clown loachs, i really want one...but dunno help please

[tropicfishman]

hey guys, i love clown loaches, mostly because they look like tiger barbs and do weird things like lay on there side then sprint around the tank lol but i still only havea 10 gallon, when i do upgrade to my 29, would it be ok to add one with two tiger barbs, a red tailed shark, a black molly and a betta? I'll end up buying two more tiger barbs and another molly, but i'm unsure about a clown loach and red taield togetehr, there both bottom feeders and the red tailed is really territorial, at least he's not right now, he shares his cave with any of the other fish all of a sudden, do you think they would work together in a 29 or should i hold of on the loach until my b day in october until i get a 55 setup? The 55 will be nothing but peaceful fish. however i'm still getting a 29 either way lol and the 10 will become my fancy guppie tank..because there awesome lol so whould i wait for the 29 or 55, experts please help, thanks

 

[Zagz]

Clown loaches should be kept in groups of at least 3 and get too big for a 29 gal. I'd wait until you get the 55 gal and then get the clowns.

 

[tropicfishman]

I didn't know they had to be kept in groups of 3, thats intresting and will look good in a 55, what do you pay per loach, is 8- 15 bucks a good deal? my LFS changes the prices alot depending on what tank they have them in, if its a smaller tnak they go for 8 bucks big tank 15 bucks? is this a good deal? how long do they usually live?

 

[Zagz]

They do best in groups. I have 6 of them and I paid 10 each Canadian, which is a miracle price because they go for 20 bucks usually each.

 

[tropicfishman]

We get alot of good deals on fish around here, mostly because of a place called berts pet center, they have the community in there hands because the next pet shop is in the next state and not worth going to

 

[nitrous]

ive also heard that red tail sharks are to be always kept in groups so they pick on themselves not the other fish around themn but this was at a lfs so idk how correct it is

 

[tropicfishman]

I heard they did bad in groups, mine does fine with other fish in the 10 gallon, never seen a fight

 

[toddnbecka]

Clown loaches are usually priced by size, bigger = more $. They also grow to 12"+, though it takes years for them to do it. Red tail sharks also grow large, slowly, though not as slowly as clown loaches. They will argue among themselves in a group.

 

[kaz]

I would say go ahead and get two for you 29g I have one in my 20g and hes about 1/2 inch tops 1, I know I will upgrade soon to a 60g minimum so by the time he gets big he be already in there. just upgrade within a time frame of growth.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

I know how you feel. I really wanted a school of Clown Loaches to, but when I learned how big they can get I changed my mind. Though now I'm planning on upgrading to a 75 gallon so maybe I'll give them a shot.

One lfs here was charging $11.99 for Clown Loaches about 3-4" in size. Another lfs was charging $8.99 for 2" ones. I would say the cost depends on the size and availability.

 

[SerLunchbox]

clown loaches are one of those fish that people just seem to love

To answer some of your questions an average life span of a clown loach is about 25 years. Yes they get to be over 12" long but it does take them some time.

I have kept them in groups of 5 and as of now i have only 1 in my tank. The only real difference that i have found is that in groups, they are more social and playful. My solo one is still VERY active just not as active as he normally is with a group.

In a 29 gallon tank i really would only get 1 loach because they have such large territories that more then 1 could potentially cause a lot of problems and a lot of fighting with any other fish.

 

[Japola44]

my lfs just got a bunch of fish in and thye have a tank full of probably 30 clownloaches only an inch big. They hadn't put the price up...but they were so funny to watch. They were pacing the tank. All of them going one direction and then they next. It was pretty cool to see. Anyway you might want to consider other loaches. Right now I'm looking around for some skunk loaches to put in my 55gal. They only get up to 4 inches or so. HTH