Best Tank Mates For Clown Loach

Chug

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Hello fish world.... I have looked around and have yet to see a specific post for this topic. The Clown Loach is an awesome fish and i soon will have a tank over 6 feet long that I can house a few. I am wondering what are some good types of fish that would fit best with the clowns. I am not wanting to do guppies or tetras as I have them in other tanks. Any suggestions?
 
Danios, rasboras.....any type of shoaling fish (minus tiger barbs, but i could be wrong) would go well, but the clown loaches will make them look extremely tiny lol. You will want a shoal of at least 6 loaches.

Here is a list that I have found, and someone enter corrections where needed please :)

Bala Shark, Bosemani Rainbow, Cherry Barb, Corydoras Catfish, Croaking Gourami, Dwarf Gourami, Dwarf Neon Rainbow, Flying Fox, Giant Gourami, Glass Catfish, Kissing Gourami, Kribensis, Kuhli Loach, Molly, Oscar Cichlid, Otto Catfish, Pearl Gourami, Penguin Tetra, Peppermint Pleco L030, Platy, Pleco (Common), Rainbow Shark, Red Tailed Shark, Rosy Barb, Silver Dollar, Sparkling Gourami, Swordtail, Three Spot Gourami,Tinfoil Barb, Upsidedown Catfish, Zebra Danio

There also may be some other cichlids that are compatible but I am not sure. Hope this helps some.
 
Danios, rasboras.....any type of shoaling fish (minus tiger barbs, but i could be wrong) would go well, but the clown loaches will make them look extremely tiny lol. You will want a shoal of at least 6 loaches.

Here is a list that I have found, and someone enter corrections where needed please :)

Bala Shark, Bosemani Rainbow, Cherry Barb, Corydoras Catfish, Croaking Gourami, Dwarf Gourami, Dwarf Neon Rainbow, Flying Fox, Giant Gourami, Glass Catfish, Kissing Gourami, Kribensis, Kuhli Loach, Molly, Oscar Cichlid, Otto Catfish, Pearl Gourami, Penguin Tetra, Peppermint Pleco L030, Platy, Pleco (Common), Rainbow Shark, Red Tailed Shark, Rosy Barb, Silver Dollar, Sparkling Gourami, Swordtail, Three Spot Gourami,Tinfoil Barb, Upsidedown Catfish, Zebra Danio

There also may be some other cichlids that are compatible but I am not sure. Hope this helps some.
Thanks for a great reply, i think i would love a shark / cichlid combo
 
Thanks for a great reply, i think i would love a shark / cichlid combo

I really don't think you should add any sharks if you have a group of very large loaches as well. The same goes for any plecs, apart from small ones such as a couple of bristlenoses.

Clown loaches can be skittish and nervous and should not be housed with any aggressive bottom dwellers. For the same reason, it would probably be best to have a shoal of something peaceful to act as dither fish.

Perhaps a shoal of tetra such as diamond tetras and/or for a mid sized fish try bosemani rainbows.

Clown loaches come from warm, well oxygenated, faster flowing waters, so try to add fish suited to these conditions. Gouramis, for example, prefer calmer waters.
 
I agree with soybean. If you have clowns I would not take any other bottomdweller anyway. What about (pearl) danios? Robust, active swimmers and not agressive at all.

Except danios prefer cooler temps. But there are plenty of active mid-dwellers out there.
 
I think cichlids are great, personally i think silver sharks will outgrow a 6ft, they are too active.

I think adecent shoal of a couple of species of Rainbows would look good! Reds, Kutubu Blues, Bosemani and Parkinsons to name some of the more common species but if you look about, there is some real beautiful species!

And some nice South American cichlids, personally, i'd not bother with oscars i the clown loach are going to be your feature fish :) (personally clowns are a LOT nicer than oscars :p ).


I think some nice Geophagus (i like G. surinamensis) or Threakfin Cichlids would look lovely, because they are subtle and beautiful without being glaringly big and in your face.
 
Clowns can hold their own vs most fish of similar size. Clowns have a pair of switchblades (bifurcated Suboccular spine) under their eyes thay are used when any serious conflicts occur. Clowns also like their spaces and will not deal sympathetically with interlopers which is why many bottom dwellers can get into conflicts when mixed with clowns, especially larger sized ones. I lost 7 adult size bristlenose in my clown tank before I realized I should not house these two species together. I do not think most smaller plecos would fare any better than the bn.

I keep mine in a tank with a few SAE and Puntius denisonii (redline torpedo barbs).
 
Oooooh Torpedo Barbsare a great idea! I was thinking how much I really like Filamented Barbs (Puntius filamentosus) since i saw them at MA @ St Albans, dont think they were labled up correctly, my id was filamentosus (with help from photos) as i have NEVER seen photos of them coloured up quite as stunning as these ones were....

Hah never underestimate clowns, demanding (the click aggressively for their food and when scrapping over it!), masters of destruction (will eat the roots of plants and hurl the tank decor left right and center) and murderous (generally peacefull fish... but dont put it fish that will get on their wrong side!).

My clown that hit 32cm was really aggressive when it wanted to be! In correcting 'the babies' he often hurled them accross the tank!

Found this old photo of clown in temp tank compared to a huge adult male platinum angel...
NewLoach5.jpg


EDIT: This was taken 2 hours after putting them in the tank, they didnt have their full colours back yet... and see what they did to my anubias on the wood in those two hours! The beasts! Id had that plant 7 years LOL

EDIT: That big clown was only 26-27cm in that photo, he hit 32cm when his spine straightened out and while he looked fat, he wasnt, it was just his body accomodating the kinked spine from being kept in a 150L tank for 7 years. Good example of what it does to clowns!
 
Hello fish world.... I have looked around and have yet to see a specific post for this topic. The Clown Loach is an awesome fish and i soon will have a tank over 6 feet long that I can house a few. I am wondering what are some good types of fish that would fit best with the clowns. I am not wanting to do guppies or tetras as I have them in other tanks. Any suggestions?
my clown school is a major part of my tank. They all pile in and sleep with my ghost knife inside a fake log. Although I have never tried crazy eyeball eating ciclids, I have yet to have any fish pick on them. When they are out and about they seem to completely ignore the rest of the tank. Mine share the bottom with a few catfish, rubber lipped pleco and a few oddball thingies that followed me home from the fish store.
Up top and in the middle There is a lttle of everything including climbing perches silver dollars and gurami.
 
I agree with soybean. If you have clowns I would not take any other bottomdweller anyway. What about (pearl) danios? Robust, active swimmers and not agressive at all.

Except danios prefer cooler temps. But there are plenty of active mid-dwellers out there.

Apparently they share the same habitat as pearl danios...
 
I agree with soybean. If you have clowns I would not take any other bottomdweller anyway. What about (pearl) danios? Robust, active swimmers and not agressive at all.

Except danios prefer cooler temps. But there are plenty of active mid-dwellers out there.

Apparently they share the same habitat as pearl danios...

Clown loaches do best 78F to 83F (25-30C).
Pearl danios do best 68F to 77 F (20-25C).
 
These were taken about 1.5-2 years ago. The SAE were pushing 6 inches. The tank is a 75 gal.

812372309_zAK47-L.jpg


812372316_cWGey-L.jpg
 

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