Is my tank overstocked?

[Rusty_S]

Hi everyone, I just wanted a general opinion over my tank, and whether anyone (or everyone!) thinks it is overstocked (see sig). I know it looks like I have a lot of fish but they all occupy different levels in the tank and though it would be a lie to say they don't come into contact with each other they don't clash in personality at all, and they all seem to have plenty of swimming space. What would really top my setup off is a pearl gourami and I'm thinking of donating my zebra danios to someone in order to make space for one if I need to!

 

[wrs]

id say yes. clownloaches get to be 1 foot long each.

 

[Teelie]

They also should be in groups of 3 or more.

 

[Rusty_S]

Yeah I'm aware they may need to be rehomed when they start getting bigger but at the moment they are no more than a couple of inches long, and have been so for about 6 months now.

 

[wrs]

yes, but when you do this over stocking thing, you go by adult sizes.

 

[Rusty_S]

Yeah I've heard a few people saying that too, but up until I joined the forums a couple of weeks ago I thought they only had to be in pairs or more, and in my experience this has worked pretty well in the past. My mother used to have a tank with them and she always kept them in pairs. I have had one die from illness once and the other pined itself to death within a day or two, before I had a chance to get to my LFS to buy more

 

[Rusty_S]

Unfortunately I didn't know they got as big as 12" until after I got them, I've been keeping them for five years now and only really found that out since I joined this forum. In an ideal world I would have a much bigger tank but my mother got rid of her 4ft tank as we didn't have room for it in the house anymore. I will have to think about where I can offload my clowns to, such a shame cos I love their antics, they always look so happy My LFS will probably take them off my hands.

 

[Doggfather]

Yes, i think your tank is overstocked.

 

[dixaisy930]

I'm glad to hear that you're planning on re-locating the clown loaches. I know all too well what happens when you keep fish in a tank that's too small. I kept guppy fry in a one gallon tank for about a year, thinking I'll move them when they get bigger, and they all became bent and didn't grow more than an inch. It's a perfect example as to why you should keep fish in big enough tanks, even when they aren't at full size.

If you wwant something that has similar antics of the clwon loach, you might want to try yo-yo loaches. Very active and interesting loaches, and I believe they stay below 4 inches.

 

[rvm]

Just out of interest, what is the biggest Clown Loach anyone here actually has, or has SEEN in the flesh. Not including the one that everyone links to (i think its called billy or something, and if memory serves, even that one is only 10-11") when this topic comes up! I know that the biggest I've seen are my own and they are only about 6 inches and don't seem to ever get any bigger.
It's only cos I always hear people "clown loaches grow to 1 foot" but I've never seen it!!!
Not disagreeing, I just want proof!!!
BTW I'd love my clown loaches to be a foot each, that would be COOL!!!!!
Oh yeah, one other thing. Don't forget that Rusty_s's tank is in Imperial gallons not US gallons. I think 20 Imp is about 25 US gallons

EDIT: I just found a pic of that big one, he's called Basil and is 11"!!!! you can see him here (scroll down a bit!)

 

[Rusty_S]

This is interesting "Most clown loaches prefer homes that are only slightly larger than they are." I would have thought if they get so big they would need a huge environment, but I guess everyone is different As I said, my mother kept clowns in her 4ft tank for years and she has never seen one get any bigger than about 6".

EDIT: I just did that in the converter rvm and it comes out at 24 US gallons. Also I think I did my calculation wrong in the first place as I used 90 litres instead of 96 (My tank is a Juwel Rekord 96). So that makes it 21 UK Gallons and about 25 US Gallons, not wanting to be pedantic or anything B)

 

[dixaisy930]

One of my lfs has a clown loach in with some of their big fish and he was around 9".

How long did your mom's clown loaches live?

Anyone know what the life expectancy of a clown loach is?

"Most clown loaches prefer homes that are only slightly larger than they are."

Where did you find that?

 

[Rusty_S]

I found that on the link that rvm included in the post about that clown loach that everyone links to. I'm not sure how long her clown loaches lived, a few years at least. I know she had to give them away because we didn't have room for her tank anymore and she didn't have time to care for her fish after she had my little brother (her 7th child!).

EDIT: I just looked them up and on the first site I came to it said they can live to be 10 years of age, but that was the very first one I found so it could be more or less