Clown loach initial growth spurt

[esoxlucius]

It's well documented that clown loach growth up to the 5-6" mark is relatively quick. From there on it is painfully slow, and can take, in some cases, many more years just to attain 7".

I have a group of 11, bought in two separate batches (5 in 2015, and 6 in 2019) which are totally going to script growth wise.

My first batch, all around the 5-6" mark have now slowed right down, and some of the second batch (the females especially) have caught the first batch up. I am now at the stage where I can no longer tell the individuals from the two separate batches apart, except for two quite small specimens (about 3"), maybe runts or males?

I was wondering if a change in diet at this stage may help them kick on. I've read that some hobbyists swear by mussel meat/snails to get big clowns, which obviously fits because mussel meat/snails are good protein = growth!

Any clown owners got any views on this, especially Redshark1 who owns some giants?

 

[Redshark1]

Bear in mind my six Clown Loaches are in a lets say traditional tank where water quality is obtained by restricting feeding. Undergravel filtration is fine unless its overloaded and it doesn't take much to overload it.

My six foot 110 gallon tank is a fair bit smaller than recommended these days though when I bought it some folk actually stated I was going over the top size-wise.

My fish grew slowly throughout I believe. When one of my two females decided she was going to be top dog rather than share the equal position they had enjoyed for 20 years she put on a growth spurt as she chased away the other female and got more of the food. She increased from 10" to 11.5" total length.

My aim has always been to keep my Clown Loaches healthy within the limitations of the lack of information and downright wrong information i received prior to January 1995 when I got them.

 

[Redshark1]

So, I'm not the one to ask about power feeding as ultimate size was never my goal but for what its worth here is what I feed:

Clown Loach food Feeding list / Food list

Every day I feed freeze-dried Pacific Krill (the small one, the large one is Atlantic Krill) soaked in boiled water until they sink then rinsed. Frozen Bloodworms thawed and rinsed (I get a 1kg A4 sized sheet, chop it up with a hammer and chisel and box it in the freezer). Cooked Frozen Mussels or Prawns (from supermarket) thawed, rinsed and chopped. Finally I give them some Tetra Sinking Discus Granules which they love to dig for. Sometimes I feed freeze-dried Earthworms soaked in hot water and rinsed. Dried foods include Omega One Shrimp Pellets or New Life Spectrum Large Fish Formula. When in season I feed daphnia and aquatic larvae from my garden's water butt. I spread the food out to enable all of them to forage for it otherwise the dominant fish take it all. I would suggest buying good quality branded food as I find it is more digestible and will not pollute the water as cheap foods do. I keep this list on file as people often ask and it also allows me to edit it. I added the mussels to the menu this year (2022) and they are very popular. ??

 

[esoxlucius]

So, I'm not the one to ask about power feeding as ultimate size was never my goal but for what its worth here is what I feed:

Clown Loach food Feeding list / Food list

Every day I feed freeze-dried Pacific Krill (the small one, the large one is Atlantic Krill) soaked in boiled water until they sink then rinsed. Frozen Bloodworms thawed and rinsed (I get a 1kg A4 sized sheet, chop it up with a hammer and chisel and box it in the freezer). Cooked Frozen Mussels or Prawns (from supermarket) thawed, rinsed and chopped. Finally I give them some Tetra Sinking Discus Granules which they love to dig for. Sometimes I feed freeze-dried Earthworms soaked in hot water and rinsed. Dried foods include Omega One Shrimp Pellets or New Life Spectrum Large Fish Formula. When in season I feed daphnia and aquatic larvae from my garden's water butt. I spread the food out to enable all of them to forage for it otherwise the dominant fish take it all. I would suggest buying good quality branded food as I find it is more digestible and will not pollute the water as cheap foods do. I keep this list on file as people often ask and it also allows me to edit it. I added the mussels to the menu this year (2022) and they are very popular. ??

That's interesting. That list of krill, bloodworms, mussel, prawns, earthworms and shrimp pellet is largely protein, ideal for growth. If you've been feeding this type of diet long term then that would explain why your clowns have grown bigger than the average clown that maybe doesn't have as much protein in their diet.

Mine don't have anywhere near that much protein currently. If I keep them on the diet they're on then I might just end up with 7-8" fish in about 15 years. Whereas if I up the protein now then mine may get towards the 10" and beyond, I don't know.

I don't know how much of their growth is purely down to diet, genes, hierarchy or just plain pot luck. I suppose a mixture of all four and you can also throw water quality into the mix too.

I am going to up the protein content slightly but certainly not powerfeed, something I'm dead against.

 

[Redshark1]

Its interesting that you focus on protein and I'm certainly not saying you're wrong. I've just never thought of it this way. All I have done is buy six fish and kept them alive for 27 years so I know very little about the hobby.

I have asked myself what would a medium sized fish eat, one that lives on the river bottom (and they are also found in at least one lake that I am aware of). The types of food one would find in almost any river in the world would include crustaceans, worms, aquatic insects and their larvae and molluscs so I have included these in their diet.

I do have a low level of pest snails and my Clown Loaches can be seen carrying them around and eating them. The fish recently, within the last few years, seemed to wake up to the fact that this food source was available to them and have decimated the previously large Malaysian Trumpet Snail population. This happened right after I introduced some Assassin Snails which I had bred in another tank. What I observed is the Clown Loaches ate the Assassin Snails and just when I was pulling my hair out so to speak they luckily turned to eating the Malaysian Trumpet Snails.

I also see my fish eating algae from the sides of the aquarium occasionally although I don't think this is a large amount. I don't feed plants for two reasons. They are either ignored or the waste produced by the fish clogs the undergravel filter. Various plants form a secondary part of the granules I feed each day (after the primary ingredient of fish). How important plants are in the diet I don't know but they are at least getting something.