My First Post and Question

[OscarHook]

Hello everyone,

I am new to your forums, but not to the fish world. I am a 20 yr old college student, who recently purchased a 55g tank that he now has to sleep under because my room is so small! I Just have a quick question, I have 2 3-4 in Oscars ( Castor-Tiger, Pollux-Albino Tiger) and 2 Clown Loaches ( Zig and Zag) and i was just wandering if anyone else has every had clown loaches before and could give me some pointers. I love clown loaches and have just never had the tank big enough for a few. I also know a 55g is very small for 2 Oscars, but dont fear i work at a local Petsmart and have a birthday coming up, so a bigger tank is on its way!!! So Basically if you have any pointers for me that would be great also I plan on adding a Needlefish to the mix shortly, if Petsmart ever gets them in.

 

[Ornatapinnis]

Clown loaches are very cool. I would suggest getting 2 or 3 more, they are a schooling fish and youd be happier with a group. Also give them something they can completly hide in, THey like a safe place to retreat. They get ich pretty easily but be carefull what you treat them with, they are very sensitive to medications that have malachite green in it. I have used aquarisol to treat ich on loaches with good success. Be carefull handleing them like in a net for example, they have very sharp barb that are hook shaped under thier eyes. They can whip them out like a switch blade and stick you with them. When they get bigger you often can hear them clicking real loud Sparing with each other. Your oscars may try to eat them but most likley will spit them out once they get spined in the mouth a few times. I would separate them if this starts to keep the loaches happier. Clown loaches grow very slowly and are very long lived. Good luck and welcome to MFK..

Joel

 

[Miles]

Welcome to MFK!

Heres a few things to consider; The Oscars are going to grow 10x faster then the clown loaches, and reach maximum size in no time.. What does this mean? You will end up feeding them more, likely more then they need fed because they are beggars. Your water quality will begin to decline, and in turn, your loaches will be very susceptable to Ich.

Keep up on your water changes, and getting that bigger tank for added water volume will help as well..

The thought of adding more clown loaches to the school is a great one, they will be less stressed and find comfort in groups. They wil still be 2-3" when your Oscars are full grown though, so hopefully your oscars are gentle giants and don't gobble them up. Plenty of hiding spots should help though..

I wouldn't reccomend the needlefish, as they eat mostly feeders. What does that mean to you? The oscars will eat up all the feeders while the needle fish may get one here or there, or none at all.. Also the needles are delicate schooling fish and would prefer a much larger tank (They will dart around and break there face).. You will end up spending more money on feeder fish for your oscars, just trying to get the needlefish some.

I would reccomend an 80g tank, and a few more clown loaches.. Anything beyond that you may be putting off too much waste in your tank, unless you are doing large frequent water changes.. Even then, you might not have alot of room for tankmates.

 

[MaJiKTeRRoR]

Excellent