New Clown Loach

[Sarah]

I added a clown loach to my tank this evening. I'm curious as to
whether it's acting normally or not. It seems to do a lot of laying
on its side in some corner or another. It is alive because I see it
moving every once in a while but I'm not used to fish just laying on
the bottom.

When I first put him in a few hours ago he laid under a decoration and
shook every once in a while. It kinda looked like he was having a
siezure. Is this normal for clown loaches?

The tank is cycled and well airated with only 1 platy and 2 larger
sixed fry.

[NetMax]

"Sarah" > wrote in message
m...
> I added a clown loach to my tank this evening. I'm curious as to
> whether it's acting normally or not. It seems to do a lot of laying
> on its side in some corner or another. It is alive because I see it
> moving every once in a while but I'm not used to fish just laying on
> the bottom.
>
> When I first put him in a few hours ago he laid under a decoration and
> shook every once in a while. It kinda looked like he was having a
> siezure. Is this normal for clown loaches?
>
> The tank is cycled and well airated with only 1 platy and 2 larger
> sixed fry.

There really isn't any 'normal' representative behaviour of a fish when
it has just been introduced to a new environment (other than acting
fearful). Loaches do lie on their sides sometimes, but I wouldn't read
too much into it for now. It's probably anxious to find more of his
kind, as they are very social creatures which would not do particularly
well alone. JMO

I'm assuming your water parameters were not too different, and the
temperature was the same by the time you released him into the tank.

NetMax

[~Vicki ~]

Max is right about the loach needing company. They will just pine away
with out it. I have even heard that they will school with tiger barbs.
Get him a friend or two and he will be fine.

Vicki

[Flash Wilson]

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 00:53:05 -0400 (EDT), ~Vicki ~ > wrote:
>Max is right about the loach needing company. They will just pine away
>with out it. I have even heard that they will school with tiger barbs.

Mine school with anything stripey! This includes tiger barbs :)

Instead of a community tank with carefully matched fish which all
enjoy the same water parameters and get along well, how about a
stripey tank, a spotted tank, and a plain colour tank!

(Kidding. The loaches are funny though.)

--
Flash Wilson
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Hard, fast, long. Pick two" - Mike Bristow
[Programmers - please don't apply development criteria to sex!]

[Graham Ramsay]

"Flash Wilson" wrote
> Instead of a community tank with carefully matched fish which all
> enjoy the same water parameters and get along well, how about a
> stripey tank, a spotted tank, and a plain colour tank!

That's not so daft as it sounds.
Picking fish that match/complement either in colour or markings
can create a very pleasing effect. Especially in a planted tank.
Of course your first point about matching water parameters etc
still must hold good.

--
Graham Ramsay
You might be a Bright:
www.the-brights.net

[Sarah]

"Graham Ramsay" > wrote in message >...
> "Flash Wilson" wrote
> > Instead of a community tank with carefully matched fish which all
> > enjoy the same water parameters and get along well, how about a
> > stripey tank, a spotted tank, and a plain colour tank!
>
> That's not so daft as it sounds.
> Picking fish that match/complement either in colour or markings
> can create a very pleasing effect. Especially in a planted tank.
> Of course your first point about matching water parameters etc
> still must hold good.

I am planning on getting him som buddies (at least two more) but since
it's a small tank I didn't want to introduce them all at once. I
figured I'd introduce another little guy next weekend. Thanks for
your help.

[Poe Lim]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .

> There really isn't any 'normal' representative behaviour of a fish when
> it has just been introduced to a new environment (other than acting
> fearful). Loaches do lie on their sides sometimes, but I wouldn't read
> too much into it for now. It's probably anxious to find more of his
> kind, as they are very social creatures which would not do particularly
> well alone. JMO

How long do they usually take to get use to the new environment? I've just
introduced three into a tetra tank last weekend (to look after some snails),
and they seem to be hiding a lot. Any suggestions as to getting them out
into the open?

Cheers,
Poe

[Victor M. Martinez]

You really should have at least 3 clown loaches, 6 would be better. They
don't do well alone.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

[Sarah]

My new clown loach is dead. He was laying in a corner of the tank
this morning on his side but I could still see his gills moving. I
went home at lunchtime to check on him and found him dead. It looked
like he'd been dead a few hours.

