My Clown Loachs are Eating Each Other

[Mr Pleco]

Ok. I had 7 clown loachs, but only 3 remain. I am preplexed. The 2 pics below best describe size relations between the 7 clown loachs. I believe that my 3 clown loachs ate the other 4. Could this be true. I now I am not losing it and that there are no Clown Loach bodies around the stand of the fish tank. Not one thing remains no trace what so ever except this pics. I don't think that the mouths were that big and they eat their own kind. I am pissed All of my small ones are missing, even in the first pic that one is missing too(the small one 3"). In the 2 pic you can see the tail of the big 10" hanging out of the cave on the right side.

Here are the pics. and came to think of it, this video I took on Sunday the clown loach does look like he is thanking me for the nice meal over the weekend.

http://media.putfile.com/Clown-Loach


Has this happen to anyone else?

 

[Zorro]

Wow ive never heard of this. Is there any other fish in the tank with the Clowns

 

[Oddball]

Whatever gave you the idea of keeping such radically different sizes together? When I had XXLG sized clowns, I regularly fed them feeders, bait minnows/shiners, live crayfish, whole earthworms, etc. They would have no problem at all downing small clown loaches. Separate out the small ones before you lose any more (especially that cool broken-banded one).

 

[datnioides]

I concur. I've seen large clown loaches down 3 to 4" market prawns, so they should have little problem with a small clown loach.

 

[ewurm]

I have been told Clowns that are much larger than their counterparts will harass smaller clowns, but never heard of them eating each other.

 

[Mr Pleco]

7 Clown Loachs (2"-10"), 3 Gold Severums, 1 Green Severum, 2 Blood Parrots(1-7"),3 Angel Fish, L-191,L-200,L-91,L-27

 

[starrfish71]

What kind of filter do you have? If it is either a undergravel filter, or a cannister filter, there is a chance the smallest CL are somewhere in the filter.

 

[Mr Pleco]

What kind of filter do you have? If it is either a undergravel filter, or a cannister filter, there is a chance the smallest CL are somewhere in the filter.

Not in any filters, when I syphon the gravel i found little bits of them in the cave. They were eat by the CL and spit out and then my plecos finished them off

 

[Monster VooDoo Fish]

Crazy, I had four CL attack my dwarf snakehead and suck the slime coat off.
The loaches are only 4" and the sh is 10". They would chase her around the tank.

Next week I plan on buying 3 large loaches, one is around 8" (5 years old)and the others
are 6".

I hope it works out because I also have 2 tiny loaches around 2", I plan to keep them
all together.

 

[Monster VooDoo Fish]

If you decide to get more small cl. More hiding spots might help the juvi, with a place to escape. I'm up to about 70lbs of root wood stacked in my 75g.