If the water conditions remained perfect; then after one year you would have 25 loaches that were 4" or larger in a 55 gallon aquarium on top of several other bottom dwellers. Talk about a feeder tank. While it "might" work there seems no good reason to do it as this just not even close to enough space. That many loaches should be housed in a 250+ gallon aquarium. If someone wanted to keep loaches in a 55 gallon there are many species that would do well in one. However clown, blue, and tiger loaches are very poor choices.
overcrowded with loaches??
- Thread starter equidae9854
- Start date
H3D;612763; said:
I completely agree that a 250 gallon would be great....later on when the loaches get bigger. there is no need for that 250 gallon right now while the fish are smaller. there is nothing wrong with growing up large fish in a smaller tank so long as you upgrade as necessary.
so long as the fish have proper swimming space and are active and eating normally (which is why I'd want to see the tank before recommending an immediate upgrade) then the fish will be fine. a tank upgrade will definitely be necessary and once again, the growth of the fish will dictate when that upgrade is necessary.
Jason_S;612787; said:I completely agree that a 250 gallon would be great....later on when the loaches get bigger. there is no need for that 250 gallon right now while the fish are smaller. there is nothing wrong with growing up large fish in a smaller tank so long as you upgrade as necessary.
so long as the fish have proper swimming space and are active and eating normally (which is why I'd want to see the tank before recommending an immediate upgrade) then the fish will be fine. a tank upgrade will definitely be necessary and once again, the growth of the fish will dictate when that upgrade is necessary.
I agree that there is nothing wrong with growing up large fish in a small aquarium. A 75 gallon aquarium would be more appropriate for growing out a small group (5-7) of clown loaches. 25 loaches in a 55 gallon will not have the proper amount of space to swim, much less the space to be able to grow out. Just because loaches are active and eating does not mean that they are not being stunted. If the loaches are being stunted then how will you be able to use the growth of the fish to dictate when to upgrade? There is no reason to keep a tank like this. If you are going to have to upgrade in 6 months then you should just start with the bigger aquarium.
The blue botia will eventually become aggressive towards each other. They aren't a very social fish.