I decided to take him and a water sample back to the LFS since it's
been less than 24 hours since I brought him home and put him in my
tank. The girl working at the counter was the same one that sold me
the fish yesterday so she was just going to give me a new fish without
testing the water. I insisted that she test it since I don't want to
kill another fish. pH was 7.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0.

When I got to the counter the manager said that I should have taken a
water sample from the bottom of the tank (I took mine from the top 1/3
of the water column) and that she didn't think it was a good idea to
get another loach.

I clean the gravel and change 20% of the water every week. The tanks
I have are only 5 gallons so I test the water parameters every 3-4
days to make sure everything is fine. All my tanks are cycled. The
tank the loach was in only has one platy and 3 platy fry (I saw
another one this morning). Is there anything else I should be doing?
Should I be testing the water from the bottom of the tank, near the
gravel? Should I follow this woman's advice and not get another
loach? I don't want to kill another fishy.

Also, if I do get another loach would it be ok to add two fish at
once? Or should I wait a week or so in between adding fish to make
sure the tank doesn't cycle again?

Sarah

"Poe Lim" > wrote in message >...
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
> .. .
>
> > There really isn't any 'normal' representative behaviour of a fish when
> > it has just been introduced to a new environment (other than acting
> > fearful). Loaches do lie on their sides sometimes, but I wouldn't read
> > too much into it for now. It's probably anxious to find more of his
> > kind, as they are very social creatures which would not do particularly
> > well alone. JMO
>
> How long do they usually take to get use to the new environment? I've just
> introduced three into a tetra tank last weekend (to look after some snails),
> and they seem to be hiding a lot. Any suggestions as to getting them out
> into the open?
>
> Cheers,
> Poe

[RedForeman ©®]

It's sad the advice some LFS give, but the taking the water from the bottom
of the tank is bad... It's assumed that you have a filter, and also it's
assumed it creates a circulation.... so I can't figure how, in the world,
can the water on the bottom of a tank be any different than water from the
top of a tank.... I'd be shopping for a new store, or go back and correcting
the mislead person....

secondly, you may have got just a lonely clown... since they don't like
being alone, 1 would just wither away without a companion.... maybe waiting
a week isnt' a bad idea, just for the fact that you've had a death and it
may have polluted the tank just a tad, but do a water change and vacuum as
normal, wait a few days and go get no less than 2, maybe 3, but only if they
are full bellied and not less than 1.5" in size... smaller clowns don't
acclimate as well...

Suggestion on acclimation
float bag for around 1 hour...
during that hour, maybe 15min. later, open bag and put in a cup of your tank
water....sealing the bag
15min later, do it again..... after that, you're probably ok....

Acclimation give some time for water temp changes during transport, since
they don't have a heater, I take a cooler and put warm water in it to 'warm
it up' but of course take the water out when you go get the fish....
a cooler is also a good thing to use, it's dark and it's a controlled
temperature.. atleast it CAN be....


> Also, if I do get another loach would it be ok to add two fish at
> once? Or should I wait a week or so in between adding fish to make
> sure the tank doesn't cycle again?
>
> Sarah
>
> "Poe Lim" > wrote in message
>...
> > "NetMax" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> >
> > > There really isn't any 'normal' representative behaviour of a fish
when
> > > it has just been introduced to a new environment (other than acting
> > > fearful). Loaches do lie on their sides sometimes, but I wouldn't
read
> > > too much into it for now. It's probably anxious to find more of his
> > > kind, as they are very social creatures which would not do
particularly
> > > well alone. JMO
> >
> > How long do they usually take to get use to the new environment? I've
just
> > introduced three into a tetra tank last weekend (to look after some
snails),
> > and they seem to be hiding a lot. Any suggestions as to getting them out
> > into the open?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Poe

[Flash Wilson]

On 29 Jul 2003 12:31:23 -0700, Sarah > wrote:
>I clean the gravel and change 20% of the water every week. The tanks
>I have are only 5 gallons so I test the water parameters every 3-4

Hmm - 5 gallons isn't much room. I don't think I'd get another clown
(or three ideally) because they do get rather big.

Mine are little gluttons and have visibly grown in the few months
I've had them. I know they can live for many years and so they
won't *suddenly* be enormous, but if it was me I'd take advice
on putting a clown loach or three in a small tank.

--
Flash Wilson
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bother. Must not drink tequila before midnight on a weeknight.

