Killed 4 clown loaches

[pheedbak]

I've killed my fair share of clown loaches in the past so I feel your pain but I did learn alot. My surviving group is about 12 to 14 years old and range from about 8 to 10 inches. This is what I have learned.

Keep them in groups of at least 10 fish if they are juveniles. Otherwise you will never see them and they will be very nervous. Older fish can be kept in smaller groups.

Keep them in large tanks with a stabilized temperature. Larger tanks usually have much thicker glass or acrylic with better thermal stabilizing properties. You can also put foam insulation on the bottom or back to add a little more thermal protection. This helps to prevent ich which is tough to treat.

I don't fill my tank directly from the tap. Instead, I fill a 35 gallon plastic trashcan about 80% full and put in a few airstones. I throw in some home made dechlorinator (probably not needed at this point because of the airstones) and let it bubble for a day or so. When its time to change the water I add enough hot water to the trashcan to make that water approx the same temp as the fish tank. I will never add colder water to the tank but it may be slightly warmer (2-3 degrees) I add a little more dechlorinator and then put a sump pump in the trashcan. I hook it to a python hose and refill the tank.

Cold tap water can be very dangerous in the winter for fish because it often contains much higher concentrations of dissolved nitrogen. This can damage the fishes gills and stunt their growth or perhaps do other damage.

Cover your tank properly. They are jumpers.

Thats pretty much it, besides normal aquarium keeping procedures. I change about 25-40% of the water every 2-3 weeks. They can live a long time and be easy to keep but the temperature seems to be the big thing. Hope this helps.

 

[DeLgAdO]

Sorry for your loss but I found clown loaches tricky to keep the first time around. I bought ten the first time and lost them all the first week.

Don't be discoraged tough, they are fun to keep. The more the better.

odd

my three that i have are my very first clown loaches

and i use cold water for water changes

nothing......hmm

 

[DeLgAdO]

Cold tap water can be very dangerous in the winter for fish because it often contains much higher concentrations of dissolved nitrogen. This can damage the fishes gills and stunt their growth or perhaps do other damage.

where did you get this piece of information?

 

[DeLgAdO]

if your clowns get ich, don't use meds, just add salt. make sure its salt without caking agents - buy it from a reputable aquarium, doesnt have to cost a lot. it also helps to raise the temp of the tank with a heater... but that's too tricky for me so i just stick to salt and more frequent but smaller water changes.

go ahead and raise the temp as well

they love warm water, and tolerate temps in the low 90's

MINE WERE NUTS when i has the temp at 88 during treatment

 

[CichlidGoh]

sorry to hear about your loss. I have 5 clowns, 5 yoyo loaches, 3 burmese and six others of various type. I love the loaches as they eat anything that fell to the bottom. I have been keeping them for over 10 months.

However, be very careful about loaches because they are very sensitive to water changes. They are the first to indicate water problems in your tank if they appear to be stress.

Pls note that healthy loaches have darker color and weak ones looks pale. You have to give them alot of spirulrina and red worm to keep them healthy. They will not last long if given normal fish pellets. They will not grow very big in tank, mine is only 10cm after 10 months from half the size when i bought them. I keep them in a 200 gallon tank with cichlids.

 

[DeLgAdO]

However, be very careful about loaches because they are very sensitive to water changes. They are the first to indicate water problems in your tank if they appear to be stress.

not quite, maybe at first, but they are alot hardier than you think. i Perform 80% water (i uped it recently) and they are unphased by it.

Pls note that healthy loaches have darker color and weak ones looks pale.

that can also depend on there mood.

You have to give them alot of spirulrina and red worm to keep them healthy. They will not last long if given normal fish pellets.

my 3 are on a diet of NLS and hikari pellets, algae wafers and chopped shrimp soaked in vitachem. but they eat the pellets more than anythig else.

4 years and still going strong. where did you hear they wouldnt last long on a pellet diet and must eat alot of spirulrina and bloodworms?

 

[toxicfish]

I bought 4 clown loaches last week and immediately loved them. I did a water change about 5 days after I got them and like an idiot used only cold water to refill. The clown loaches went into shock from the drastic temperature change and never came out of it. The next morning they were all dead on the bottom. While I had seen fish go into shock from cold water, I have never seen one die from it. Lesson learned.

Yeah that sucks. I am always paranoid about adding straight cold water. I always try to match it to my tanks temp the best I can and always add the water slowly.

gotta love MI for the ICE COLD water.

 

[pheedbak]

where did you get this piece of information?

This is just the physics of nitrogen and other gases.

Pretty much anything that exists as a gas at room temperature will dissolve better in cold water. This explains why many pet stores keep feeder goldfish in chilled tanks. They know that its easier to keep the Oxygen contents high in water that is kept cool. But if you let a glass of cold water stand for a while you can sometimes see bubbles of gas start emerging from the water as it warms up. In the winter time your cold water pipes are much colder and you can end up with N2 concentrations much higher than other times of the year.

Fish respiration is dependent on gradients of gases dissolved in the water. Water with fluxuating ammounts of any of these gases could cause damage to the sensitive gills of fish.
I'm not sure exactly where I learned this but a good Biology book can probably explain it better.

Hope this helps

 

[DeLgAdO]

This is just the physics of nitrogen and other gases.

Pretty much anything that exists as a gas at room temperature will dissolve better in cold water. This explains why many pet stores keep feeder goldfish in chilled tanks. They know that its easier to keep the Oxygen contents high in water that is kept cool. But if you let a glass of cold water stand for a while you can sometimes see bubbles of gas start emerging from the water as it warms up. In the winter time your cold water pipes are much colder and you can end up with N2 concentrations much higher than other times of the year.

Fish respiration is dependent on gradients of gases dissolved in the water. Water with fluxuating ammounts of any of these gases could cause damage to the sensitive gills of fish.
I'm not sure exactly where I learned this but a good Biology book can probably explain it better.

Hope this helps

I find this questionable

since 70% of the earths atmosphere is nitrogen

if fish can be poisoned though high levels of nitrogen in cold water then why dont the fish that live in that river where the water came from, die as well? they shouldnt and neither should aquarium fish,

should they die it would most likely be from temperature shock

for the glass of water, i always drink water in a glass with ice, sometime i dont even finish it all and it sits until it reaches room temperature, between then ive never ever seen bubbles from as the water heats to room temeprature, however when i make tea, as the water aproaches to the boiling point i do always see bubbles forming at the bottom of the pot, which is what i think you mean.


nitrogen and other gases play no role in fish resperation

fish respiration or aquatic respiration in general refers to a process in how an aquatic animal obtains oxygen from its surrounding waters.

obviously these gases play no role in respiration for fish.

Also i havnt seen any goldfish tanks at any of my lfs that are kept chilled, all of them are with no heater at room temperature water. and of coarse they are overstocked, but none of the fish gasp at the surface for oxygen.

im not saying your idea is wrong but some things dont fit the puzzle, but if you or anyone else can shed some light, that would be much appreciated.