World's oldest Clown Loaches reach 30 years of age.

[Redshark1]

Wow! Congratulations, and Happy Birthday. That's awesome. I'm so jealous. I think CL are such cool fish, and the monster CL are the coolest of all. Yours are tops! Beauties indeed. What do you feed to them? Imagine, 30 yrs! Hot damn!

We started our CL journey all over again in '14, cuz ours made it up to 9" long before a normal weekly water change killed 'em all at once, due to a mysterious county water "fix" (yes, I tested it before WC). You must have a great stable water supply. That's good for you & your babies.
Well done!

Yes you are right power cuts have not been disastrous and water supply neither. I have had no leaks touch wood. Other things could have gone wrong. I've had luck on my side for sure.

Clown Loach Feeding list / Food list / Feeding Clown Loaches

Every day I feed the following: New Life Spectrum Algae Max, Freeze-dried Pacific Krill (the small one, the large one is Atlantic Krill) soaked in boiled water until they sink then rinsed. Frozen Bloodworms thawed and rinsed (I get a 1kg A4 sized sheet, chop it up with a hammer and chisel and box it in the freezer). Finally I give them some Tetra Sinking Discus Granules which they love to dig for. Occasional foods: Cooked Frozen Mussels or Prawns thawed, rinsed and chopped. You must buy them cooked so that the thiaminase is destroyed but supermarket ones usually are. Freeze-dried Earthworms soaked in hot water and rinsed. Other dried foods include Fluval Large Bug Bites, Omega One Shrimp Pellets and New Life Spectrum Large Fish Formula. When in season I feed lots of daphnia and aquatic larvae from my garden's water butt. I spread the food out to enable all of them to forage for it otherwise the dominant fish take it all. I would suggest buying good quality branded food as I find it is fully eaten, digested and does not pollute the water. I had a bad experience with cheap granules which looked identical but wasn't. I don’t feed veggies as I found they pollute the water and aren’t favoured by my fish.

 

[esoxlucius]

That really is a magnificent group. It's unreal to think that those six fish in that bottom picture were all bought in Jan 1995, and still going strong!!! It really is testament to your care. Congratulations sir.

I bought a group of six in Nov 2015. One died but the other five are doing great, so they're about 9 years old if you consider they were 12 months old when I bought them.

Mine will be 30 in 2044, when I'm 77!! Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the mind boggles.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Gem Juwel also deserves a round of applause for that tank. At least 30 years without an issue? Not bad at all, must be well built.

 

[Cardeater]

[QUOTE="Redshark1, post:
The Harlequins were not tried earlier because I feared they would be too small and would either be eaten or would be stressed by the much bigger Clown Loaches. However, this certainly is not the case and they are my favourites of the dither species I have tried.

I like the Clown Loaches with a single species shoal of dithers. It looks better than a mix of species to my eyes and there are no compatibility issues.
[/QUOTE]
That's interesting. I was going to try a school of rummynose tetra in my tank but I accidentally killed them in QT and never tried again. Right now I have a bunch of different rainbowfish species and panda garra.

My pleco I had about as long as my clowns died last year. I think he just got old as he far exceeded the 10-15 year average lifespan I found on a search. He (not actually sure if it was a he or she) wasted away kinda of like you described about old clown loaches you had heard about on forums.
I thought he wasn't really eating back in 2020 but then I put some garlic concentrate on cucumber (he used to love that but I had stopped feeding it bc it polluted the tank to much IMO) and that seemed to get him eating again and bought me another year.

In late 2021-2022 I thought the pleco had stopped eating again but I wasn't sure bc he'd also eat algae off of rocks. Anyway, I eventually just found him dead one day and I think he just got too old.

I had this pleco from the mid 90s like my two old clowns I've mentioned before. They are still around as are the others I added in 2018. The one newer one I think is a female is about 50-60% the size of my old female. If this one is fortunate to live 20+ years, I'm sure she'll be bigger than my elder female.

