I got new fish too

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oscarbreeder

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Sep 2, 2003
Messages
4,075
Location
Palm Bay Fl
We just got a frog and a clown louche.
They will make thier new home in my kids 29gal. with some mollies and 2 guppys
 
LOL Obviously its new fish week!

A clown loach; love them! I've 3 in my 55g. Bunch of characters; the biggest one IS the biggest one cause he waits till the others locate food, then pushes em out of the way LOL pig.

Do know, oscar, clown loaches really need buddies; minimum recommended grouping is 3 although more is obviously better in this case. Also, they get big - they can reach up to a foot long, although the largest I've seen in captivity is 11 inches (not that thats a big diff LOL) with really good care. Plus, they can live to be around 20 years old or so. Your 29g will not be a good perm home (too small, especially if you get him the buddies he needs to be happy), but should be ok for a year or 2.
 
Just read that on the fish profile.
It also said it will school with other fish his size so hope I dont have to buy another.
I tried to talk my son in to another dwarf gouromis but it didnt work.
You know how kids are.
Well guess we will keep it for 2yrs and trade it:(
 
Hmmm.... not to be a stick in the mud, but I'd still go w/ Alli's advice (she gives good advice!) on the loach. You should see them together--happy little guys. Alone.... sad lonely little guys. With fish like cories, tetras, rasboras, clown loaches and other schoolers, you'll really enjoy having them far more if they have company. Trust me. I recently had a gourami die, and without buds he was miserable--couldn't put other males in coz they're very aggressive, and could find any females *anywhere* in the tri-state area (they're jus not sold since they're less colorful).

It's certainly your prerogative! But think about what Alli has said. AND if your son is looking for a pretty stripey fish, get a few tiger barbs. They're relatively aggressive (not true community fish) but grow to only about 2-3 inches. Plus, they're cheaper! (Disclaimer--might not be good with guppies) Also, there are plenty of other beautiful smaller loaches that you can get that will be happy in smaller numbers or in a large group (e.g. yoyo loaches, kuhli loaches--which have beautiful orange/black coloration--, tiger botias). Let us know what you decide!

Hope I don't sound too impetuous.
 
Just to add a little more info (LOL can never have too much), make sure you provide plenty of hiding spaces, especially with a single loach. Loaches need some sort of cave (I use a natural one made by my driftwood, as they ignored the ceramic one I bought for em LOL) to feel safe and comfortable.

Theres a good chance you won't see much of the loach. From what I've read of other's experiences (remember, I have 3, and I always have), a single clown tends to hide. You could not give him a place to hide to try to assure you'd see him. Thing is, you'll wind up with a VERY unhappy, unhealthy loach; its better to let him hide all the time then stressing him by not giving him a safe place, and he will likely not live very long in that case (stress = lowered immune system).

Lastly, I hope you QT him. Loaches, especially clowns, are wild caught and usually come in with all sorts of nasty parasites/diseases; usually ich. I QT all my loaches for 3 weeks, where my other fish usually get 2 weeks. Do keep a very close eye on em in any case. In the case of ich, it may appear soon because of the stress of all moves. Also, they may have internal parasites; white stringy poo or strange things hanging from its vent is a sign. There is also something called "skinny disease". Doesn't actually seem to be a parasite as it responds to antibiotics (let me know if you need to know what kind; I don't remember off the top of my head). With that one, they start to, well, get skinny and waste away.

Lastly, madasa makes some very good alternative suggestions. There are other loaches available which don't get as large and it would be easier to have a small school in your size tank; there are other fish with similar markings (not necessarily loaches,although I think loaches are awesome!). Not only do I have 3 clown loaches, I also have 3 yoyo loaches (one in the main tank, 2 new buddies for him in QT). They're silvery white with funky black markings; they're called yoyos cause those black markings look like YOYOYOYO...neat eh? Adult size for them is around 6 inches tops, and they are just as amusing and active as clowns.
 
hi all,
I totally go with Allivimar. I've heard of many people buying single clown loaches for reasons like *snail invasion* or *look so nice*, but they were never happy with them. it's always come down to *never see it, can't believe they need space, mine doesn't move, it's apathic and anyways it's been just such a bother, becoming ill and stuff*. it's really the case that they get sick and sad from being alone.

I think the other forum I visit over here (*germany*) is even more strict on clown loaches. motto is: no clown loaches for less than 125gal or in groups lesser than 5. I do understand they're funny and really beautiful (gave away mine too, and am still sad about it... but 80gal is not enough), but please research the smaller ones, maybe they fit in a school...
I can only give you latin names, I don't really know the english ones:

botia striata, b. lohachata, b. histrionica (sometimes histronica), botia spec "polkadot" (this is a really new one it might not yet be available), b. geto, b. morleti (might nip on fins), b. sidthimunki (absolutely have to be kept in school), ..... some of those are not easy to identify when young, but all of them stay in an approx size range of 4-5". I wouldn't put anything bigger in a 29gal...

just my 2cents really....
kind regards,
silvia
 
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