[Victor M. Martinez]

Flash Wilson > wrote:
>Hmm - 5 gallons isn't much room. I don't think I'd get another clown
>(or three ideally) because they do get rather big.

I agree. Don't get any clown loaches, they really shouldn't be in tanks
less than 55 gallons.



--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

[ruprecte]

"Victor M. Martinez" > wrote in message
...
> Flash Wilson > wrote:
> >Hmm - 5 gallons isn't much room. I don't think I'd get another clown
> >(or three ideally) because they do get rather big.
>
> I agree. Don't get any clown loaches, they really shouldn't be in tanks
> less than 55 gallons.

....Just in the interest in adding under a topic of fish I have Ive got to
ring in with some support for not getting clowns in anything under a 55g,
unless your planning on upgrading within the next few months. Thankfully I
have three of them in a 29g, and had planned on upgrading eventually but its
going to be within the next month as these guys eat blood worms like their
going out to style and are growing like weeds:),salute-Brian
>
>
>
> --
> Victor M. Martinez
>
> http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
>




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----

[D&M]

Hi Sarah,
Sorry for your loss. Best I can do is give you my story with Clown's.

We've wanted clown loaches ever since we bought our first 5g. After we
bought our 30g, we looked into clowns.

We brought our first ones home, they were in the tank for 5 minutes and were
covered in Ich. 14 days later, they were all dead, along with other fish in
the tank. The loaches had a strain of Ich resistant to almost every
treatment except acid. The LFS we got them from had their systems treated by
Hagen using acid, loosing hundreds of fish from this strain of Ich.

About a month later, they got another shipment of clowns in, and replaced
the loaches we lost. We introduced them into the tank and they got Ich
again, dying a couple days later. This time, it wasn't the bad strain, the
LFS was able to treat without loosing any, but being the clowns had a 1/2
drive, stressed out, then exposed to Ich meds, they couldn't hack it.

We brought home 3 more, we researched for hours how to bring them home
first.

We brought them home, floated them in the tank for an hour. Then we added 2
cups of tank water, and floated them for another 15 minutes. We then removed
some of the water and added another 2 cups of tank water, floated them for
15 minutes. Then gently netted them out of the bag into the tank. They never
got ich, didn't even loose any color. Acted like nothing was even wrong.
They're still alive to this day. They're in a tank now where theres a
problem with the water and I lost some large Balas, by looking at them, you
wouldn't know anything was wrong.

One key piece of advice we got is make sure you get the biggest clowns in
the tank, and with the most color. The ones that died on us were small.

As for growth, yeah, they get big, but not fast. I've now had mine for a
couple months and they've hardly grown (1/2" at most), maybe fattened up a
bit, but that's it. Any research I've done said that they take a while to
get big. A 5g however probably isn't the nicest home for a Clown as they
like their room to swim around. My little guys love the 90g they're in right
now, as I write this they're playing in the stream from the fluval. BTW,
they love schooling with Tiger Barbs, sometimes have trouble telling them
apart.

Cheers



"Sarah" > wrote in message
om...
> My new clown loach is dead. He was laying in a corner of the tank
> this morning on his side but I could still see his gills moving. I
> went home at lunchtime to check on him and found him dead. It looked
> like he'd been dead a few hours.
>
> I decided to take him and a water sample back to the LFS since it's
> been less than 24 hours since I brought him home and put him in my
> tank. The girl working at the counter was the same one that sold me
> the fish yesterday so she was just going to give me a new fish without
> testing the water. I insisted that she test it since I don't want to
> kill another fish. pH was 7.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0.
>
> When I got to the counter the manager said that I should have taken a
> water sample from the bottom of the tank (I took mine from the top 1/3
> of the water column) and that she didn't think it was a good idea to
> get another loach.
>
> I clean the gravel and change 20% of the water every week. The tanks
> I have are only 5 gallons so I test the water parameters every 3-4
> days to make sure everything is fine. All my tanks are cycled. The
> tank the loach was in only has one platy and 3 platy fry (I saw
> another one this morning). Is there anything else I should be doing?
> Should I be testing the water from the bottom of the tank, near the
> gravel? Should I follow this woman's advice and not get another
> loach? I don't want to kill another fishy.
>
> Also, if I do get another loach would it be ok to add two fish at
> once? Or should I wait a week or so in between adding fish to make
> sure the tank doesn't cycle again?
>
> Sarah
>
> "Poe Lim" > wrote in message
>...
> > "NetMax" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> >
> > > There really isn't any 'normal' representative behaviour of a fish
when
> > > it has just been introduced to a new environment (other than acting
> > > fearful). Loaches do lie on their sides sometimes, but I wouldn't
read
> > > too much into it for now. It's probably anxious to find more of his
> > > kind, as they are very social creatures which would not do
particularly
> > > well alone. JMO
> >
> > How long do they usually take to get use to the new environment? I've
just
> > introduced three into a tetra tank last weekend (to look after some
snails),
> > and they seem to be hiding a lot. Any suggestions as to getting them out
> > into the open?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Poe

