?unusual? clown loach behaviour

[hereticlosmorte]

hey guys,
just wondering if your clown loaches have ever turned into a vicious pack of wolves?
not literally

reason i ask is because i had clown loaches living in peace with tetras of various types, angel fish, a 4 inch id shark and a 5 inch pleco.

i bought 3 more clowns two weeks ago, and in the last week they have killed off every angel fish and a buttload of tetras in the tank. it's not a food issue, as the tank gets fed plenty and a variety as well.

they just now seem to enjoy picking on everything smaller than them.

is this unusual or normal?

 

[george09]

could have been the size of angles, they are verrry sensitive when small. how big are your clowns? some tetra's are almost asking to be food ie. neons are smaller then some guppies. we cant blame them if that was the case but i think it was more lickely that they died and the clowns scavanged.

 

[kdrun76]

How big is the tank. When housed properly, clowns are quite peaceful, but they do have weaponry and can use it if they feel threatened.

Is the tank large enough to support a large school of clowns?

 

[hereticlosmorte]

it's a 90gal tank, one of the bleeding heart tetras in with them had it's back all chewed up, fins shredded, and basically was just limping along, i walked over to the tank randomly and saw them bombarding it and one ripped its eye out. it died shortly after, body open.

never seen this behavior before.

and yeah, they were small angels. one had been with the bigger loach since i'd gotten them (they were both remainders of group buys that did not live).

big loach is about 3 inches, new smaller ones are an inch and a half.

not that i'd get rid of them, i love clowns. just thinking i should separate them from the other fish into different tanks.

 

[GalaxyInJanaki]

hmmm... sounds very unusual considering the size and their usual nature

 

[GalaxyInJanaki]

not that i'd get rid of them, i love clowns. just thinking i should separate them from the other fish into different tanks.

sounds like a good idea, my clowns got eaten ... dont know which fish did it but then again mines were still really small bout 1inch. i also separated the two remaining survives, at lease until they get larger.