Young Clown loaches with tiger barbs

[Arran walker]

Just wondering if anyone has these fish together in a community tank, I have 5 tiger barbs which are fine with all my other fish. Just don't know if they'd nip the new clown loaches as there a similar colour

 

[Dreadz]

How big is your tank? Clown loaches grow to be large fish and need a 5 or 6 foot tank minimum.

 

[Arran walker]

My tank is a meter wide, not sure on feet

 

[bud29]

They should be fine, sometimes a loach will school with the barbs because it thinks it is one, but they really shouldn't be picked on more than any of the other tiger barbs.

 

[Dreadz]

A metre is just a little over 3 foot.
Clown loaches are one of many fish sold by stores who on the whole generally neglect to inform customers that they will grow too large for many home aquaria. They can grow up to 18inches (45cm) and have been known to live 30+ years if looked after correctly and whilst they may be fine in your aquarium to begin with you will ultimately have to rehome them before their growth is stunted.
In all honesty, as much as I love clown loaches (I have four, 1 a little over an inch, 3 around 4 inches) I would recommend you look at different loaches for your aquarium unless you're able to upgrade to a tank around twice the size of the one you have now fairly soon.

 

[phin]

I've read that tiger barbs and clown loaches actually get along well together. In fact, I read it on the tiger barb wikipedia page earlier today, FWIW.

 

[Dreadz]

I have no doubt that they would cohabit perfectly well but my concern is not one of compatability. It is that the clowns will outgrow your tank and/or have their growth stunted and suffer as a result. Have you considered yoyo or khuli loaches? There are many loaches out there that would be fine in a tank of your size, clowns unfortunately are not one of them.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

please don't take this the wrong way because its pure curiosity and me wanting the additional knowledge...

i have a few clown loaches in a 125G and from everything i've read they grow to be anywhere from 8-12" Max... most loaches in the aquarium hobby won't exceed 10".

if at all possible could you let me know where you read the 18" thing??

and again please don't misread my intentions by asking, i'm just curious... i do agree though that the OP will eventually need a 125G+ for them to actually survive long term.

 

[phin]

I have no doubt that they would cohabit perfectly well but my concern is not one of compatability. It is that the clowns will outgrow your tank and/or have their growth stunted and suffer as a result. Have you considered yoyo or khuli loaches? There are many loaches out there that would be fine in a tank of your size, clowns unfortunately are not one of them.

I'm not advocating keeping clown loaches in a 3ft tank. I'm just answering the question of compatability.

 

[Dreadz]

please don't take this the wrong way because its pure curiosity and me wanting the additional knowledge...

i have a few clown loaches in a 125G and from everything i've read they grow to be anywhere from 8-12" Max... most loaches in the aquarium hobby won't exceed 10".

if at all possible could you let me know where you read the 18" thing??

and again please don't misread my intentions by asking, i'm just curious... i do agree though that the OP will eventually need a 125G+ for them to actually survive long term.

Apologies, the 18 was a typo, should have read 16 inches.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/clown-loach-chromobotia-macracanthus
This site should provide all the info you need on clowns and indeed other loaches.

 

[Dreadz]

I'm not advocating keeping clown loaches in a 3ft tank. I'm just answering the question of compatability.

Your original post implied you were planning on keeping the clowns in with your existing tiger barbs hence my cautionary advice.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

thats a real rarity though... as awesome as it would be.

i love my loaches... i just transfered them to the 125G so they are skiddish as all get out, hopefully they calm down and go back to normal.

i'm also gonna pick up a lot more plants, a power head and some rocks to build caves and what not...

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Your original post implied you were planning on keeping the clowns in with your existing tiger barbs hence my cautionary advice.

i thought they were compatible... i don't keep tigers because they fin nip like crazy. but many members have said as far as compatiblilty(sp) goes they should be fine?? lol now i'm confused

 

[Arran walker]

I'm just wanting some larger fish for my tank as all my fish are small ones and clown loach looked good. Any other suggestions that would suit my tank better? It's 39gal

 

[Dreadz]

thats a real rarity though... as awesome as it would be.

i love my loaches... i just transfered them to the 125G so they are skiddish as all get out, hopefully they calm down and go back to normal.

i'm also gonna pick up a lot more plants, a power head and some rocks to build caves and what not...

It certainly would be uncommon for a home aquarist to rear a clown to 16inches but it can and does happen. One of my lfs's had a 13 to 14 inch specimen they'd taken in from someone as it had unsurprisingly outgrown its tank and it wasn't ideally housed in their 6x3x2foot display tank.

I'm one of the many who was sold clown loaches when I started keeping fish with no prior advice from the large chain pet store as to how large they would grow and I learned the hard way that keeping them in too small a tank leads to problems and as a result am always keen to make sure people know what they're getting in to when buying these great fish.

Mine are currently living in a 120(us gal) and there's a 240(us gal) tank sitting in my garden waiting to be refurbished and set up but I'd still be happier if I could go bigger than that!!
I'm not trying to discourage people from keeping clowns because as you no doubt know, they are fantastic fish, I'm just hoping to help others avoid the problems (and losses) I've had in the past.

 

[Arran walker]

I don't think I could find room for a tank that size I suppose it would take a lot of years for them to reach full size but it might cause them problems along the way. I'd just like a couple of bigger fish to fill my tank out a bit but ones that won't outgrow the tank. (It's 45 us gal)

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

It certainly would be uncommon for a home aquarist to rear a clown to 16inches but it can and does happen. One of my lfs's had a 13 to 14 inch specimen they'd taken in from someone as it had unsurprisingly outgrown its tank and it wasn't ideally housed in their 6x3x2foot display tank.

I'm one of the many who was sold clown loaches when I started keeping fish with no prior advice from the large chain pet store as to how large they would grow and I learned the hard way that keeping them in too small a tank leads to problems and as a result am always keen to make sure people know what they're getting in to when buying these great fish.

Mine are currently living in a 120(us gal) and there's a 240(us gal) tank sitting in my garden waiting to be refurbished and set up but I'd still be happier if I could go bigger than that!!
I'm not trying to discourage people from keeping clowns because as you no doubt know, they are fantastic fish, I'm just hoping to help others avoid the problems (and losses) I've had in the past.

i completely agree, and i think its awesome that you're trying to help through education rather than harassment like i've seen in other situations. eventually my dream is to have a 500G fish tank(or two..) in my house lol but i'll need a solid concrete floor with nothing but ground under it .

somehow i can see myself spending quite the bit of salary on this hobby, but i love it so its whatever

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

I don't think I could find room for a tank that size I suppose it would take a lot of years for them to reach full size but it might cause them problems along the way. I'd just like a couple of bigger fish to fill my tank out a bit but ones that won't outgrow the tank. (It's 45 us gal)

but back to the needs of the OP, i would look at LiveAquaria.com and see what you can find there... they're pretty accurate with size and compatibility..

most of the fish that come to mind instantly as center piece fish are around 6-8" so i can't really suggest anything but definitely check out that website

 

[Arran walker]

Ill have a look on there, what about a couple of angels? I've no experience of them though so unsure about compatability or requirements. Half the problem is finding fish where I live, all the local pet shops don't stock a lot of the fish that I see on here and the Internet

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

from what i know of angels, they get pretty big, height wise more than anything so they would require a tall tank. but i could be wrong on that as well. i have two in my 125...