[NetMax]

"Sarah" > wrote in message
om...
> My new clown loach is dead. He was laying in a corner of the tank
> this morning on his side but I could still see his gills moving. I
> went home at lunchtime to check on him and found him dead. It looked
> like he'd been dead a few hours.

Sorry you lost him.

> I decided to take him and a water sample back to the LFS since it's
> been less than 24 hours since I brought him home and put him in my
> tank. The girl working at the counter was the same one that sold me
> the fish yesterday so she was just going to give me a new fish without
> testing the water. I insisted that she test it since I don't want to
> kill another fish. pH was 7.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0.

What temperature do you keep your aquarium at?

> When I got to the counter the manager said that I should have taken a
> water sample from the bottom of the tank (I took mine from the top 1/3
> of the water column) and that she didn't think it was a good idea to
> get another loach.

If there is no filtration, I believe ammonia floats, but if your ammonia
test was zero, I don't think it would be relevant. There is also less
oxygen at the bottom of a tank (when there is no or insufficient
circulation). This is more relevant to bottom feeders like the loach,
but shallow tanks with a light fish load are probably low risk for that.
I don't know of any other parameters which would 'layer' in still water,
and none that would not mix with proper circulation.

> I clean the gravel and change 20% of the water every week. The tanks
> I have are only 5 gallons so I test the water parameters every 3-4
> days to make sure everything is fine. All my tanks are cycled. The
> tank the loach was in only has one platy and 3 platy fry (I saw
> another one this morning). Is there anything else I should be doing?
> Should I be testing the water from the bottom of the tank, near the
> gravel? Should I follow this woman's advice and not get another
> loach? I don't want to kill another fishy.

Do you remove the gravel to clean it ? A cycled tank means that there is
a biological processing capability which matches the bio-load in the
tank. This is most easily done with a filter, but can also be achieved
by the bacterial coating of the various surfaces (ie: gravel), which
should not be cleaned often.

Another variable to consider is how much (if any) temperature variation
are you allowing? Small tanks typically use incandescent lighting which
is quite warm. In combination with daytime summer heat, could your tank
temperature be bouncing on a daily cycle. Sorry for all the questions.

> Also, if I do get another loach would it be ok to add two fish at
> once? Or should I wait a week or so in between adding fish to make
> sure the tank doesn't cycle again?

Why do you want a loach? They are not very suitable for such a small
aquarium. There are other bottom feeders (ie: shrimps, snails) which
might be more suitable.

Regarding your fish stocking question, it would depend on how your
nitrifying bacteria are housed. If 'au natural', I would add gradually.
If a bio-wheel, I would add all at once (tripling your bio-capacity takes
less than 2 days). hth

NetMax

> Sarah
>
> "Poe Lim" > wrote in message
>...
> > "NetMax" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> >
> > > There really isn't any 'normal' representative behaviour of a fish
when
> > > it has just been introduced to a new environment (other than acting
> > > fearful). Loaches do lie on their sides sometimes, but I wouldn't
read
> > > too much into it for now. It's probably anxious to find more of
his
> > > kind, as they are very social creatures which would not do
particularly
> > > well alone. JMO
> >
> > How long do they usually take to get use to the new environment? I've
just
> > introduced three into a tetra tank last weekend (to look after some
snails),
> > and they seem to be hiding a lot. Any suggestions as to getting them
out
> > into the open?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Poe

[coelacanth]

Don't beat yourself up about this loss. Clown loaches are
delicate when small (less than 3-4"). One of my LFS sells
tiny ones (1-1.5") and won't even give a 24-hour guarantee
on them (they give 7 days on the big ones).

