Need advice, pls (CL's beating on each other)

[SDmarvin619]

I have 2 clown loaches that are close to 15 years of age, one is 10.5in and the other is 9in. They are with another CL that's 4in. The 2 big one's grew together their whole life and the last few day, they have been REALLY beating each other up pretty bad So today I went to my friends pet shop and ended up purchasing two 4.5in and a 7in thinking since their is more then 5 CL's (total of 6 now) that the two big one's will stop fighting, which they did for a few hrs or so but now they are fighting again. Mann, what should I do? Any advice will be much appreciated Btw their tank mates is a 10in king kamfa Flowerhorn and a 15in Arowana. They are housed in a 180g bowfront with plenty of hiding space and the two big tank mates never bothered the CL's at all.
Thanks in advance

 

[I C Mud]

It's a pretty scary thing to watch 2 large cl tussle. This happens in my tank about twice a year. The two largest loaches, around 20 years old and just over 12" decide to see who is the boss. I have 33 loaches in a 300g tank and the rest of the loaches just get out of the way. They bash each other into the glass and the clicking is insane. Eventually they figure out who the boss will be for the next 6 months and settle down. Other than some superficial scrapes all is well after that. I find that if I crank up the stream/wave pump they settle down a lot faster. Just normal clown behavior, and it doesn't matter how many other loaches are in the tank. It's a pecking order thing. If any of the loaches has substantial growth in a short time they challenge the hierarchy of the tank. When the little ones do this it's absolutely hilarious. The same movements, and tactics, but there is no sense of panic, just humor. If the loaches are suffering more than minor abrasions then you may have to consider splitting them up, but if not give it time and they will work it out.

 

[petspoiler]

if the tank temperature can be lowered a couple degrees, you might try that to see if their aggression decreases. only if you have enough of a safety margin to not give them a chill.