30+ CL's for a 180g????

[JD_MAN]

I can't believe so many people are trying to talk someone out of keeping a large shoal of loaches. They take forever to grow out to 12"...

I am still happy that I went ahead and ordered 30+ loaches for my 55 around 5 years ago. They eventually went to my 180 and now are in the 220. All doing well.

200 would be amazing! biggest shoal ever? whos got the most on mfk?

As far as I know...one of the former MFK members still has the most clown loaches.

 

[JakeH]

I can't believe so many people are trying to talk someone out of keeping a large shoal of loaches. They take forever to grow out to 12"...
.

AMEN! The true loachkeepers among us are trying to encourage, but...

 

[Cliff.W.]

Thanks for all the support and advice guys! but yes I'm gonna take it easy on the loach population since I know I have enough filtration but I would also like to have even beyond enough to supply my tank before I overstock... I mean I know I can do the 35+ loach now and keep that for good few years probably atleast 3 years easy. But if I do have 35 loaches I probably would not be able to skip a day or 2 on WC's cause nitrates would climb high very fast.

As I said I'll just keep my 9 and pick up the nicest loach here and there and maybe stop at 12 loaches some where around there. With that said I want you all to see this amazing! SUMO LOACH! I picked up today at Big Al's! =D Original price 39$!!!!!! after negotiations.... 25$! What a deal I must say! This loach is soooo fat! he's like 4"+ right now and I'm pretty sure he will be the new leader of my pack of loaches in my 180g. I can't get over the difference between this new loach and the current loaches in my tank cause this new loach is like twice as fat as the ones I have! And the ones that are in my 180g were hand picked to be the best loaches amongst 1000's from a big suppliers farm by a very experienced loach keeper.

BEHOLD! Sumo Clown Loach!!! =D

 

[aclockworkorange]

Almost all my loaches are as fat as that guy, but loaches get fatter as they age. They seem to grow out to about 6 inches, and then stop growing in length for a while and just grow in girth. I have one smaller loach that is the same length as the others, but much less round and obviously younger.

Oh, and if you want to beef up your clowns, try a couple weeks of Hikari Carnivore pellets. Beast.

As far as that being a Sumatran, I think I see some black on the pelvic fin (middle fin)? That would point to it being a Borneo IMO. It might just be the lighting though. Nice looking loach nevertheless.

As far as the tank and some of the newer comments... I just don't think it's a good idea to keep an already nitrate sensitive fish in an overstocked tank. Sounds like a great way to have some unhealthy and/or stunted fish. Personally, I would rather have a dozen really nice clowns than three dozen clowns that are merely doing OK.

 

[Cliff.W.]

Really they grow in girth after 6"? Cause I was told when u choose loaches u never pick the skinny ones cause they are stunted and will never get fat. Which I find true cause I use to have very skinny loaches before and they would always be the last one to the food or not fight with the others for food. They never got fat but the fat ones only got fatter. Right now I feed them cucumbers, tetra beads and blood worms. Oh also I would sometimes just throw in a prawn and just let them fight for extra protein. I hope all my loaches become as fat as this one that I just bought. =)

 

[JakeH]

I was told when u choose loaches u never pick the skinny ones cause they are stunted and will never get fat.

Right idea, wrong reason. You leave the skinny ones because CL's are very prone to internal parasites & the skinnier they are, the more worms they are likely to already have. Their weak condition just makes it even tougher to de-worm them effectively & increases the odds that they wont survive the treatment. With the price of these wild-caught badboys, you want to make sure he's gonna live through his treatment. Of course, ALL loaches should be QT'd & dewormed before introduction to the main population. Without proper deworming, a skinny CL will probably never get fat, no matter how much you feed them--in fact, it can kill them even faster when the overfeeding causes the internal parasites to flourish.

 

[aclockworkorange]

Really they grow in girth after 6"? Cause I was told when u choose loaches u never pick the skinny ones cause they are stunted and will never get fat. Which I find true cause I use to have very skinny loaches before and they would always be the last one to the food or not fight with the others for food. They never got fat but the fat ones only got fatter. Right now I feed them cucumbers, tetra beads and blood worms. Oh also I would sometimes just throw in a prawn and just let them fight for extra protein. I hope all my loaches become as fat as this one that I just bought. =)

You never want to pick one that looks "skinny," like sunk in skin, unhealthy look. But there is a difference between skinny and just not as big in girth as a larger clown loach. I do find that their growth rate tends to go length to 6", then they mostly grow in girth, then it evens out as they grow. This is common with many fish, like catfish.

Very skinny loaches usually do have parasites as mentioned before me.

You should get them on a good staple pellet like NLS Thera A or one of the other good brands out there. Keep feeding them cucumbers and occasional blood worms as well.

 

[Captnslapy]

Yah I would love to get my friends stock list and punch it all into AQAdvisor and see what it says. I think AQ takes the full grown max size of all fish and gives a overview conclusion.

Well eventually I'll get a bigger Canister.... and sump right now I just have no idea how its going to work.... cause i would imagine tehre would need to be drilling involved here. I can ask my friend since he built all his own tanks at home but if i can just add a bigger canister and do WC"s then so be it. I'd rather jsut do more WC's instead.

No need to drill. There are many threads on here on different types of overflows that you could make.

 

[george09]

well put, though some loach keepers will buy skinny clowns delibratley know that they lickey have a parisite. However if they are eating they can be treated and u may end up with a nice healthy clown with a nifty little design. cause lets face it rareley do we go to the lfs and they have nice healths odd balls. but in order to do this we need a hospital tank to treat. i wouldnt risk placing infected loach with rest of pack. nice loach pic btw happy hunting

 

[RD.]

I can't believe so many people are trying to talk someone out of keeping a large shoal of loaches. They take forever to grow out to 12"...

Perhaps because some of these people have actually seen how quickly an Asian aro can reach 24". In 2-3 yrs the aro & flagtail will have absorbed the better part of that 180, with no other tankmates. IMO a 180 is the bare min for an adult Asian aro, sans any tank mates. As it is currently stocked I would seriously start considering an auto water change system, unless you enjoy the thought of constant manual water changes 2-3 x per week. Your aro will suffer from poor water quality far sooner than any of those juvie clown loaches will.

As far as that being a Sumatran, I think I see some black on the pelvic fin (middle fin)? That would point to it being a Borneo IMO.

Black on the pelvic fins is also seen in Sumatran loaches, you might want to read the info found on page 6 in the link below.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204026&page=6

Clown loaches can work well with Asian aros, but IMO your 180 is already
going to be well overstocked within the next 2 yrs.