Clown Loaches and plants?

[Tails]

Do they go well together? I've been reading up, and some reader's opinions on some sites say that (clown) loaches are not recommended for a heavily planted tank? Is this true?

Now we dont have that many plants as yet, but aiming to get a pretty full tank, plant-wise that is....as mentioned in another post, my dad bought a c02 thingamajiggy too.

We are mainly looking at clown loaches, because we do seem to have a few snails in the tank, and no matter how many we pick out...there's always more lol! We've also read about their fascinating (is that spelled right??! lol) antics and would love to see a school of them in our tank but not if they're going to eat our plants.

So, any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

PS: I'll add the particular comment that got me worried in the 1st place about clowns being plant eaters:

I have three of these ludicrous fish and they are great favourites. They are really active and they are the focal point of our lush planted aquarium. And that is the problem - they are merciless plant destroyers and they do it for fun as they do everthing. This is a habit the fish store did not communicate when we bought them 3 years ago as cute little 4cm fish. I know when the loaches have been on a binge because there are quantities of new leaf shoots floating on the surface, they especially adore the dwarf echinodorus species quadricostatus, latifolius, parv-tropica and tennellus, and seem to delight in snipping each new leaf off at the centre of the crown accompanied by the clicking noises they emit when excited. They also munch holes in the other plants and relish the really expensive ones such as the larger exotic swords plants ocelot, barthii and rose varieties which I would add are guaranteed fish-proof by the growers. But our loaches haven't read the books! So my advice for what it's worth is that the loaches are brilliant fish but not for a tank where a lot of money has been invested in substrate and technology to grow plants - the carnage will make you weep. But on the bright side at least we don't have any snails!
- http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_clown.php

Thanks in advance guys!

[kimmers318]

I don't know too many of the scientific names of plants but any that I have tried with my clown loaches have happily been munched away! One type, I believe is a type of wisteria they absolutely adore!

[hungryhound]

We, like you, looked into getting clown loachs. We decided against them for the following reasons. The first was the size that they can get. These fish can get extremely large and need a lot of space (I can't rememebr how large your tank is). The second reason was the fact that we had a planted tank. Like you we'd read that they can be plant eaters....I can't say whether they actually eat plants or whether it's more that they uproot them as they get older and bigger.

I can suggest an alternative to you thought! We went with 5 Yoyo loaches instead. These little fish are amazing! They seem to be very similar in personality to the clown loach (ours are constantly barralling around the tank) and do an amazing job at cleaning up th bottom. WHat's even more exciting is the fact that they stay smaller (I think making out somewhere around 2 in) and thus poose less of a thrreat to your tank.

Thus far we've had our Yoyos for about a month with no harm to the plants. They've grown quite a bit in our care and seem happy (they always have fulll bellies)!

Good luck with the great loach debate!

[xoolooxunny]

I'm still waiting for my lfs to get some yoyos in:( anyway, I have 3 khulie loaches that are the same coloring as the clown loaches. they eat any of the rounded snails but leave the malaysian trumpet snails completely alone. This has allowed the MTS population to explode, so now they travel outside of their normal home of substrate. I need some yoyos! Ever since hungryhound got them in his planted tank ive been dieing for them!!!

[Tails]

We, like you, looked into getting clown loachs. We decided against them for the following reasons. The first was the size that they can get. These fish can get extremely large and need a lot of space (I can't rememebr how large your tank is). The second reason was the fact that we had a planted tank. Like you we'd read that they can be plant eaters....I can't say whether they actually eat plants or whether it's more that they uproot them as they get older and bigger.

I can suggest an alternative to you thought! We went with 5 Yoyo loaches instead. These little fish are amazing! They seem to be very similar in personality to the clown loach (ours are constantly barralling around the tank) and do an amazing job at cleaning up th bottom. WHat's even more exciting is the fact that they stay smaller (I think making out somewhere around 2 in) and thus poose less of a thrreat to your tank.

Thus far we've had our Yoyos for about a month with no harm to the plants. They've grown quite a bit in our care and seem happy (they always have fulll bellies)!

Good luck with the great loach debate!

