keep them preoccupied with defending their territory so they won't wander about looking for trouble with your other fish (that's how it worked out for me).

As for your angel and bala, I don't know how you feel about having plants and bogwood in your tank, but I have a very timid angel who was apt to get bullied ALOT by my three other angels. I built up a bogwood & java fern "wall" with lots of plants near the back of the tank, which is now his little hiding space and the other angels hardly bother him.

Hmm, I know this post was kinda longwinded, but I hope it helps. There's nothing worse that watching your fish terrorise eachother, good luck!

[Lady Hobbs]

I have 7 clown loaches and have never seen one second of aggressive from any of them both toward each other or other species. They eat a algae pellet right alongside a corey. They remain on the bottom nearly all the time unless they play in the bubble wands or eat algae from the plants and wood. Now and then they form a line and waltz across the tank which is awesome to watch but never any aggression.

However, they are still small. I've had them 9 months and they have not grown hardly at all so are very slow growers. Mine are all about 2 inches still.

[Lady Hobbs]

You can buy a speacil strees coat wich kinda drugs the fish untill you get the nessesary hiding places

Stress Coat drugs them? This is something I've never heard.

[kimmers318]

It would also help to know what type of loaches you bought....and are all 3 the same species? Some loaches can be quite nippy no matter what you do, others are as docile as a mouse....like the clowns. As for the angel and bala aggression.....is it possible they are heading into maturity? Some fish get nippier when they grow up, although my experience has been that as long as they are bought as young juveniles they show less of their species characteristic nippiness than if they are adults added to your tank. Another consideration may simply be that all of the aggression that began with the loaches just prompted the other fish to follow suit.....if you are being picked on by a bully, find someone weaker than yourself to pick on to take out your stress from being bullied. Not a logical thought, but hey.....fish refuse to listen to a psychiatrist or read their books so they just don't behave at times! :)

[Lady Hobbs]

Jumping off topic for one second ....Kimmers, why don't you just get some clowns for your community tank? That's where mine are.

Loaches like several of their own species. Possibly they don't have enough of their own together to get their mind off the others? They may feel threatened in a small group. I know! When you have fish that are giving you problems you don't much feel like running out and getting more of them. That's how I feel about my angels!

[kimmers318]

I have tried very hard to keep clowns Hobbs. It was the original fish we wanted to be able to grow out for a future tank. A group of 6 10-12" clowns I raised from juveniles is a dream of mine. But, for some reason, I can't keep clowns alive....all have gotten skinny and died on me, feeding and active right up until the day of death. Have been researching using levamisole to treat for the possibility of internal parasites. And actually, hubby brought 3 home in September, 2 died, 1 still surviving with no signs of skinny. Treated with a round of prazipro, pepso, and internal parasite guard. Then I found some larger clowns and brought 3 home hoping they might be past the internal parasite issue, one was lost immediately, no signs of parasites, probably not healthy to begin with. He has been replaced. This time I am treating with antiparasite food from jungle that contains levamisole. The only problem is they don't care for it, so I may try adding a few pellets of the pepso food with it since they liked the pepso in the hopes of encouraging them to eat it. After the holidays, if they are still around I will order the levamisole and do the round of treatment and tank changes, just to be safe.
I had not shared my new addition information on the clown loaches because I didn't want to jinx myself! We have space for one more large tank and both hubby and I want tankbuster clowns as the centerpiece for it. I figure they can grow out for several years in my 65 gal once I get them thru a 4 month quarantine in 20long. I have chosen to Q that long because all previous clowns have not made it past that point and I figure I should be safe if they make it that long :). The only odd part about not being able to keep clowns is knowing that others in my area have had success, I was beginning to think there was something off about my water that they were sensitive to and spoke with William and Rollie about it. If it is internal parasites from having been wild caught it has never been passed on to my other fish to my knowledge.

[Lady Hobbs]

Odd. I consider them as reasonably hardly altho they do get stressed easily when moved.

[kimmers318]

Not for me....but maybe it is just not meant to be for one reason or another.

[phishmin]

If they're skunk loaches, they are just mean little suckers.

[jeffs99dime]

i had used to have a horse-faced loach a long time ago. he could be very aggressive at times.

[upinflames]

hi, i came home today to one of my glass cats being devoured by clown loaches. i noticed a few days ago his tail fins were chewed off, but looked completly healthy and active. Any one have any clues as to why they would behave that way?