 

[Redshark1]

Mine will be 30 in 2044, when I'm 77!! Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the mind boggles.

I hope you make it in good health. I'm counting my blessings as at 62 years old I am already the oldest male ever in my family. My Dad passed at 56. Sobering thoughts.

 

[Redshark1]

Gem Juwel also deserves a round of applause for that tank. At least 30 years without an issue? Not bad at all, must be well built.

I believe it is well made . The maker was John Allan Aquariums Ltd. who had a tie-up with the German Juwel brand.

You are right it was called a Gem Juwel. Do you/did you have one?

I have my original receipt and also some correspondence from Juwel Aquarium UK.

There are some pictures at Practical Fishkeeping https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/fishkeeping-news/a-bit-of-aquatic-nostalgia-/

I bought this aquarium new in 1989 and started using it straight away.

I believe it was already in storage for a while judging by the thick layers of dust on it. It really was filthy and I got it for a good price.

I've replaced the tombstones, but otherwise it is almost as new.

I am of course most grateful that there have been no leaks. Of lesser importance, but also welcome, is the fact that the appearance is like new.

There have been a few issues. The tombstones, which hold the fluorescent tube pins, became brittle and fell apart and had to be replaced but the rest of the light system is still going. The cabinet is made of that Weetabix-like material called chipboard I think. It soaks up water readily and then warps. Stupid! I am very careful not to allow any spills now, but early on I made a few mistakes. The cabinet still holds the tank up but I think this is a little dodgy but how would I know! The front and rear hood flaps are a poor design in so much as the hinge pins that allow them to be raised and lowered are located in plastic which fails. Only one side of the rear flap has actually broken. Of most concern is that the front flap/lid does not lean open sufficiently and can fall down with a bang especially if the hinge is not kept scrupulously clean of limescale etc.. This killed my previous inhabitant immediately prior to getting the Clown Loaches. My Distichodus sexfasciatus named Stripey bolted upwards and bumped his head which was fatal. This 15/16 inch fish is buried in the garden in a special place.

If any pretty girls are reading this, I am still this handsome today LOL.

 

[Redshark1]

Oh, and the cover glass which slots into grooves in the hood, became brittle and cracked. My local glass shop advised that they would not recommend glass for this length and thickness so I ordered perspex cut to size and this has been fine for 16 years so far.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Redshark1 1989 huh? That tanks my age lol. No this is the first ive heard of these tanks, never seen one in the states thus far. The anodized trim certainly has aged well in that it hasnt aged at all ha. It appears that the entire tank is encased in that frame...I'll bet that has something to do with its longevity. Having a rigid cage like that around the whole thing probably minimizes expansion at all the seams, prolonging the silicones effective lifespan. If you dont mind, could you measure the thickness of the silicone seam on the sides(im not sure if theyre even visible anywhere)?

Its funny i look at what they sell in stores these days and nothing has such a simple yet appealing presentation as your tank does in that old picture. Everythings so gaudy and cheap looking these days.

Perspex some brand of polycarbonate? I like 3/16"+ polycarbonate for lids the best. I dont bother cutting glass for them anymore, too many accidents lol.

Anyways no intention to derail your thread.

 

[Redshark1]

Hi Backfromthedead I am sure you are right with what you say. The silicone bead is visible inside the tank and appears to be 15mm and is very straight and consistent. It looks like it was applied by someone who was skilled.

Perspex is, to me, a brand of clear plastic. It is less of a worry than the glass and is doing the job well.

The aquarium is of good quality aside from the few weak points mentioned.

The lights are also old technology 58W T8 lights which are at least reliable. I'm still using the original electronics. They are the type of lights I've always been used to so they are fine.

I added T5 lights to my planted aquarium as the T8 lights in that were insufficient for growing plants in what is a deep tank.

 

[OutbackJack]

Man, that's so cool. It's crazy how big they get. My LFS gave me two clown loaches for an assload of water lettuce that'd taken over my tank. lol it's funny to see how small they are now in comparison to the NFL footballs they can become.