My 7 clown loaches(video) - 1 year old and they haven't grown at all.???!!

Matteus

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And just to add to that, after watching your video, I believe that you may have a group that is heavy in males, which could also explain the overall rate of growth/size.
How do you sex them? also how do you know they are gravid? This helps me understand some of the same frustration that op has experienced.

I originally started almost 2 yrs ago with 4 (all I could afford at the time). Only 1 is still left, and it is maybe an inch bigger than when I got it, now at roughly 4”. I have always kept my eye out for more for the right price, so I can get the fabled 6 or more. It seems as if every time I get 1-2 that I lose 1-2. And I seem to get 1 here or there from friends who end up with only one or two left. I now have 8 and they are all looking very healthy. All are open swimming and looking chubby. Thank you nls.

so in conclusion the best way to grow out clown loaches, is to have friends who have kept them for 10 + years and now decide they don’t want them any more.

ps. Be careful when feeding live snails. I didn’t realize that a nice little snack could lead to losing about 4 of my loaches over time. Some of which I never even found bodies for

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esoxlucius

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How do you sex them? also how do you know they are gravid? This helps me understand some of the same frustration that op has experienced.

I originally started almost 2 yrs ago with 4 (all I could afford at the time). Only 1 is still left, and it is maybe an inch bigger than when I got it, now at roughly 4”. I have always kept my eye out for more for the right price, so I can get the fabled 6 or more. It seems as if every time I get 1-2 that I lose 1-2. And I seem to get 1 here or there from friends who end up with only one or two left. I now have 8 and they are all looking very healthy. All are open swimming and looking chubby. Thank you nls.

so in conclusion the best way to grow out clown loaches, is to have friends who have kept them for 10 + years and now decide they don’t want them any more.

ps. Be careful when feeding live snails. I didn’t realize that a nice little snack could lead to losing about 4 of my loaches over time. Some of which I never even found bodies for

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If they're gravid you'll know about it, the females are literally, as RD. RD. said, obese. I have two really fat females and three slender and slightly smaller males. Before the females became gravid I honestly couldn't tell them apart. As RD mentioned earlier the fact that they are laden with eggs shows you you're doing something right. I think it shows a good diet and general contentment.

I have eight other tiny clowns in the same tank, I put them in to bring out my larger ones because they were hiding a lot. It's worked to a degree. As far as my little ones are concerned I haven't got a scooby what sex they are.
 

cockroach

Goliath Tigerfish
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I wouldn't be too concerned about your dilemma B Bill Bajaj . I doubt very much you'll get one post in this thread that contradicts your (and most of ours) experience with clown loach growth.

Even with a very big tank, pristine water and a fantastic varied diet their growth will still be slow. Mine are well looked after, I love them, but they've only gone from 1.5" to 5" in four years. And then they're meant to slow down in growth once they get to 5-6"!!!!

RD. RD. could probably add a bit more insight into clown loach growth.
This is exactly why big Clown Loaches cost big bucks.
Long time + Food + Small Loaches = $$$ Big Loaches
Here in Taiwan the cost between a 1~2" CL and a 10+" is about 200-300x
 

dr exum

Goliath Tigerfish
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For what it’s worth I have 5 in a 45 at the moment and feed left over Massivore pellets Broken up in my hand after feeding the larger fish, they seem to plump up quite a bit after eating the pellets... gonna pull them out in 30-60 days when I shuffle fish around and put them in a 120 or at lest a 75....

Good Luck!
 

squint

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Oct 14, 2007
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Ever notice how the large wild caught ones are long but scrawny while some of those who have been raised in captivity are obese?
 
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tigerbob

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Oct 28, 2019
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How do you sex them? also how do you know they are gravid? This helps me understand some of the same frustration that op has experienced.

I originally started almost 2 yrs ago with 4 (all I could afford at the time). Only 1 is still left, and it is maybe an inch bigger than when I got it, now at roughly 4”. I have always kept my eye out for more for the right price, so I can get the fabled 6 or more. It seems as if every time I get 1-2 that I lose 1-2. And I seem to get 1 here or there from friends who end up with only one or two left. I now have 8 and they are all looking very healthy. All are open swimming and looking chubby. Thank you nls.

so in conclusion the best way to grow out clown loaches, is to have friends who have kept them for 10 + years and now decide they don’t want them any more.

ps. Be careful when feeding live snails. I didn’t realize that a nice little snack could lead to losing about 4 of my loaches over time. Some of which I never even found bodies for

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This big loach looks impressive! What's the problem of the live snails? Did they carry parasite?
 

Bill Bajaj

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Gents thks very much for such wonderful replies n advise. This is the proper place to come to for clown loach advise.
RD. RD. - it's very interesting that you said my group of CL are mostly males. If you could please put up photos of male n female CL and kindly tell me how to differentiate.If you can't put photos then please explain between the two. By body shape? And other distinctive features? It would be a big help buddy coz when I get my 6 ft tank Im gonna get some more CL n for sure I want to be able to see their sex. And also I didn't this abt bloodworm being 90 % water guess ill feed more quality pellets then. Thks for that
esoxlucius esoxlucius - Hi buddy thks for wonderful advise.
Backfromthedead Backfromthedead - nice to see we're in the same situation.
If there's one thing I can say about CL keeping is they are FASCINATING ! I now I truly understand why they're so popular not only are they pretty it's their temperament, their intelligence, the way they swim the CL is a formidable fish I can't imagine the bigger sized ones this is one powerful fish I mean their presence.! (I'm sure u know what I mean.?) For sure when i upgrade to the 6 footer it's gonna be a dedicated CL tank !
Cheers
 

Bill Bajaj

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freak78 freak78 and johnny potatoes johnny potatoes - your tanks are gorgeous !
Matteus Matteus - nice impressive size loach ! At what size did you get them and how long till they got this big.?
 
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RD.

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Bill - to the best of knowledge there is no definitive way to sex a clown loach, short of manipulating them to express milt or eggs. There has been mention of a difference in their fin shape (caudal/dorsal?), which IMO is not true. No mention of this from the various researchers over the years, either. Typically as they grow out males tend to grow slower, and stay thinner, compared to females. IME males also tend to be more colorful, than their female counterparts. Sex ratio in a group doesn't seem to make a difference one way or the other, females often become so gravid that they look obese, but either drop the eggs and they are eaten, or they reabsorb them over time.
 
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