Clown Loach? A Question?

[Le Sorcier]

I've got my new Juwel Rio 180, all ready to be stocked and I would dearly love to have 4/5 Clown Loach in my tank.

However given my tank measures 101x40x50cm it is probably too small?

Do I buy them and rehome if they get too big or just go for something else?

If I was selfish I would buy them but I guess I will go for something else.

This did get me thinking though.

Whenever I've been in my LFS (or anywhere really) they always have tons of Clown Loach.

Went in yesterday and they must've had 100 small Clowns.

I would guess that quite a lot of people that buy them would have a smaller tank than me, so by me getting some the % chance is that they will be homed in better conditions with me than the average punter?

Don't think this is me trying to justify me getting some. It was just something that occured to me.

Obviously this applies to any fish, its just that Clowns seem to be more widely available than other fish.

Thoughts?

 

[Curiosity101]

You've answered your own question to be honest, your tank really is just too small.

Buying with the plan to re-home them is never a good idea. 1 - You get attached and 2- You're forcing them to live in unsuitable conditions for atleast some of their lives and planning to put them through the stress of re-homing on purpose.

Yes your tank may be bigger than some who think clown loaches will be ok in a 60l or something equally silly. But whether yours is better or not doesn't make it right, as you said yourself.

Extra thoughts, it's not just the length of the fish that is the issue here, clown loach are also very large bodied fish and so pretty messy.

As an alternative maybe look at Zebra Loach or Banded Kuhli Loach. Both have alot of personality but are much more suitable for your tank.

 

[Le Sorcier]

Yes, I will go for Chain Loach and/or Polka Dot Loach but the main point I was making was that if I walked into the shop, picked out 4 Clown Loach and then decided NOT to buy them, the chances are that they would end up in a smaller tank than mine anyway?

A sad situation I think.

 

[Curiosity101]

How big were they in the store...? I'm guessing only a few cms? If so then yes, I wouldn't be surprised if 80% of them go to unsuitable homes.

Afterall you can't deny they are absolutely gorgeous little fish, and I'd have thought alot of people who are new to fish keeping go on impulse buys as opposed to researching first. I know I certainly did! Thankfully I was lucky, but not everyone is.

 

[loachman]

Yes, I will go for Chain Loach and/or Polka Dot Loach but the main point I was making was that if I walked into the shop, picked out 4 Clown Loach and then decided NOT to buy them, the chances are that they would end up in a smaller tank than mine anyway?

A sad situation I think.

Yes, potentially. However, it is better to purchase fish more suitable for your setup. If everyone keeps buying tank busting fish, the fish shops keep stocking them which keeps the cycle going.

 

[degsod]

Yes, I will go for Chain Loach and/or Polka Dot Loach but the main point I was making was that if I walked into the shop, picked out 4 Clown Loach and then decided NOT to buy them, the chances are that they would end up in a smaller tank than mine anyway?

A sad situation I think.

Yes, potentially. However, it is better to purchase fish more suitable for your setup. If everyone keeps buying tank busting fish, the fish shops keep stocking them which keeps the cycle going.

The flipside to that argument is that probably 95% of the people buying the fish don't know the size that they will grow to so the fish shops will keep on stocking them anyway. So maybe it is a good thing that someone with a larger tank buys them as although they will be crammed at some point they will have a better quality of life than if they where sold to some one with a nano or what ever.

My local Maidenhead has a big display tank ( about 12 x 3 x 4) and they had about 9 clown loaches in there along with silver sharks etc. They had a sign on the tank showing a clown loach saying that if you wanted these you will needa tank the size of a Transit Box Van to house them in.

Meanwhile in the sale tanks they had loads of Clown Loaches for sale. Talk about double standards!!

On my last visit the tank had been emptied of all fish and was undergoing cycling.

 

[Le Sorcier]

Yes, I will go for Chain Loach and/or Polka Dot Loach but the main point I was making was that if I walked into the shop, picked out 4 Clown Loach and then decided NOT to buy them, the chances are that they would end up in a smaller tank than mine anyway?

A sad situation I think.

Yes, potentially. However, it is better to purchase fish more suitable for your setup. If everyone keeps buying tank busting fish, the fish shops keep stocking them which keeps the cycle going.

The flipside to that argument is that probably 95% of the people buying the fish don't know the size that they will grow to so the fish shops will keep on stocking them anyway. So maybe it is a good thing that someone with a larger tank buys them as although they will be crammed at some point they will have a better quality of life than if they where sold to some one with a nano or what ever.

My local Maidenhead has a big display tank ( about 12 x 3 x 4) and they had about 9 clown loaches in there along with silver sharks etc. They had a sign on the tank showing a clown loach saying that if you wanted these you will needa tank the size of a Transit Box Van to house them in.

Meanwhile in the sale tanks they had loads of Clown Loaches for sale. Talk about double standards!!

On my last visit the tank had been emptied of all fish and was undergoing cycling.

Yes and my local LFS is a Maidenhead and it does say next to the Clowns that you need a tank at least 36" long and should buy at least 3 fish together. Yet my tank is 41" long but still too small?!?!?

And of course the first shop I ever went in (a specialist fish shop) told me Clowns would be fine in my 27 litre tank!!!!