I was considering the fact today that I have never seen a report of any type of Botiine loach caught in Florida, although I'm sure they occasionally get dumped like every other fish available for sale there. That got me thinking about the possibility of someone buying land and creating a breeding pool/river for clown loaches in Florida, as opposed to the current breeding method of hormone injections and stripping the fish. I have no idea what the lowest seasonal ambient temperature is in southern Florida, so that might kill the idea right there. Another possible problem is that so little is known about how and what conditions causes Clown Loaches to go into a breeding behavior. If it could be done, it could be very profitable and could be an additional supply of Clown Loaches to the United States market. Thoughts? Is it possible to do?
Establishing a breeding population of Clown Loaches in....Florida?
- Thread starter ewurm
- Start date
land in South Florida is cheaper now than it has been in 10 years, buy you a few acres just north of the Everglades, use the runoff from the Glades.........
I saw it snow, never stuck on the ground as far south as Ft Myers. I have also seen big populations of snook die in the intercoastal waterway due to cold.
i think they require low ph to even want to breed like low 6's........found this
Clown loaches have been bred in aquariums, however it is very rare. Sexing clown loaches externally is hard, but possible by looking at the tail fin. The tail fin tips on the male are slightly bent inwards, making the fin look a little bit like a claw. The tail fin tips on the females aren't shaped like this. Clown loaches have to be quite old and at least 7 inches / 17 cm before they are sexually mature. In the one good account of clown loaches spawning they spawned under the following conditions:
Four large clown loaches (over 25 cm /10 inches) were kept together in a planted aquarium, and a few weeks before spawning they changed their behaviour and started eating live fish as their only accepted food. The females in the group grew very fast on this diet, and had doubled in girth by the time of spawning. The night during which the spawning took place, two clowns were swimming close beneath the surface entwined in each other and "clicking." The next morning, 450 eggs were found spread about the aquarium. Clown loaches eat their own eggs, so it is recommended moving the parents if you wish to succeed in spawning them.
The fry were fed liquid fry food for the first two weeks, after which they accepted crushed flakes. They grew relatively fast, to 2.5 cm/ 1 inch in 6 weeks. After that the growth rate slowed down.
It's suggested that older fish are essential for breeding since this fish might have to be quite old to be sexually mature. Clown loaches live to be about 50 years, so it is quite feasible that they may spawn later in life than many other species.
Clown loaches have been bred in aquariums, however it is very rare. Sexing clown loaches externally is hard, but possible by looking at the tail fin. The tail fin tips on the male are slightly bent inwards, making the fin look a little bit like a claw. The tail fin tips on the females aren't shaped like this. Clown loaches have to be quite old and at least 7 inches / 17 cm before they are sexually mature. In the one good account of clown loaches spawning they spawned under the following conditions:
- Temp: 84F
- pH: 6.5
- Ammonia & Nitrite: 0
- Nitrate: < 25
Four large clown loaches (over 25 cm /10 inches) were kept together in a planted aquarium, and a few weeks before spawning they changed their behaviour and started eating live fish as their only accepted food. The females in the group grew very fast on this diet, and had doubled in girth by the time of spawning. The night during which the spawning took place, two clowns were swimming close beneath the surface entwined in each other and "clicking." The next morning, 450 eggs were found spread about the aquarium. Clown loaches eat their own eggs, so it is recommended moving the parents if you wish to succeed in spawning them.
The fry were fed liquid fry food for the first two weeks, after which they accepted crushed flakes. They grew relatively fast, to 2.5 cm/ 1 inch in 6 weeks. After that the growth rate slowed down.
It's suggested that older fish are essential for breeding since this fish might have to be quite old to be sexually mature. Clown loaches live to be about 50 years, so it is quite feasible that they may spawn later in life than many other species.
why do you say that??? do you know the guys who tried it???? you're all a bunch of skeptics if you ask me........i'm not sayin it's gods honest truth but i mean if they can breed plecos and discus which were almost impossible to breed back in the day who says it hasn't been done.......i don't see why you think it's rubbish??? Mr. Loacho Cinco.....the rest of the info on the page is pretty acurate. http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/BreedingLoaches.htm