clown loach question

[sumarty2]

hi all,

If you remember I was the one who got 4 clown loaches without researching them and believed the girl at my lfs who said they won't get too big. anyway I am kind of hooked on them and now since I am keeping them at least for the time being....what food do they like? One of them has doubled in size, the other 3 are still pretty little. I just feed them flake food, some freeze dried tubifex, and occassionally live worms when I can find them. They seem pretty happy going up and down the plants....which have alot of algae on them since the sun is much stronger now. But that is another problem I have yet to solve. I don't think they are eating the algae...just looking for food debris.

sue & the clowns

[neilanh]

I didn't have clowns, but my loaches loved a mix of stuff. Flake, brine pellets, shrimp pellets, even algae wafers.

[theotheragentm]

The love snails.

[Skyrmir]

Mine seem to love the tiny sinking pellets and algae wafers. They search all over for the pellets and crunch most of the snails that try to snag the algae wafers before my pleco gets there.

[Dave66]

Originally Posted by sumarty2

hi all,

If you remember I was the one who got 4 clown loaches without researching them and believed the girl at my lfs who said they won't get too big. anyway I am kind of hooked on them and now since I am keeping them at least for the time being....what food do they like? One of them has doubled in size, the other 3 are still pretty little. I just feed them flake food, some freeze dried tubifex, and occassionally live worms when I can find them. They seem pretty happy going up and down the plants....which have alot of algae on them since the sun is much stronger now. But that is another problem I have yet to solve. I don't think they are eating the algae...just looking for food debris.

sue & the clowns

Sue,
You should know that clown loaches (Chromobotia macracanthus) grow too large for all but the largest aquariums. Females can and do reach 16 inches, males an inch or two less. At that size they are very easy to sex, as the males are a good deal more slender than the females. I kept six in a 350 gallon aquarium for several years until I sold them, and let me tell you, a 16-inch female clown loach is a LOT of fish; they are heavy bodied and huge.
If you've a bait shop nearby, you can buy small red worms (ask for red wigglers) to feed to your loaches. You may have to cut them small enough for the little ones, but the red worms are pretty small, so they may be able to take them whole.
To purge them of the dirt, run your thumb and fore-finger along the worm firmly, starting at the head. May take you a little time to get the hang of it. If your tank is a decent size, say a 55 or larger, I wouldn't bother. The dirt certainly doesn't bother the fish, to my experience, and I've been feeding earthworms for decades.
Your loaches will slow down in growth once they pass six inches, but if properly fed and housed, can double that in 16 months or so. Then growth accelerates, and in the next year, they will get truly large.
Next time, seek out Botia striata, as they top out at four inches or so, and have the same charming level of activity.

Dave

[sumarty2]

I can't quite see myself going into a bait shop for wrigglers just yet......I had a hard enough time feeding them the blood worms (and keeping them in my fridge for a week). And yes I am now well aware of how big they could get. I believe it is my fate to get fish that grow to a tremendous size and then find new homes for them! I think I should start researching aquariums now.

sue & the clowns