Q for those with large groups of large clown loaches.

[David R]

I have 30 CL's from 3-8", and will be soon moving them to my 210g tank (180x75x60cm, wide not tall!) where they will be the main feature fish. At the moment the only other fish I have that won't be going in my 370g SA set up are a couple of male sajica and a couple of bigger plecs (royal and blue phantom).

So what does everyone keep with their big group of loaches?

Before anyone says something like "I have 6 3" with my XXXX and they're fine", I'll point out that a big group of big loaches is a totally different kettle of fish. Mine dominate the geophagus and other tankmates at feeding time, their boisterous attitude and constant hunger make it difficult to get food to other fish. What ever goes in with them needs to be feisty and bold enough to compete with them for food and not be freaked out by their constant antics, but also not super aggressive. Suggestions?

 

[ronnie08]

i know exactly what you are saying..iam up to 48 c/l's now ranging from 2"-6" and they own the tank..as tankmates i've got 5x tiger barbs,2x geo's,1x rotkeil severum,1x archer.

the tiger barbs,rotkeil and archer will compete for food but the geo's are a bit slow at getting some food.

i will put a few slices of cucumber at the bottom of the tank for the c/l's first then try and feed the rest...

what do you think about growing out one of those jar's from hff in a loach tank?

 

[David R]

what do you think about growing out one of those jar's from hff in a loach tank?

Pretty risky at best. The clowns are fast but also too bold for their own good. I thought about adding some in with my green, but I can see it ending badly when they swim up to the surface to investigate food and he's hungry. Jars have a nasty reputation and you could end up with a big fish that won't tolerate much else in the same tank.

I'm thinking about salvinis or similar small-medium central american cichlids (convicts, firemouths etc)

 

[SteveR]

You need some confident midwater fish to keep a big school of clowns. I keep tinfoil barbs with them. See my thread in my signature.

 

[JakeH]

I like to thaw out a cube of frozen BW in a cup of water, then dump in a little at a time to keep the shoal occupied while I feed the top-level fish with floating food.

 

[JD_MAN]

I've got 40 some loaches...biggest is around 10" now and I keep rainbows and a black arowana in with mine. I have a couple of misc. cats and plecs in there as well. Everyone seems to do fine. Most other fish never survive in my tank cause the loaches take over at feeding time.

 

[justin guest]

I never had a problem in the setup pictured (had to give it up a year ago). Biggest loach was 10 inches. I just made sure enough food was added at feeding time.

j<><

 

[SteveR]

That is one cool photo of dinner time!

 

[baos780]

I am thinking about adding a couple archers because they are a very unique fish. But I wonder about how healthy an archer can be in a clown loach tank and is it's needs really met?

i know exactly what you are saying..iam up to 48 c/l's now ranging from 2"-6" and they own the tank..as tankmates i've got 5x tiger barbs,2x geo's,1x rotkeil severum,1x archer.

the tiger barbs,rotkeil and archer will compete for food but the geo's are a bit slow at getting some food.

i will put a few slices of cucumber at the bottom of the tank for the c/l's first then try and feed the rest...

what do you think about growing out one of those jar's from hff in a loach tank?

 

[knobhill]

awesome school, Justin.