Clown loach: large fish compatibility in large spaces

[andyroo]

Folks,
So, the usual question about clown loach capacities within predator-run systems:

We've got a good size client pond that's been maturing since Xmas, currently stocked with guppies, yellow-lab, common pleco, tinfoil barb, alb.oscar & alb.irid.shark plus various lilies, filamentous plants, papyrus & various snails including mystery.

Now that everybody's comfortably growing, reproducing etc etc., it's time to make further colour introductions incl. tweaks to ecosystem. Intentions are towards more locally available rift valley cichlids in blues, purples & golds - though I'm open to suggestion. Top-view colour & adult size, as this conversation is competing with koi, though I'm also contemplating school of cardinal &/or Colombian tetras... how are columbians from the top-view? Red tails are visible, but what about the blue?

Clown loaches re colour as well as (eventual) size & a modicum of snail pressure/control, and as my importer currently has in-stock. However, they arrive ~1", IE: tiny, well within the mouth size of both the oscars (3@4~7') & sharks (12@11~15"). Guppies & juv labs are about the same size. These clowns are also costly at ~US20 each, so a school will be an investment & mortality will be missed. Nickle-and-dime'ing by billionaires always weirds me out.... they've got palms worth $8grand.

Pond has upper section at 15" deep that's only snails & guppies, and the lower primary tank ~3+' that has the bigger stuff.
Herons are likely an overnight issue in the upper tank, though gardeners say "no"

If I started them in the upper tank, I expect some will take the cascade to the lower, but how to move/remove the straggler-remainders once they've grown-in? I suppose they'll swim up again too, though...
Or just put them into the lower so the upper remains the snail-source, populated with guppies, tetras & rainbows only?
Or amass the cichlids etc... & make all introductions at once to reduce theoretical per-animal predation pressure/risk?

The responsible choice would be to move my team of 3+inch from my own 100gal to this big'ol pond and get new for the house... but I really like my fish and the gardeners have an occasional issue with forgetting to turn-off the chlorinated hose...

Photos give the general layout though they're from April, sorry - everything has grown-in more, sharks have trebbled in size/weight, oscars at least that increase & started laying.

 

[FJB]

Can’t offer useful suggestions, but find your pond beautiful and of a very nice size. I imagine by now it might receive more shading from trees and bushes (a good thing). Very nice!

 

[Fishman Dave]

If they are truly albino irredescent sharks then I don’t see them bothering clown loach, cichlids or guppies for that matter. If they are Paroon then goodbye all!
The Oscar’s may be more of an issue !

 

[Midwater]

CL may do very well in your beautiful pond, in and amongst the lotus plants. Certainly, you will need a group.

From one inch to ten inches might take decades.

Although they are a colourful fish, in a pond, you might never see them.

 

[paroon shark]

Clown loaches are pretty clever. I’ve kept them in predatory set ups before and assuming there is ample hiding spots, they tend to stay out of harms way.

 

[andyroo]

P paroon shark & Fishman Dave , I tend to agree, and then there's the related thought/debate around the efficacy of the eye-spike &/or (ephemeral?) poisonousness.
Oscars, dragonfly larvae & birds are the worries, with Oscars in the lower tank & the others likely in the upper - along with abundant guppies.
Midwater , I'll agree with you also: decades to 10", but in all of this volume & live edibles I'm thinking 36-months to a nicely visible 4~5-inch, particularly in a school & against the black/dark bottom in clear/vaguely tea'd water.
F FJB , shading comes and goes as the Poinciana drop & regrow leaves (messy filters, but snails love it). The water is pretty deep, lily/surface-shaded & stirred, so temperature tends to stay stable - or at least we're not getting manic mid-day spikes. There are more trees along the sides now, growing-in. No koi.

All told, if I add a dozen and have 8 @6" at 4yrs, I'll be happy. The client will be ecstatic also; she loves stuff that "comes to see" her, so the oscars are already a huge hit.

 

[andyroo]

Update: Client was keen so we bought & added a dozen. They arrived even smaller than we'd expected, so went into the upper pond. Timber planter-boxes have a 1" gap underneath, so the wee loaches have vanished... as expected. That system is well aerated but warm (30C+) overgrown with bottom-potted & surface plants but with good sub-surface good flow & generally packed with snails & other invertebrates so I they should grow at max-rate. Only predation will be dragonflies (etc) & maybe a very occasional night heron, only other fish in the upper are guppies (so far). Let's see...

I kept 3 from the shipment & they're thriving in the 100gal, maybe 25+ % increase in size in a couple of weeks. Touch-wood.