New to Clown Loaches

[Komar]

Here's my set-up:

• 45 Gallon tank (4' long).
• Heavily planted with Amazon Swords and Crypts, mostly.
• Iron-enriched gravel (somewhat jagged, but not exactly "sharp").
• 3.5 Watts per gallon fluorescent lighting.

I clean all my tanks at least once a week. Here's the inhabitants:

6 x Clown Loaches (3 are about 2.5", 3 are closer to 4")
10 x Otocinclus Catfish ("Otos")
3 x True Siamese Algae Eaters (SAEs; will be 5 later this week)
1 x Pearl Gourami

I feed these fish mainly flake food, and frozen brine shrimp quite frequently. Sometimes I feed them freeze-dried bloodworms and tubifex worms, and other "bottom-feeder" pellet foods.

I've got one nice hiding spot made from a piece of driftwood that fits all six loaches at a time. Two of the loaches are in it most of the time, but the other four (the four smaller ones, I think) spend a lot of time swimming around.

Any feedback is appreciated, as I haven't had my loaches for very long, and the tank was set up long before I decided to get loaches. (My first loach was bought on impulse, then I decided to throw in some company.)

[ladyjai]

the tank is too small for clown loaches, I would recommend trading them in for:

botia kubotai
botia sidthimunki
botia histronica
botia striata
botia dario
or yoyo loaches.


having groups of a single botia is better than many different ones, however, consider that your clown loaches will get to 12-18 inches when full grown. While it may take a few years to start seeing those sized, I would recommend starting with a loach you can keep all throughout their lifespan and not have to worry about eventually gaining a 300+gallon aquarium to keep if you decide you can't part with them.

[William]

As i said in the email. I think that your aquarium will be fine fore the time being but you will eventually, when the loaches reach 6 inches, need to get a new aquarium. However I would listen to Loachqueen since she’s undoubtedly more knowledgeable then i am in this area.

[Komar]

I've already been looking around for a bigger tank

Once I get it, I'll just have to knock down a wall or to to fit it in my townhouse. On second thought, I'll take a few years, get a house with enough room for it, then get the new tank.

(Yeah, my landlord might not like a two-ton aquarium bending the floor out of shape, either. I'm sick of renting...)

-Chris

[Komar]

I've been overhauling all of my tanks lately. I decided to reduce the load of fish in most of my tanks, so I traded in a lot of my fish. As much as I loved these clown loaches, they had to be returned. They were all plump and healthy, and quite active.

Maybe someday I'll get a bigger tank for more loaches. If I do, I doubt I'll add edible plants. Those darn loaches really tore up some of my nice Amazon Swords...

[Blue Guppy]

Also 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?

[troy]

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