I've been noticing some circular white marks on my Yellow tail Barracuda and Cory's withint he past few weeks... My first thought was that they have been running into the bogwood, rocks, etc. However today I actually saw my 3" Clown Loach launch towards my Needlenose "Gar" and Cuda! Right now I have a 75g with one Yellow tail cuda, one Needlenose Gar, 2 Cory cats, 3 Clown Loaches, and one Gian Pleco. I've never had a problem with any of the other fish, just the Loaches :/ Have any of you ever experienced this with your Clowns? Any pointers on getting them to stop? I was thinking of making them another little cave to try and keep them away fromt he rest, but the Corys and Pleco just go wandering in everywhere... None of the fish are above 5" yet.
Aggressive Clown Loaches
- Thread starter TRD_Power
- Start date
I have never herd of clowns being aggressive, wow, that's new to me. You could add more caves. How many times a day do you feed them?
I feed them shrimp/garlic pellets twice daily, and bloodworms once in between. They're definitely fat and healthy as can be! I am thinking about making a little cave for them when I get some free time (tomorrow).
Chicklette;4356376; said:
They definitely get plenty of both. Hope my cave will do the trick.
Thanks
Because the marks are circular and white indicating slime coat sucking I would suspect your small pleco of this rather than the damage being caused by a loaches mouth. You also need to be informed that plecos can develop a taste for lime coat or do it out of nutritional need. Fish with a sucker mouth leave circular white patched on fish but a clown loach doesnt have the mouth shape to leave circular white marks.
If you google for pics of a clowns mouth it looks as though they would bite rather than suck unless it comes to snails.
I would consider your pleco over the clown as a suspect because by your account of an "attack", it sounds like the loach was just being a typical clown loach and launching around the tank regardless of what is in the way.
That said you do get rogue fish in every species. Try increasing numbers if your tank size permits it as they prefer to be in groups anyway, even if it isn't the loach attacking.
Did you see it latch on or bite?
If you google for pics of a clowns mouth it looks as though they would bite rather than suck unless it comes to snails.
I would consider your pleco over the clown as a suspect because by your account of an "attack", it sounds like the loach was just being a typical clown loach and launching around the tank regardless of what is in the way.
That said you do get rogue fish in every species. Try increasing numbers if your tank size permits it as they prefer to be in groups anyway, even if it isn't the loach attacking.
Did you see it latch on or bite?
I have 3 Clowns right now. The Pleco's mouth is far too large to leave these small markings. I first thought it was my Needlenose nipping at the cuda, but both my brother and I have seen the Loaches latch on and freak the other fish out. I saw the attack on my Cory today, but my brother saw it go after my Cuda just a few days ago. They are eating plenty, but if they have the taste for the slime coat, what would you recommend to get them to stop going after my other fish?
Thanks
Thanks
I would remove the trouble maker or replace the whole group. However, it is unusual for 1 clown to be aggressive never mind a group of them.
Eating slime coat could be a sign for needing more protein in their diet. Try more bloodworm and/or pellets with higher protein content.
Eating slime coat could be a sign for needing more protein in their diet. Try more bloodworm and/or pellets with higher protein content.
Clowns will go after other fish sometimes, but I've never seen them leave marks. Unless the clown spined them with his suboculars and it became infected. But I'm thinking the marks are due to something else.