Another thing to keep in mind is that these are wild-caught fish
(afaik no one is breeding them commercially). That means they
were in a stream somewhere a week or two ago and have since
been caught, transported to an exporter, packed for shipping,
flown halfway around the world, shipped to a fish wholesaler
and finally shipped to your LFS--it's a wonder ANY survive!

I think others have pointed out that clown loaches are a fish
which needs a school of at least three (six is really best) and
which has an adult size in excess of 10" is not a great choice
for a 5 gallon tank. Maybe a trio of pygmy cories instead?

-coelacanth

"Sarah" > wrote in message
om...
> My new clown loach is dead. He was laying in a corner of the tank
> this morning on his side but I could still see his gills moving. I
> went home at lunchtime to check on him and found him dead. It looked
> like he'd been dead a few hours.
>
> I decided to take him and a water sample back to the LFS since it's
> been less than 24 hours since I brought him home and put him in my
> tank. The girl working at the counter was the same one that sold me
> the fish yesterday so she was just going to give me a new fish without
> testing the water. I insisted that she test it since I don't want to
> kill another fish. pH was 7.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0.
>
> When I got to the counter the manager said that I should have taken a
> water sample from the bottom of the tank (I took mine from the top 1/3
> of the water column) and that she didn't think it was a good idea to
> get another loach.
>
> I clean the gravel and change 20% of the water every week. The tanks
> I have are only 5 gallons so I test the water parameters every 3-4
> days to make sure everything is fine. All my tanks are cycled. The
> tank the loach was in only has one platy and 3 platy fry (I saw
> another one this morning). Is there anything else I should be doing?
> Should I be testing the water from the bottom of the tank, near the
> gravel? Should I follow this woman's advice and not get another
> loach? I don't want to kill another fishy.
>
> Also, if I do get another loach would it be ok to add two fish at
> once? Or should I wait a week or so in between adding fish to make
> sure the tank doesn't cycle again?
>
> Sarah
>
> "Poe Lim" > wrote in message
>...
> > "NetMax" > wrote in message
> > .. .
> >
> > > There really isn't any 'normal' representative behaviour of a fish when
> > > it has just been introduced to a new environment (other than acting
> > > fearful). Loaches do lie on their sides sometimes, but I wouldn't read
> > > too much into it for now. It's probably anxious to find more of his
> > > kind, as they are very social creatures which would not do particularly
> > > well alone. JMO
> >
> > How long do they usually take to get use to the new environment? I've just
> > introduced three into a tetra tank last weekend (to look after some snails),
> > and they seem to be hiding a lot. Any suggestions as to getting them out
> > into the open?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Poe

[Sarah]

"NetMax" > wrote in message >...

> What temperature do you keep your aquarium at?
>
> Temperature varies slightly during the day but stays around 78 to 80.
>
> Do you remove the gravel to clean it ? A cycled tank means that there is
> a biological processing capability which matches the bio-load in the
> tank. This is most easily done with a filter, but can also be achieved
> by the bacterial coating of the various surfaces (ie: gravel), which
> should not be cleaned often.

I don't remove the gravel to clean it. I generally vacuum up an area
or two where a lot of mulm has collected and get any larger pieces of
stuff that might be floating around. Most of the gravel and other
stuff remains pretty much untouched.

> Another variable to consider is how much (if any) temperature variation
> are you allowing? Small tanks typically use incandescent lighting which
> is quite warm. In combination with daytime summer heat, could your tank
> temperature be bouncing on a daily cycle. Sorry for all the questions.


When I first set up the tanks I noticed that the temperatures could
range anywhere from 74 to 80, but like I said before, things seemed to
have balanced themselves out. Heat isn't a concern because we have
central air running at all times and keep the apartment at around 76
degrees.

> Why do you want a loach? They are not very suitable for such a small
> aquarium. There are other bottom feeders (ie: shrimps, snails) which
> might be more suitable.

I know I'm going to need more room with loaches. I'm going to be
getting a 30 or 40 gallon tank sometime in the next 2-3 months. I
wanted some because they're cute and fun to watch. I suppose I should
wait until I get the larger tank up and running before I get them
though. I'm hoping to make the larger tank a planted tank so it's
going to take me a month or so to get it up and running.
>
> Regarding your fish stocking question, it would depend on how your
> nitrifying bacteria are housed. If 'au natural', I would add gradually.
> If a bio-wheel, I would add all at once (tripling your bio-capacity takes
> less than 2 days). hth
>
> NetMax
>
Thanks for all your help.

