It's funny, but as much as I admire their appearance...and I have often toyed with the idea of a large tank stocked with CL's and Tiger Barbs...I have kept aquarium fish for over a half-century and have somehow managed to never own some of the most iconic and popular species, and the Clown Loach is right near the top of that "regret list" of fish I should have gotten but never did. IMHO, they're very nice...but they aren't magical or irresistible.
But just about all the "classic" aquarium fish are very well-studied and have their biology pretty much understood and accounted for. Goldfish, Koi, Bettas, Oscars and all the other mainstays of the hobby are not always kept properly by aquarists, but at least their requirements are pretty well documented; it's kind of sad how often these requirements are ignored...most commonly their space requirements...but the fish don't really have too many secrets.
So how is it that Clown Loaches are still so dang mysterious? When I was a kid I remember reading the stir that was caused in the aquarium hobby when somebody managed to start breeding Neon Tetras! They were considered a tough nut to crack...fast forward a couple or a few decades, and they're just another small aquarium fish that is regularly bred commercially.
But Clown Loaches...despite being so popular for so many decades...are still being wild-caught, with no commercial breeding going on? And people are still asking and debating and discussing how long they live, how large they grow, their pH requirements, ideal temperatures, etc. as if they were discovered yesterday and we are just starting to figure them out. How can this be?
I recall reading an article in the old Tetra aquarium magazine, a very Euro-style publication that I followed in the 70's, that detailed the exciting news of a Clown Loaches breeding in an aquarium. Like many first-time successes with new species, it was more or less accidental; the aquarist had a decent-sized tank housing a small group of Clowns and they eventually did what comes naturally. I don't think the owner even knew that there was breeding going on until he saw small fish, well past the fry stage.
Fast forward fifty years, and if that were to happen today it would be just as big a sensation as it was then. What other fish species has managed to keep its basic requirements so well-hidden for so long, to the point where we still need to catch them from the wild?
What is it with these fish? Or, as the OP put it: What's the deal with them?
But just about all the "classic" aquarium fish are very well-studied and have their biology pretty much understood and accounted for. Goldfish, Koi, Bettas, Oscars and all the other mainstays of the hobby are not always kept properly by aquarists, but at least their requirements are pretty well documented; it's kind of sad how often these requirements are ignored...most commonly their space requirements...but the fish don't really have too many secrets.
So how is it that Clown Loaches are still so dang mysterious? When I was a kid I remember reading the stir that was caused in the aquarium hobby when somebody managed to start breeding Neon Tetras! They were considered a tough nut to crack...fast forward a couple or a few decades, and they're just another small aquarium fish that is regularly bred commercially.
But Clown Loaches...despite being so popular for so many decades...are still being wild-caught, with no commercial breeding going on? And people are still asking and debating and discussing how long they live, how large they grow, their pH requirements, ideal temperatures, etc. as if they were discovered yesterday and we are just starting to figure them out. How can this be?
I recall reading an article in the old Tetra aquarium magazine, a very Euro-style publication that I followed in the 70's, that detailed the exciting news of a Clown Loaches breeding in an aquarium. Like many first-time successes with new species, it was more or less accidental; the aquarist had a decent-sized tank housing a small group of Clowns and they eventually did what comes naturally. I don't think the owner even knew that there was breeding going on until he saw small fish, well past the fry stage.
Fast forward fifty years, and if that were to happen today it would be just as big a sensation as it was then. What other fish species has managed to keep its basic requirements so well-hidden for so long, to the point where we still need to catch them from the wild?
What is it with these fish? Or, as the OP put it: What's the deal with them?
