Clown Loaches (Not acting normally?)

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.

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?

dick

"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.

"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

Hi..

So I put these Clown Loaches in the tank 2 days ago, 3 of
them, to eat the snails.
I have a 20 gallon tank with 18 fish (8 of them are Neon
Tetras), Gouramis, 3 Molly's, the Clown Loaches and
others.

Sorry, personally I would _never_ recommend keeping Clown
Loaches in such a small tank. Do you possibly have any
other (bigger) aquarium?
20g tank:
Substract glas, gravel, roots, stones eventually filter
volume and look what's finally netto..

--
cu
Marco

On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 18:28:25 +0100, Marco Schwarz
wrote:

Hi..

So I put these Clown Loaches in the tank 2 days ago, 3 of
them, to eat the snails.
I have a 20 gallon tank with 18 fish (8 of them are Neon
Tetras), Gouramis, 3 Molly's, the Clown Loaches and
others.

Sorry, personally I would _never_ recommend keeping Clown
Loaches in such a small tank. Do you possibly have any
other (bigger) aquarium?
20g tank:
Substract glas, gravel, roots, stones eventually filter
volume and look what's finally netto..

Marco, I am curious about the attitude that Clowns need more space.
Perhaps size is part of the reason. None of my Clowns have grown much
more than 5 inches. The 2 in my 10 gallon tank seem no different than
the 6 in my 75 gallon tank, similar size, color and behavior. These
Clowns have been in their respective tanks about 2 1/2 years.

Do you have any personal experience which causes your caution about
smaller tanks?

dick

Dick, I also am curiuos about this. I have three clown loaches in a 100
gallon tank, along with a few miscellanous other fish. They are only about
4 or 5 inches long also. I have had them about a year and a half and they
just don't seem to grow any larger. I was told when I got them that they
needed to be in a very large tank because they would get very big, but it's
just not happening yet.

Sarah

Marco, I am curious about the attitude that Clowns need more space.
Perhaps size is part of the reason. None of my Clowns have grown much
more than 5 inches. The 2 in my 10 gallon tank seem no different than
the 6 in my 75 gallon tank, similar size, color and behavior. These
Clowns have been in their respective tanks about 2 1/2 years.

Do you have any personal experience which causes your caution about
smaller tanks?

dick

My Clowns are only 4" long and I've had them for 2 years in a 70g.
Either they are not eating well enough or my water is too hard, and I
should look around to find someone who will take them from me. Generally
they can be slow growing, especially at certain sizes, but I've found
their growth rates are very much affected by water quality and diet.

I think the issue with sizing the tank to the fish is two-fold. Many
people only have one tank, so they need to be warned about the eventual
size of the fish, to be sure they are prepared to adequately accommodate
them. Others like myself & Dick have many tanks, so we can simply rotate
them through increasingly larger tanks as required, or not, if not
needed.

The other issue is that tank size will affect their growth rate, or more
particularly, water quality (which is poorer in small tanks) may stunt
the fish. If moving the fish through tank upgrades, you need to be
slightly ahead of their requirements to not stunt their growth (imo).

A few more issues particular to botia a
- they are shoaling fish, so you need many of them.
- they are bottom dwellers, reducing their useable space to the square
footage of the bottom.
- they can be light sensitive and burrow for shelter and darkness,
further reducing their usable habitat.
Each of these points, should influence us to providing larger habitats.
jmo
--
www.NetMax.tk

"Sarah Navarro" wrote in message
nk.net...
Dick, I also am curiuos about this. I have three clown loaches in a
100 gallon tank, along with a few miscellanous other fish. They are
only about 4 or 5 inches long also. I have had them about a year and a
half and they just don't seem to grow any larger. I was told when I
got them that they needed to be in a very large tank because they would
get very big, but it's just not happening yet.

Sarah

Marco, I am curious about the attitude that Clowns need more space.
Perhaps size is part of the reason. None of my Clowns have grown much
more than 5 inches. The 2 in my 10 gallon tank seem no different than
the 6 in my 75 gallon tank, similar size, color and behavior. These
Clowns have been in their respective tanks about 2 1/2 years.

Do you have any personal experience which causes your caution about
smaller tanks?

dick

NetMax wrote:
My Clowns are only 4" long and I've had them for 2 years in a 70g.
Either they are not eating well enough or my water is too hard, and I
should look around to find someone who will take them from me. Generally
they can be slow growing, especially at certain sizes, but I've found
their growth rates are very much affected by water quality and diet.

I think the issue with sizing the tank to the fish is two-fold. Many
people only have one tank, so they need to be warned about the eventual
size of the fish, to be sure they are prepared to adequately accommodate
them. Others like myself & Dick have many tanks, so we can simply rotate
them through increasingly larger tanks as required, or not, if not
needed.

The other issue is that tank size will affect their growth rate, or more
particularly, water quality (which is poorer in small tanks) may stunt
the fish. If moving the fish through tank upgrades, you need to be
slightly ahead of their requirements to not stunt their growth (imo).

A few more issues particular to botia a
- they are shoaling fish, so you need many of them.
- they are bottom dwellers, reducing their useable space to the square
footage of the bottom.
- they can be light sensitive and burrow for shelter and darkness,
further reducing their usable habitat.
Each of these points, should influence us to providing larger habitats.
jmo
At one of my LFS they have a cl loach for sail that is about 8" in size,
appently the fish is about 15y old.

Hi Netmax,

I do have several tanks, but as I gain experience I am more and more
hesitant about moving my fish between tanks. I have seen "sick" fish
recover in their community tanks.

As to other's comment about "stunted" Clowns, this sounds negative as
I associated stunted with sickness. All of my Clowns healthy and
active. If they are stunted, so much the better. After I got my
Clowns I read the posts warning about potential size. That was over 2
years ago. It has been over a year since I have noticed any new
growth. I will be quite happy if they remain at their current sizes.

dick

On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 10:56:12 -0500, "NetMax"
wrote:

My Clowns are only 4" long and I've had them for 2 years in a 70g.
Either they are not eating well enough or my water is too hard, and I
should look around to find someone who will take them from me. Generally
they can be slow growing, especially at certain sizes, but I've found
their growth rates are very much affected by water quality and diet.

I think the issue with sizing the tank to the fish is two-fold. Many
people only have one tank, so they need to be warned about the eventual
size of the fish, to be sure they are prepared to adequately accommodate
them. Others like myself & Dick have many tanks, so we can simply rotate
them through increasingly larger tanks as required, or not, if not
needed.

The other issue is that tank size will affect their growth rate, or more
particularly, water quality (which is poorer in small tanks) may stunt
the fish. If moving the fish through tank upgrades, you need to be
slightly ahead of their requirements to not stunt their growth (imo).

A few more issues particular to botia a
- they are shoaling fish, so you need many of them.
- they are bottom dwellers, reducing their useable space to the square
footage of the bottom.
- they can be light sensitive and burrow for shelter and darkness,
further reducing their usable habitat.
Each of these points, should influence us to providing larger habitats.
jmo