[Victor M. Martinez]

>As for growth, yeah, they get big, but not fast. I've now had mine for a
>couple months and they've hardly grown (1/2" at most), maybe fattened up a

We got our clowns about 8 months ago and they have all at least doubled in
size. The largest one went from about 1" to about 3-3.5". YMMV.


--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

[Racf]

"Victor M. Martinez" > wrote in message
...
> >As for growth, yeah, they get big, but not fast. I've now had mine
for a
> >couple months and they've hardly grown (1/2" at most), maybe fattened
up a
>
> We got our clowns about 8 months ago and they have all at least
doubled in
> size. The largest one went from about 1" to about 3-3.5". YMMV.
>
>
> --
> Victor M. Martinez
>
> http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
>

Mine are 3 years old and they are about 5 1/2 inches and real fat.....I
guess in another 8 or 9 years they will be ready to spawn......

[coelacanth]

Au Contraire! Check out:
http://www.loaches.com/loachbreeding.html

-coelacanth

> Unlikely. I've never seen any documented reports of clown loach spawning in
> the home aquarium.
>
> --
> Victor M. Martinez
>
> http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
>

[Racf]

"Victor M. Martinez" > wrote in message
...
> Racf > wrote:
> >Mine are 3 years old and they are about 5 1/2 inches and real
fat.....I
> >guess in another 8 or 9 years they will be ready to spawn......
>
> Unlikely. I've never seen any documented reports of clown loach
spawning in
> the home aquarium.
>
> --
> Victor M. Martinez
>
> http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
>

I saw one article a couple years ago describing the event....I think it
was in the UK.....

[Victor M. Martinez]

coelacanth > wrote:
>Au Contraire! Check out:
>http://www.loaches.com/loachbreeding.html

One anecdotal account does not constitute evidence. :)

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

[Racf]

That's pretty much what I saw a couple years ago. A bit thin..... At
least I remembered the UK part right......

"Victor M. Martinez" > wrote in message
...
> coelacanth > wrote:
> >Au Contraire! Check out:
> >http://www.loaches.com/loachbreeding.html
>
> One anecdotal account does not constitute evidence. :)
>
> --
> Victor M. Martinez
>
> http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
>

[Poe Lim]

For some reason, my clown loaches don't seem to be mixing; I have three just
over 1.5" in my 280L, and two are starting to appear in the evenings (about
an hour before lights out), one is still hiding somewhere, but the two
appear at opposide sides of the tank! I thought clowns were like to get
together? Admittedly they have been in there under a week. I did see them
together initially, but not now. Have you observed anything like this
before?

Cheers,
Poe

"kclmymy" > wrote in message
...

> I have 11 clown of varies size, 3" - 7", in difference tank, some I got
them
> very young, 1" - 1.5", and some at mid-size. When new to the tank, the
> larger one will almost all hide for several days b4 showing their faces
> briefly during evening feeding time (usually is the smallest of the group
> that appeared first, go figure??!!). While almost all smaller loach will
> swim up and down of the front glass and/or inspecting the new environment
> in group.

[Flash Wilson]

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:33:20 +1000, Poe Lim > wrote:
>For some reason, my clown loaches don't seem to be mixing; I have three just
>over 1.5" in my 280L, and two are starting to appear in the evenings (about
>an hour before lights out), one is still hiding somewhere, but the two
>appear at opposide sides of the tank! I thought clowns were like to get
>together? Admittedly they have been in there under a week. I did see them
>together initially, but not now. Have you observed anything like this
>before?

I have three. They were roughly the same size at purchase; one
was a little bigger, but they were all small.

The slightly bigger one is now much bigger, and a bully when it
comes to food (he will take on anything!) The other two have to
wait their turn and prefer to swim together, or with my tiger
barbs. The big one (inventively called "Biggie") is more solitary.

(The others are Snouty and Heidi - cos she kept hiding - in case
you were wondering. Which I'm sure you weren't.)
--
Flash Wilson
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Hard, fast, long. Pick two" - Mike Bristow
[Programmers - please don't apply development criteria to sex!]

