clown loach question

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
J

JeninOK

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 30, 2008
192
0
16
oklahoma
In my ninety gallon I have 4 clowns that are just under 2 inches and one who is nearly 4, with 2 one inchers growing out a bit in my 55 gallon.
The little guys in the 90 are doing well, survived a very minor Ick outbreak and are gaining weight and coloring up and getting some roundess to their bellies. But the 4 inch guy doesnt seem happy.

My little ones school constantly and are really active while he prefers to hide most of the time in the caves/pipes I put in for them. He does come out to eat in the evenings but then goes right back into the cave.

I moved the one of the pearl gouramis this morning into a ten gallon with a trio of cories and moved 6 of the harlequins into the 55 gallon thinking their may be too much dithering going on for him and because the pearls were arguing a bit and I wanted to eliminate that stress right away.

But I'm also wondering if he needs another loach or two the same size as him to feel more comfortable?

water parameters
amm 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 15
PH 6.8
moderately soft
Filtered with two HOB rated for 70-100 gallons each filled with purigen, biobeads and filter floss as well as a big aquaclear powerhead with a sponge prefilter.
water change 25% every 4 days
 
when you first got him was he part of a school or was he alone?
 
Get it another loach of the same size. You should be fine with 5-6 clowns.:)
 
May settle in. I have found that they do better in larger numbers.
 
I didn't want to overload the tank with too many additions at once, But it has been a couple of weeks so I will try to hunt down another couple that are his size tomorow.

I also totally forgot that I had added a gold ram to that tank because he was nasty and beating up my pair of blue rams and anything else that came within his line of sight. This evening I noticed that the Gold ram was sitting outside of the poor guys pipe cave waiting for him to show himself and then xhasing and bullying him everytime he tried to come out. The ram is the size of a silver dollar and the Loach is 4+ inches but that doesnt stop my mini monster!

He is now in my heavily planted 6 gallon with an apple snail and nobody else until i can figure out what to do with him.

I feel like its musical tanks day here!

The loach has been out a lot more in the last few hours than in the entire time I have had him so hopefully without the Gold ram harassing him to the point of panic he will settle in nicely. He also seems to have discovered the rest of the school which should help as well.
 
Good sign if he is schooling w/the others...
 
he is still pretty pale through his dark stripes but is hanging out in his pipe with his face sticking out most of the time and coming out several times a day to snort around for food and play a bit. the frozen blood worms and brine shrimp got him excited earlier too, so I think he will be just fine.
Tomorow Im going to go get him another his own size, or two if I can find them. I will also go ahead and move the two tiny babies into the big tank tomorow to increase the size of the tank.
 
When it settles in, it will probably be just fine. He;ll recognize safety in numbers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom