clown loach help

[mines bigger]

i am looking at getting a clown loach to control my snail problem, the local pet store only sells the loaches about 3 cm long, would they be big enough to control the snails???????
help is much appreciated:22: :22:

[xoolooxunny]

they get a lot bigger. I've seen someone trade on in that was about 4-5 inches long! They tear up plants, and do best in a tank with lots of hiding places. Yoyo loaches do a great job on snails, as do khulie loaches, but khulies wont eat malaysian trumpet snails. yoyo's are supposed to be a kick to watch, and they stay small. They need a little group of like 4-6, something like that. I could be wrong on the exact number.

[RobbieG]

Clown Loaches can be very demanding fish to keep - they can get large, like to be kept in groups of 5 or more - they are scaleless fish so you have to be very careful with any medications/chemicals you use in the tank- and they are very prone to ICH - and they need perfect water.

You should probably only plan to keep them if they are going to be the main fish in a tank. I have a bunch in one of my tanks and they are my favorite fish!

[kimmers318]

You did not mention what size your tank is and as stated clown loaches can get huge. I have seen pics of them at 10+ inches! They really do best in groups and unless you have 120 gal + I wouldn't recommend them. Do some research on other loaches, there are several botia species that stay smaller and are reported to be great for snail control, the ones I was looking for for awhile were botia striata, small, mellow for community tanks and great snail eaters. Remember too, that if you get something to control snails, eventually you will run out of this food for them and they will need to be fed a healthy diet.

[hungryhound]

We, like you, looked into getting clown loachs, but decided against them for the following reasons: (1) the size that they can get. These fish can get extremely large and need a lot of space. (2) we have a planted tank and had 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.

As others have suggested, you can go with the Yoyo loach. These little fish are amazing! They seem to be very similar in personality to the clown loach (ours are constantly barreling 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. From what i have heard, Yoyo loaches will eat snails, however, I do not have a snail problem.

As an aside, 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.

To date we've had no problems with our Yoyos, but 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 will be 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.

[Lady Hobbs]

I have the clowns. Believe me, they eat the plants. I found one thing they won't eat, tho. I dropped a worm in the tank yesterday thinking they would devour it. They crawled around on it for awhile but didn't eat it. They eat everything else I've ever put in the tank including stuff not intended for them. They will make short work of a fish that dies, as well. Seldom even leave a carcass but that worm was not to their liking.

Mine have grown very slow in the year I've had them. They're no more than 2 inches. They live forever so who knows how big they will be in 8 years.

[mines bigger]

i have a custom made tank that is 130 gallons, i am not sure what type of snails i have but they are the little cone shaped ones, if that makes any difference to what loach i should get,i dont have many plants so it doesnt matter if they get eaten

[kimmers318]

With that large of a tank, yes, you could get clown loaches, but keep in mind, that as they grow the amount of tankmates you will be able to keep with them will diminish and eventually it will basically be a clown loach only tank! These guys can get to huge proportions if they live long enough. I would still suggest looking at some of the smaller loaches, but with a nice big tank like that your options are definitely bigger. Several beautiful loaches get to the 5-8" mark and are not as deep bodied, thus they put alot less of a load on the tank.

[marcryan11]

Clowns can get to well over a foot long, and live 40+ years. I would make sure you want to keep one that long. We have 2 in a 55 planted, and they have never eaten any of our plants. Those that have their plants eaten need to change to a more bitter tasting plant. They are fun, but they do get big.