Adrienne Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 I am now the proud owner of 6 fat, reasonable sized clown loaches which I acquired this afternoon - an unplanned purchase at the time. I have had a look on the net at a few sites to see what they say. Any good advice out there re keeping/feeding and looking after them and what to look out for besides ich. They have had a fair bit of stress lately. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Congrat ! i bet you are over the moon. They are pretty easy to keep. Eat pretty much everything and anything. I haven't seen any ich on mine at all. ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Thats good to hear Ron. They are in a seperate tank at the moment for a few weeks - have had a hard time in the last few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 That's a great acquisition A. Good for you. Post some pics when they are settled in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Nice one.. and good number. i noticed a major difference when i went from having 3 to 6. Now i have about 12 lol. just keep a few caves cuz they will sometimes battle for territory. this will make them feel more secure too. keep good clean water and they like some peat every now and then too enjoy them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Good clean water at around 27C+, slightly acidic, feed them up on shrimp pellets, chopped shrimp [raw] and other meaty foods and they should fatten up fast. They like a reasonably strong current in the tank too. www.loaches.com should have some helpful info on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Congrats on the loach acquisition! You'll love them! They are very hardy fish and will put up with a lot of stress, but ich is the big thing. When I got my last two, their former owner forgot to mention that her heater broke a couple of days after the auction started and the poor little guys had been in a COLD tank for about a week before I got them! (This was in June 2004 - mid winter) I was amazed that they both survived their ordeal, and have since thrived. They did get ich, so it's good to keep them in a seperate tank until you are sure they will be ok. So much easier to medicate/raise temp etc when you have no other fish in the tank to worry about. Once my little guys had recovered from the ich and I put them in the big tank with the rest of the herd, they had a huge growth spurt. I think the previous owner had fed them only flakes, but they soon learned to eat lots of different food including raw shrimps, a whole range of vegetables and whatever commercial food I put in the tank. Good luck and enjoy your new little buddies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted July 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 Thanks - they're not particularly little and are pretty damn fat. Will try and post a pic if they appear tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted July 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Here they are - the jury is still out on whether or not I will add them to my big tank. Not sure at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Very nice Clownies 8) They look really happy too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Very nice Clownies 8) They look really happy too All clowns are happy arent they, they always smiling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 They can be a bit rough with plants when they get bigger. I think you'd better sell them to me. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Aaaawww cutie-pies! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 They can be a bit rough with plants when they get bigger. I think you'd better sell them to me. :lol: Nah............. They prefer to be in groups of 18 or more And if you sold them to me they would be blissfully happy 8) Conveniently, I happen to have 12 already, hehehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 I've got 13. (and probably more coming!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Nice looking fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 ...They have had a fair bit of stress lately. What sort of stress have they had? They look pretty fat & healthy to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 I almost had a 15cm one for $15 and i was going to give it to evil_elmo for this price, but the seller packed a sad and sld it to someone else, this really annoyed me cos it wouldave looked great in evils tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RochelleMay Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Cute fish. I have heard a few stories about them being suceptible to lots of fish diseases due to having skin and not actual scales like normal fish? They are soo cool though Very friendly and they have such different personalities. Are you gonna name them all? ha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 gorgeous! love the round fat ones i see you have some. never had any prob with mine except the usual odd death from stress being moved or one 20cm one i got from LFS.. the owner guaranteed me for 24hrs (as i noticed some others had ich, this one didn't though) died after 48hrs :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreedingFrenzy Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 ive had my two for 2 years and im surprised they havent died, considering how vulnerable ive heard they can be. seriously, mine have been through a lot. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 this really annoyed me cos it wouldave looked great in evils tank. LOL would you have even seen it?? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 I've found my loaches to be extremely robust and not susceptible to disease at all. I've had three of mine for about 7 years and two others for about 4 years (and just got a new little baby recently - couldn't resist him he's so cute!) 7 year olds: HatuPatu, Lupi, Coco 4 year olds: Gary, Roland Baby: Trigger Their tank mates have come & gone (barbs, danios, ottos, platies...) but the loaches just keep on keeping on. I would be devastated if I lost my little loaches! In the seven years I've been keeping them, there has only been one ich outbreak (directly caused by Gary & Roland's previous owner neglecting them - including letting their water get very dirty and stone cold in mid winter). I've had no other disease or injury. The issue about scale-less (or small scaled) fish is that you need to be careful with medications and things like salt in the water as they can get overdosed and dehydrated very easily. With a varied diet and good basic tank maintenance, they shouldn't be hard to keep at all. By the way, I've lived in at least five different flats since I've had the loaches, so they're always getting chucked in buckets and moved across town! Not exactly a stress-free lifestyle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Conkout Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 I have about 5 clowns quite small largest is about 3-4" for a bit of fun drop in some hard shrimp tablets. They cost a bit for a small sized packet but they hold together and make the clowns scrap for it. Not aggressive but just top dog stuff, fun to watch. My biggest chases off the clowns and nips at the balas noses when they come near and the skunks and clowns nip in while he is off only to get chased away again. Even the little ones have worked out how to pick them up and run off with them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kd123 Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Well they are certainly looking bright and happy.... that was certainly an interesting couple of days....still recovering myself!! How are the schools? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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