Clown Loach question

[brry]

My fish get stressed out whenever I suction the tank, so I went in looking for a bottom feeder that would help do the job for me. They were out of ghost shrimp and sent me home with a clown loach instead.

Quite a lively thing he is!

So I'm wondering how good a job these guys do at gravel cleaning. Do they just pick up the larger left over bits of food, or do they suck up the sludge like a snail?

(Maybe I should get a snail. Anyone know if a loach or gourami would nip it's feelers?)

 

[adeebm]

They will eat food that falls to the bottom, but not waste/sludge. Also, they get quite big and like to be in schools. What size tank do you have? It's always best to research a fish before getting it, don't just listen to your LFS

--Adeeb

 

[absolutangel04]

They do not suck up sludge. They actually have decent bioload and need to eat flakes/pellets like other fish do. No, it won't nip your gouramis feelers. They are wonderful, beautiful fish. But, their size and schooling tendency mean they should kept in a pretty large tank. They can reach a foot, are chunky in addition to long, and prefer to be in schools.

 

[brry]

Yeah, I found that out after I got him home. He's about an inch now, and I'll have to get a bigger tank when he grows on me.

It says they eat snails, so, he probably would try to munch a snails feelers. Drat.

 

[absolutangel04]

Yeah, I found that out after I got him home. He's about an inch now, and I'll have to get a bigger tank when he grows on me.

It says they eat snails, so, he probably would try to munch a snails feelers. Drat.

I don't think he will munch a snail's feelers so much as just eat the whole snail. Clown loaches are excellent at getting to snails of all shapes and sizes.
Also, if you want to keep him rather than trade him back in, I would suggest getting him a few friends. 75-90g is recommended as the minimum size for a group of them. They are pretty slow growers though, so you have some time. But I still recommend making sure you have a plan. What size tank is he in right now?

 

[brry]

He's in a 10 gallon with 1 dwarf blue gourami and 6 neon tetras. So there's plenty of room in there and hiding spots.

Had no idea they liked to be in schools though. He wasn't in a school when I bought him. They had him in a tank by himself with some other kind of fish acting as the clean up crew. I may have to trade him in for a ghost shrimp after all. They only grow to an inch and a half.

I just went ahead and suctioned off the gravel. It wasn't the big commotion I thought it'd be. Instead of hiding in terror they came right up to it and seemed fascinated. Especially my gourami. He seemed to wonder why I was stealing all the food.

 

[absolutangel04]

He's in a 10 gallon with 1 dwarf blue gourami and 6 neon tetras. So there's plenty of room in there and hiding spots.

Had no idea they liked to be in schools though. He wasn't in a school when I bought him. They had him in a tank by himself with some other kind of fish acting as the clean up crew. I may have to trade him in for a ghost shrimp after all. They only grow to an inch and a half.

I just went ahead and suctioned off the gravel. It wasn't the big commotion I thought it'd be. Instead of hiding in terror they came right up to it and seemed fascinated. Especially my gourami. He seemed to wonder why I was stealing all the food.

Yeah, I do strongly encourage you to get trade him in for ghosties. A 10g is really not a place for him to be for very long at all because of the max size he should reach. Sorry the store didn't give you good info about him. I hate when that happens.
It sounds like you are open to ghosties. They are pretty cool, and they are cheap. You can alwasy try some ghosties to see if they work out ok.
Some different bottom feeders that would be happy for life in a 10g tank are Asian stone catfish and pygmy cories. Very fun, cute little guys that both only reach about an inch.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Fish will eventually get used to you having to put the gravel vaccuum in the tank. For the first few months my fish were terrified of it, after a while they will start playing around it. Now I have to be careful as my betta keeps trying to swim up into the siphon and out into the bucket!

 

[siva]

He's in a 10 gallon with 1 dwarf blue gourami and 6 neon tetras. So there's plenty of room in there and hiding spots.

Had no idea they liked to be in schools though. He wasn't in a school when I bought him. They had him in a tank by himself with some other kind of fish acting as the clean up crew. I may have to trade him in for a ghost shrimp after all. They only grow to an inch and a half.

I just went ahead and suctioned off the gravel. It wasn't the big commotion I thought it'd be. Instead of hiding in terror they came right up to it and seemed fascinated. Especially my gourami. He seemed to wonder why I was stealing all the food.

A clown loach should never be housed in a 10 gal tank. They should be kept in groups of 5 in much larger tanks..something like 100 gals might be enough. I would take him back to the store and get yourself something like a mystery snail and some ghost shrimp or red cherry shrimp if you're looking for a CUC (clean up crew).