bigfishhead Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 I have about 20ish small BN in my cichlids display tank and they doing good job to keep tank clean. But as I have two big pieces of draft wood in the tank, BN love to bite on the wood. So it creates quite lot of wates. Im thinking to reduce the number of BN and put in a few clown loaches... As clown loaches also known to be good at keep tank clean. My question is Does clown loach get on well with Cichlids? What if I took all draftwoods out and make it a pure rock cichlids tank, will my BN start feel unconfitable and make them die? I feed my cichlids with NLF. So I guess BN just eat leftover NLF and waste from cichlids. What about Clown loaches? Should I keep feeding only NLS? Thanks in advance.. :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 I once kept clown loaches with figure Africans that is and I got slot of flack on here for it. But yes you can keep them together as for the bn they need wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 9, 2012 Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 I have about 20ish small BN in my cichlids display tank and they doing good job to keep tank clean. But as I have two big pieces of draft wood in the tank, BN love to bite on the wood. So it creates quite lot of wates. Im thinking to reduce the number of BN and put in a few clown loaches... As clown loaches also known to be good at keep tank clean. My question is Does clown loach get on well with Cichlids? What if I took all draftwoods out and make it a pure rock cichlids tank, will my BN start feel unconfitable and make them die? I feed my cichlids with NLF. So I guess BN just eat leftover NLF and waste from cichlids. What about Clown loaches? Should I keep feeding only NLS? Thanks in advance.. :bounce: With south american cichlids they should be fine. Their ideal water conditions don't really match up with african cichlids. If the bristlenoses are fine the clowns should be too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackp Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Ryan had about a dozen clown loaches in one of his African tanks and they were fine. The eat the trumpet snails, which is why I'm thinking of putting some in my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Ryan DID NOT have a dozen. He had a maxium of 4. He says he had 12 but thats not true. Jackp do you still want some of my trumpet snails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Hmmm... thx guys. BN needs draftwood...I think I will need to relocate or sale some of my BN. 20 in a 5 ft tank is probably too many... Anyone has clown loach for sale at moment?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 I had 7 in with my Africans and they were fine too..it wouldn't be good to put them in your tank if they came from a low Ph tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Ryan DID NOT have a dozen. He had a maxium of 4. He says he had 12 but thats not true. Jackp do you still want some of my trumpet snails? lol There is always one I had exactly a dozen I moved them the other day, they are currently living with my tropheus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 your 4 + JackP 8 = 12. That adds up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 clowns are commonly kept with africans world wide, I have seen many members of various international forums doing it. I did it and they did very well, up to you i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 lol There is always one I had exactly a dozen I moved them the other day, they are currently living with my tropheus. Ryan, I was watching your tank auction on trademe for your clown loaches... &c:ry &c:ry Anyone sale good price clown loaches here?.... :bounce: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 clowns are commonly kept with africans world wide, I have seen many members of various international forums doing it. I did it and they did very well, up to you i think. Thanks smidey I am pretty confident to put clowns into my cichlids tanks now. But I will need to buy a few first... :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Just acclimatise them over a longer period of time so that they don't get whitespot. Also just keep an eye on food for them since cichlids can be aggressive feeders, with time the clown loaches will learn to come to the top to feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Its funny how I got given so much crap over clowns with African's when everyone does it and they go good together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Just acclimatise them over a longer period of time so that they don't get whitespot. Also just keep an eye on food for them since cichlids can be aggressive feeders, with time the clown loaches will learn to come to the top to feed. i never did that at all. you should be feeding plenty and if you don't have snails now i would introduce ramshorns as the clowns will easily keep them at bay. i never had any issues on the three years or so i kept mine, i would recommend NLS cichlid formula as a food for them and also feed blood worms once a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 What can I say you know everything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 What can I say you know everything :sml1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 i never did that at all. you should be feeding plenty and if you don't have snails now i would introduce ramshorns as the clowns will easily keep them at bay. i never had any issues on the three years or so i kept mine, i would recommend NLS cichlid formula as a food for them and also feed blood worms once a week. Thanks. I will try to feed them with NLS. I just got two clowns and will pick them up this weekend. Cannot wait to see something new in my tank :nilly: :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 how many will you want to have total? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 how many will you want to have total? 12, BUT REALLY 4 BUT I WILL GET 8 MORE TO MAKE IT RIGHT SO THAT WILL BE 24 IN TOTAL BUT PLEASE DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackp Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Ryan DID NOT have a dozen. He had a maxium of 4. He says he had 12 but thats not true. Jackp do you still want some of my trumpet snails? Haha, Will you do me a good price? I'm doing ok at breeding them but might be good to introduce a new bloodline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 ...they were fine too....Its funny how I got given so much crap over clowns with African's Translation; they were ok for the short time you had them, and you got upset when someone posted something contrary to your opinion with a little science to back it up.... You can keep the two together, although it is far from ideal for many reason. I would suggest if you must mix them then you need to compromise on the water parameters and keep it between the hard alkaline water the cichlids prefer and the soft acidic water the loaches come from. Other factors like water flow, temperature and diet will also have to be compromised if you wish to have long-term success miximg species from different habitats. Bear in mind when people tell you they're keeping clowns at high pH/low temp etc and "they're fine" that clowns SHOULD live for 20+ years and grow to ~10-12" in length, anyone who says they're fine after a year or two is getting way ahead of themselves IMO, there is far more to the health of a fish than how it appears at the present time. IMO clown loaches are a species worthy of being kept in their own dedicated aquarium, not just as "cleaners" in an aquarium set up for something completely different. Would you recommend keeping a few assorted tropheus in a high-flow 30C soft water amazon tank just to add a little colour? I'm not going to say you shouldn't do it, but I'll leave this article here. http://www.loaches.com/articles/why-loaches-should-not-be-kept-with-malawi-cichlids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 12, BUT REALLY 4 BUT I WILL GET 8 MORE TO MAKE IT RIGHT SO THAT WILL BE 24 IN TOTAL BUT PLEASE DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT I got two so far.... :rotf: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Translation; they were ok for the short time you had them, and you got upset when someone posted something contrary to your opinion with a little science to back it up.... You can keep the two together, although it is far from ideal for many reason. I would suggest if you must mix them then you need to compromise on the water parameters and keep it between the hard alkaline water the cichlids prefer and the soft acidic water the loaches come from. Other factors like water flow, temperature and diet will also have to be compromised if you wish to have long-term success miximg species from different habitats. Bear in mind when people tell you they're keeping clowns at high pH/low temp etc and "they're fine" that clowns SHOULD live for 20+ years and grow to ~10-12" in length, anyone who says they're fine after a year or two is getting way ahead of themselves IMO, there is far more to the health of a fish than how it appears at the present time. IMO clown loaches are a species worthy of being kept in their own dedicated aquarium, not just as "cleaners" in an aquarium set up for something completely different. Would you recommend keeping a few assorted tropheus in a high-flow 30C soft water amazon tank just to add a little colour? I'm not going to say you shouldn't do it, but I'll leave this article here. http://www.loaches.com/articles/why-loaches-should-not-be-kept-with-malawi-cichlids/quote:2mfl83o9 Your are so helpful as always. Thanks David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 No problem, other thing I forgot to mention is that it really is adviseable (from a health perspective and for the enjoyment of watching them interact) to keep them in a good sized group (5+). I know the LFS usually says 3, but having kept many varying sized groups over the years from two to 30 it certainly seems like the more the merrier with clowns. The thing to watch for is whitespot, they are more prone to it than other species, especially if kept at lower temps. If you don't already, now would be a good time to start quarantining any new additions so you don't end up having to treat your whole tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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