Ahh I see you found this post already (see my reply to you in my other thread in General) :)

Do the yo-yo loaches eat snails? Thats one of the main reasons we're looking into Clown Loaches cos our tank is getting too many (the more we take out, the more we find a little later). Also I wonder if Yo-Yo loaches are available in South Africa....

Thanks for the tip though - we'll definately look these guys up!

PS: We have a 230l tank :)

[Tails]

I'm still waiting for my lfs to get some yoyos in:( anyway, I have 3 khulie loaches that are the same coloring as the clown loaches. they eat any of the rounded snails but leave the malaysian trumpet snails completely alone. This has allowed the MTS population to explode, so now they travel outside of their normal home of substrate. I need some yoyos! Ever since hungryhound got them in his planted tank ive been dieing for them!!!

We were thinking about khulie loaches, but were reading that they like to burrow in sand...we only have gravel in our tank, so decided against them. We also have no idea what variety of snails we have haha!

Must admit, khulie loaches give me the heebyjeebies :P Not sure if I could get used to their looks :P

[crackatinny]

Don't forget yoyo (pakistani) loaches as another option, they grow much smaller than clowns (about half the size I think)

[hungryhound]

We were thinking about khulie loaches, but were reading that they like to burrow in sand...we only have gravel in our tank, so decided against them. We also have no idea what variety of snails we have haha!

Must admit, khulie loaches give me the heebyjeebies :P Not sure if I could get used to their looks :P


From what i have heard, the yoyo loaches will eat snails. I do not have a snail problem in the tank that i am in and i chalk it up to them.

the place where i buy my plants keeps snails with the plants and it is almost inevitable not to miss a few when transplanting the plant into my tank. The tank with the yoyos has none in it, but the small 5 gallon is starting to get overrun with the little snails.

I guess soon I will have to transfer a yoyo loach to my 5 gallon for a few hours so it can gorge itself on the snails.

In terms of gravel. We have eco complete. I have not seen any problems with this substrate and the loaches. None of their whiskers are red and infected from digging in it and they all seem to get along fine in the tank.

I do have to add one thing though. On my earlier post my wife(she likes to ghost under my user name), pointed out that we have not had any problems with our yoyo loaches. I would like to point out that ours are still kind of small between 1 and 2 inches. It may be that when they reach there full grown size 4 inches, they are a little more destructive in our tank in terms of uprooting plants. Just a caution. But I have never seen them eat any of my plants.

[Tails]

Don't forget yoyo (pakistani) loaches as another option, they grow much smaller than clowns (about half the size I think)

Hmm according to this site (http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_lohachata.php) they grow around 10cm which I guess sounds small.

We were only thinking about two Clown Loaches...oddly enough, I'm rather disappointed at not getting Clown Loaches anymore :( lol

[crackatinny]

Before you make up your mind, check out this very extensive article on various loaches
http://www.loaches.com/articles/an-introduction-to-keeping-botia

[Lady Hobbs]

I put lettuce or zucchini in the tank and the clowns devour it in minutes so guess it can be safety said they will destroy plants as well. You might want to try onion plants and pot them and put them in the tank to try them. I tried these with my silver dollars and they don't like them.

[hungryhound]

Before you make up your mind, check out this very extensive article on various loaches
http://www.loaches.com/articles/an-introduction-to-keeping-botia

I agree with crackatinny, don't take my word for them. do some research and find the fish that is right for you.

[scthomps]

i have yoyo loaches in a heavily planted tank and have been very very happy with them. They dont touch the plants and have eaten any snails that have piggybacked their way into the tank. They can knock out a few dozen snails of any type a day if you have a group of them. I would keep them in groups of at least 3. let me know if you have any other questions

[Tails]

i have yoyo loaches in a heavily planted tank and have been very very happy with them. They dont touch the plants and have eaten any snails that have piggybacked their way into the tank. They can knock out a few dozen snails of any type a day if you have a group of them. I would keep them in groups of at least 3. let me know if you have any other questions

See, yoyo loaches seem like a great idea...only they look too similar to our algae eaters and we're looking to get variety (I feel so superficial haha) *sigh* Darn us for wanting plants AND nice fish haha