Bottom feeders for 125 gallon!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Anyone have experience/info on Clown loaches? I know they get massive

ive had two, lost them both to sickness unfortunately. one grew to around 6" and my last got to around 4". great fish, lots of fun. they just seem more disease prone than your average cichlid. i wasnt practicing quarantine procedures with new fish at the time and i think thats what screwed me with both fish.

ive seen pictures/videos on this site with loaches approaching a foot in length.
 
Clown loaches can get massive, but it takes a lot of years for them to outgrow a 125. The females typically get the largest, I have seen CL's that are 15 yrs old and only 7 inches, most likely males. Jumbo sized CL's sell very easily, and for pretty good coin, if you need to remove any down the road. A group of 4-5 CL's would work well with your other fish, and personally I find them very hardy, once they have been acclimatized after import. (the vast majority are wild caught) Or, you could go with a group of Yo Yo's, they will be good for the life of your tank. Good luck.
 
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Awesome! I think I’m going to try and track some down. 4-5 sounds like a good number, and I’ll check with my lfs about taking them back years down road when theyre massive. Just out of curiosity, could 5 of these guys take care of the bottom feeding in a 125 by themselves? Of course ill feed them their own mix, bit I just wasnt sure how good of scavengers they are. In addition, if they are the only bottom feeders I have, at what size would be too big to keep? 8”? Thanks!
 
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