Will clown loaches work with more aggressive cichlids?

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Freezekougra

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 18, 2009
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Brooklyn, NY
48x18 tank

I'm not sure about the exact fish yet(unless somebody wants to create a dwarf arowana for me :P), but I'm looking at 1 cichlid+small group of clown loaches.

For the purposes of this thread, lets say an aggressive fish like a red devil. All fish will be purchased as juvis(2" max).
 
should be fine there are lots of people on here who keep them with cichlids, those measurements are a 75g tank right? but yeah i think as long as you get them all as juvies it should be fine, though i would get the clown loaches first and grow them out a bit or purchase larger ones if possible as they are very slow growers and something like a red devil will out grow them in no time and they would be swallowing size, but as long as everything remains ok with the size ratios then they should be fine clowns can be pretty aggressive eaters
 
I have kept clowns with some rough cichlids - - GT, JD, Texas, etc. - - with absolutely no problems . . . but when you go Red Devil, maybe you kick the aggresssion up a notch, so I don't know . . .
 
yes, they work great with them. i have 5 in my 265 with istlanum, carpintis, midas, grammodes, neets, convicts and hrps. mine came from someone that had them woth jags, dovii, midas and vieja.
 
Mine get punked ever so often but nothing where their life is in danger. But keep in mind that my CL's are at least the same size or bigger than the cichlids they are kept with.
 
They must be somewhat tough. Petsmart has a sale going on for 2 - 3" clown loaches for under $5. I placed 3 of them in a 75 growout tank with some brutal cichlids that were WAY bigger. Jaguar ~ 8 - 9", Two Hornet Tilapia 6 - 8" and a Sax. Pike 6".

Both the Sax. Pike and Jaguar without hesitation tried to devoure the clown loaches. They both spit them out immediatly as if in some pain. Only the Jaguar has continued to show aggression toward them. I must have bonked the Jag a half dozen times with a fishnet to "hammer" the point that they are NOT FOOD!

All three are still in the tank as of this morning.
 
yeah i saw that sale and thought it was awesome price, do you know how long its going on for? i been thinking about replacing my senegals with something else and was thinking a small school of clowns might be cool
 
I keep a school of 9 CLs from 4-7inches with a 12inch Jag, 10in GT, 7in Festea, 6in midas, 5inch convict, 4x 6-7inch tinfoil barbs and 2 8inch highfin plecos and no one touches the loaches. In fact the loaches school nicely with the barbs
 
Right now i have a 55gal with a 3inch Jag and a 4inch jd and 2 inch clown pleco. They leave the pleco alone for the most part you may have to watch them at first but if you put them all in at the same time you should be Fine and if your tank is bigger then mine your set. Plus the clown pleco isnt stupid he knows when to swim off out of sight.
 
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