"JeffinMississippi" wrote in message
news

"Dick" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:17:08 GMT, "JeffinMississippi"
wrote:

So I put these Clown Loaches in the tank 2 days ago, 3 of them, to
eat
the
snails. I was told per my previous posts to use three because they
like
the
company of other Loaches and that they would eat the snails. Per the
Petsmart instructions I am feeding them dried shrimp. So far they
dont
seem
to be very active, they found tier holes inside of a few different
pieces
of
tank decoration (Shells) and they pretty much stay there doing
nothing.
They
definitly arent eating the snails and they just lay around doing
nothing
and
dont interact at all.

I have a 20 gallon tank with 18 fish (8 of them are Neon Tetras),
Gouramis,
3 Molly's, the Clown Loaches and others. The tanks strip readings are
all
in
the normal range and the other fish are VERY active. Tank water temp
is
81
degrees F.


I have about 12 Clowns in 3 tanks. Their behavior is different in the
different tanks. Their behavior has also changed over the last 2 1/2
years. My tanks are kept at about 77F.

I have 2 Clowns in a 10 gallon tank. One rarely leaves a large
ornament. Its companion is out much more often.

None of the tanks that have Clowns have any snails. Over the years
none have survived. However, given the special diet you offer of
dried shrimp, why should they eat snails? I would stop the special
feeding for awhile. Don't worry, they will survive and maybe the
snails won't. g

BTW, how big/old are the Clowns?


They are about 2 inches long and I just got them 3 days ago, dont know
how
old. But from reading see they can live for 50 years.


I agree with Dick. First off, they are still acclimating, so their
behaviour for several days will probably not be typical. This applies to
almost all fish (except large predators who need to quickly establish
themselves). After that, their behaviour depends on the environment they
came from (dark, light, sheltered, crowded ? etc), and the environment
they are in now (exposed, strange fish, shadows, brightness? etc), and
Clowns are not particularly predictable anyways. You might find that
whatever your trio does, they do in 2 groups as one becomes a loner.

Part of what makes this hobby interesting (and frustrating) is a certain
amount of unpredictability.
--
www.NetMax.tk