Betta & Clown Loaches

[nion]

I have a male betta and 2 clown loaches. They are extremely friendly and playful. They nudge each other, swim close, and the betta can now be found hiding/sleeping under the rock previously only occupied by the loaches.

Is this a normal thing or did I just happen to get a fluke set of fish? It's cute nonetheless.

 

[bronzecat]

Maybe cute at the moment Trouble is those clowns can grow to 12 - 16 inches! Thats a 50 gal tank minimum. Probably not the best combination as the betta prefers still water and the clowns like rapid moving currents. Your going to have to be very careful as the clowns are nocturnal and may start harrasing the betta while he sleeps.

Dont mean to sound boring

 

[nion]

Maybe cute at the moment Trouble is those clowns can grow to 12 - 16 inches! Thats a 50 gal tank minimum. Probably not the best combination as the betta prefers still water and the clowns like rapid moving currents. Your going to have to be very careful as the clowns are nocturnal and may start harrasing the betta while he sleeps.

Dont mean to sound boring

I've only got a 20 gal right now but they're still only maybe 2 inches in length; they haven't grown much at all since I got them. If they start getting bigger, I'll let my Dad have them, as he has a 40 gal.

 

[maximinimus]

Your clown loaches WILL get to 8+ inches in length, there is no maybe about them growing larger. You have also been told they like fast flowing currents, the complete opposite to a betta setup, yet you chose to ignore this fact.

Even a 40 gallon is not large enough for clown loach to be kept in a group.

On top of what has already been said clown loach shouldn't be kept in a group of any less than 4, they are very intelligent and playful fish, and some of the most stunning you will ever see in a 150gallon+ setup.

You should consider that clown loach can quite happily live for over 20 years if kept in the right conditions, you are quite possibly stunting them, which will cut their lives dramatically!

That picture was taken at my LFS, what you can see there are some clown loach next to a fully grown discus and clown loach can still get MUCH bigger than these!

 

[Genesis]

This is "Marge". She's 11.5" (29cm) long and housed with nearly 50 other Clowns.

 

[GShorty1981]

Maybe cute at the moment Trouble is those clowns can grow to 12 - 16 inches!

16"! prove it lol! (i have read this on one dodgy site and have also read about 50 saying its rubbish)

Some say the fish can take up to 30 years to grow to its full potential (8-12")

True 12" specimums are very rare,thought they look pretty big and get very very fat they rarely get to a actual 12".

Biggest i have seen is around 10" maybe slightly smaller.

Information about the maximum size of the clown loach varies, with some estimates ranging from 11 to 14 inches (40 to 50 cm), and with typical adult sizes ranging from 7 to 10 inches (15 to 20 cm).

 

[Amunet]

I really dislike it when people say they'll move them when they get bigger.... or that they'll get a bigger tank when they have to, blahblahblah.
I think clown loaches are up there in the "most abused fish" category. Hey, I was the same way at first. I wanted some for our 28gal tank until I saw how big they get. Even though I would still love to have some one day, I'll NEVER get any until I have a proper tank for them.
Our LFS keeps some pretty large ones (biggest is about 9 inches) in their large planted tanks .

As was said, there is no "if" about it, unless the clowns become stunted (which would probably end up killing them).... then they WILL get too big for your tank and your father's tank. Maybe not soon since they do grow pretty slow, but slow growing still doesn't mean that they should be kept in tanks of inappropiate size.