I recently got 3 clown loaches which are about 2" each for my tank. I wanted to add a few more, but wasnt sure if there is enough space for more.

My stocking is:

- 8 Rummynoses
- 8 White Clouds
- 6 Corys
- 5 Yoyos

Most of the fish I have are small fish (apart from the yoyos) so could I potentially add a few more clown loaches?

I do understand that the clowns can grow to 12", but that would take a few years wouldnt it? If that is the case, I do have plans to rehouse them to a bigger 650L tank later on.

Thanks.

i really wouldent add anymore.

am i missing something?


he has a 300 litre tank with 16 little tetras in and then some loaches and corys.


hes way understocked and could easily add more loaches.

Thanks for the replies.

Sam, I thought the same, that I might be able to add one or two more clown loaches.

Perhaps its because the yoyos and clowns do grow very big, but as mentioned in my initial post, I do intend to rehouse them when they grow bigger.

I'd happily add another 2

300 ltrs is nearly 80 gallons; that's a nice good size. Don't see that an extra couple of clown loaches would come to any harm in there. And clowns are quite slow growers, aren't they?

yeah they grow slow and i would add anouther 2 if i were you because they like to live in bigger groups as they are very social fish

To be honest. I would probably add another 6 or so.

Steve

Thanks for the replies, I added another 2 clown loaches in today and it somehow triggered a total behavioural change in the clown loaches! They all seem to be a lot more active now and are schooling. The 2 new ones are still settling in, but on the whole, the group seems to be better off with the addition of 2 more clowns!

I also noticed one of the bigger clowns fighting another clown - is this normal? Are they merely establishing a pecking order?

Perfactly normal, they are resetting the hierarchy, and the things will settle down within at most two weeks.

As for the growth: figure out about 1"/year. Your tank should be good enough for them for a couple of years.

Thanks for the reply mikev. Glad the tank will be enough for them for a few years, there is a good chance I may get a bigger tank before then, but I'm content with 2 tanks at the moment.

With 5 clown loaches now, do you think there is any need to add any more? I wanted to see how they go and if the clowns are healthy and no noticeable problems such as ich, then I might add 2 more and leave it at that.

Is that okay or too much?

You can add two more (if you are planning on a bigger tank later), but you don't have to rush into this.

Five is a reasonable shoal, and you can wait until you see a clown you cannot resist, this will happen sooner or later. (this is what I did, I have six right now)

if i had a big enough tank i would fill it with just clown loaches im getting a bigger tank in december we'll see what happen then

This post has been edited by smurfy: May 6 2006, 03:48 PM

I'll do just that. I was just worried that if I added 1 or 2 more loaches later on, it may stress out the existing ones since I didn't introduce them all at the same time.

Is it okay to get clown loaches in even numbers (say 6)? I read that its better to get odd numbers like 5 or 7, but not sure if this is true - do your 6 clowns school together all the time? Are they shy during the day?

i dont think keeping them in odd numbers is really bennificial and they may be shay for a little bit but not long it shouldnt stress out the ones you have at the moment either

I personally do not believe in odd numbers.

My pattern is that I see all six as a single group in the mornings (until about noon). Evenings I mostly see a gang of three (the same ones), the others do come out for food and occassional walk. By about 10pm they all retire.

Adding more later is not a problem, as long as they are smaller than your largest one.

stocked?? you what?

are you sitting comportably? then I'll begin...


In our 350l (3x filtered) we have....

6x Congo tetras
10x Buenos Aires Tetras
7x Phantom Tetras
2x Cherry barbs
5 Cory Juli
5x Cory panda
4x Cory Adolfi
8x Khuli Loaches
1x Common Plec
1x L141 plec
1x L014 plec
1x LDA33 plec

and then there are the 7x Clown loaches 2" -5"

we had 3 in our 50gal to start with - then got 3 more (bigger ones) when we got the 350l... since then they have come out of their selves... the cheaky buggers have even learnt to beg for food

lol so its not jus my clowns who seem to have a schedule?


mine are up first thing, then they all (i have 5) gather round for a chat and a sun bathe around 11am on a rock outside there cave.

cruise around the rest of the afternoon before another meeting on the rock before bed around 8.30.

Are clown loaches community fish? They look great , I am tempted but not sure if they will be ok with the others in my sig