My two new Clown Loaches

[joeytoe]

For awhile Ive watched my friends clown loaches, but knew to get any thatd be large enough to survive in my tank would be rather costly. So today I bought two Small ones for my 29gal, there only a lil over a inch long.

[reefman]

nice now give them about 15 years and they will be monsters

[joeytoe]

nahhhhhhhh some steroids an theyll be monsters in no time. :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:

[Vapor]

Loaches are great. If you have never owned one before don't freak out when you find it laying on the bottom not moving. They do it all the time.

[joeytoe]

Loaches are great. If you have never owned one before don't freak out when you find it laying on the bottom not moving. They do it all the time.
Good to know. Thanks :thumbsup:

[loach43]

Loaches are great. If you have never owned one before don't freak out when you find it laying on the bottom not moving. They do it all the time.

Yeah, sometimes they lie on their sides and get pale & dead looking.
Standard behavior

[guppy]

The play dead thing really freaked me out the first time I saw it. I had only had them for a couple weeks and thought that they had all gotten ill. Joey toe, they grow pretty slow but do best in groups, you might want to get a couple more, when you get 5or so they play follow the leader, it is a crack up.

[joeytoe]

The play dead thing really freaked me out the first time I saw it. I had only had them for a couple weeks and thought that they had all gotten ill. Joey toe, they grow pretty slow but do best in groups, you might want to get a couple more, when you get 5or so they play follow the leader, it is a crack up.

Ive yet to see them stop moving, Id swear that there part Hummingbird. Ill prolly buy 2-3 more soon.

[guppy]

Mine would do it mainly after lights out.

[Dragon]

Mine do it all the time. I have even caught mine sleeping upside down. A small tap on the glass will bring them right up. Just be careful around their mouths. Those little tentacle things can get you. I moved my tank with them in it once, and when I went to catch them to get them out, one got me and drew blood. When I buy clown loaches, I always have the LFS double bag them as I have also had them puncture the bag on the way home. But they definitely live up to their name. Mine love any food and will eat flake food from the top. They poke their noses out of the water to eat. It's hilarious. They also do better in bigger groups. I have also had them school with tiger barbs.

[Steve_89]

Very nice :)

My big loach always lies on its side.

[DeLgAdO]

The play dead thing really freaked me out the first time I saw it. I had only had them for a couple weeks and thought that they had all gotten ill. Joey toe, they grow pretty slow but do best in groups, you might want to get a couple more, when you get 5or so they play follow the leader, it is a crack up.

the biggest one is always the leader

[qumqats]

Just be careful around their mouths. Those little tentacle things can get you. I moved my tank with them in it once, and when I went to catch them to get them out, one got me and drew blood.

Those are called barbels. They're sensory organs used to 'smell' the food in the substrate as they're nosing around looking for food.

Closeups of the barbels on Clown Loaches (http://loaches.com/portraits/clown_closeup.html)
Closeups of the barbels on YoYo loachs (http://loaches.com/portraits/yoyo_closeup.html)

They are NOT what drew blood. Many species of loaches have suborbital spines. They're usually retracted so you don't see them often. The loach can extend them to protect itself or to use in pecking order battles.

spine flash video (http://loaches.com/audio_video/spine_flash.html)

[joeytoe]

Added two more lil Loaches tonight thinking maybe one more, to have a gang of 5 swimming around in the tank as my Plecos dont move alot.

[joeytoe]

Added two more lil Loaches tonight thinking maybe one more, to have a gang of 5 swimming around in the tank as my Plecos dont move alot.

heres a pic of all 4 loaches.

[ewurm]

nahhhhhhhh some steroids an theyll be monsters in no time. :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:

Yeah put some andro in your tank, thats what Mark McGwire does! :ROFL:

[ewurm]

Congrats on your loach purchase. These are my favorite fish. They have great coloration and they are very active!

[Pangong_ilong]

They love to play dead, just found out today. And it scared me.

[MarlboroMan]

Cool purchase, thinking of getting some myself. Seems like they can live with slighty bigger fish.

[ewurm]

Yeah, they will lay on their side. Mine never do it, but it will happen. Anyone know why they do it? Are they really playing dead?

[Honda12]

Mine always make clicking noises and the first time I heard that I tought my tank was cracking and was goning to fall apart. But then I found out that some loaches tend to do that when they are happy. Didn't make me happy cause it about scared the s**** out of me.

[joeytoe]

Mine always make clicking noises and the first time I heard that I tought my tank was cracking and was goning to fall apart. But then I found out that some loaches tend to do that when they are happy. Didn't make me happy cause it about scared the s**** out of me.

Ive heard mine make clicking noises when they were eating Plankton.

I swear there the Hummingbirds of the fish world, Ive yet to see them stop moving.

[puffer_girl]

I love clown loaches!!! They are good for snail probs too..... The playing dead isn't a joke! Mine did it all the time....

[Bigg081]

great thing about clowns is that they eat all those snails that just show up! and they are fast enough to get away from the big mean fish.