[kclmymy]

Dear Poe,
IMO, they are still new to the tank, give them some time. Are you providing
enough hiding place for them? In my case 2 - 3 hide hole to a fish, btw, I
am no expert in this, just my experience.

Loach are strange fish. I have two Horse-faced loach in my 6gal Q-tank for
several month now, they are more or less permanent resident of Q-tank. When
I do not have new fish, they tend to hide all the time, never see them in
the open or feeding. I recently quarantine 9 Pseudomugil furcatus in there,
AND they started to hang in the open most of the time. Looking at the
blue-eye and steal small bits of food that manage to get to the bottom. BTW,
those blue-eye are pig.

In my 120gal tank I have 4 GL that was introduced since April 2002, all
started at the same size of 1.5". Now, they are in 4 difference sizes of ,
2.5", 3", 4" & 5". The largest has darker colour body and ruled. All sleep
in the open & very active during the day, strangely all go to sleep inside a
drift wood at the back of the tank at night, will not come out until
morning. There are no order during feeding time, smallest clown will steal
food from largest one, even much smaller Striata will steal from the largest
clown and/or Yoyo. Mad house ;-) Fun to watch.

My 200gal+ housed 4 large CL (6"-7.5"), 4 B.Modesta (4"-6.5"), 3 B.Helodes
(3"-4.5"), 4 B. Hymenophysa (3.5" new), 2 B. Beauforti (2.5" & 3"), 3 B.
Robusta (2") & others. Very entertaining tank, non-stop action......:-)

Cheers.

kclmymy

Poe Lim > wrote in message
. au...
> For some reason, my clown loaches don't seem to be mixing; I have three
just
> over 1.5" in my 280L, and two are starting to appear in the evenings
(about
> an hour before lights out), one is still hiding somewhere, but the two
> appear at opposide sides of the tank! I thought clowns were like to get
> together? Admittedly they have been in there under a week. I did see them
> together initially, but not now. Have you observed anything like this
> before?
>
> Cheers,
> Poe

[Poe Lim]

This is a heavily planted tank, so plenty of hiding places amonst the tree
roots, plants etc. Perhaps I need to add some hollow logs or ceramic pots to
the tank for them to hide in (and perhaps for the peppermint BNs too).

Cheers,
Poe

"kclmymy" > wrote in message
...

> IMO, they are still new to the tank, give them some time. Are you
providing
> enough hiding place for them? In my case 2 - 3 hide hole to a fish, btw, I
> am no expert in this, just my experience.

[Poe Lim]

I don't think there are any predators that would affect them (only thing
that is mildly "dangerous" would be the 2" Congo Tetras, unless the 3"
Siamese Algae Eaters are scaring them). My concern is one of the solitary
ones look rather lonely (the other is always skulking around under the
anubias on a log), and don't want it to go belly up (from Sarah's
experience).

Cheers,
Poe

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message
...
> I can only add that if they were purchased at the same time, and are not
> hanging out together, something happened to push them to opposite ends of
> the tank... like a predator, a noise, or maybe they are just not
comfortable
> yet....
>
> Give them some time, maybe they 'll get together...

[Zimm44]

6 or even 9. I love to see them school together. They get depressed in small
groups it seems.

[Zimm44]

it is better, I think, especially with clown loaches, to add at least 3 at a
time. 2 is not even a comfortable number for them. if you had none to begin
with then at least three would be good. if they are comfortable they will give
you hours of pleasure watching them. they really seem to have personalities
sometimes. they are honestly a "cute" fish.

[Zimm44]

These fish look identical in body shape to clowns. I like their blue color and
decided to add a few to my tank, These little dudes are mean. Has anyone else
had this experience? I assume they are pf the same family. Are they notoriously
mean?

[kclmymy]

I think you are talking about Botia modesta (red-finned blue loach).

I have four at 4" - 6" of these fat and ugly guy in my 200gal. They are
extremely aggressive to each other during feeding, but most of the time they
just hide & chill. I just loved these guy.

No, they do not behave as clown loach. They need big tank with lots of
hiding hole. Not sure of your tank size. I do noticed that if you buy them
young, say 1.5", they may be better behave as they get bigger. JMO.

kclmymy


Zimm44 > wrote in message
...
> These fish look identical in body shape to clowns. I like their blue color
and
> decided to add a few to my tank, These little dudes are mean. Has anyone
else
> had this experience? I assume they are pf the same family. Are they
notoriously
> mean?