clown loaches being aggressive

[suzie83]

Hi again everyone.

Looking for any info or suggestions on my clown loaches. They have been great in my community tank and there has been no new additions for over 6 months.

But recently in the past 2-3 weeks my clown loaches behaviour has changed...

One of them keeps attacking and chasing my betta all over the tank although they use to swim together. And that one and the largest of them have this tag team event going on where they kill my other fish...

Anyone know why they are doing this and how to stop this behaviour?
Please help its not nice to watch

 

[vanimal]

Hi again everyone.

Looking for any info or suggestions on my clown loaches. They have been great in my community tank and there has been no new additions for over 6 months.

But recently in the past 2-3 weeks my clown loaches behaviour has changed...

One of them keeps attacking and chasing my betta all over the tank although they use to swim together. And that one and the largest of them have this tag team event going on where they kill my other fish...

Anyone know why they are doing this and how to stop this behaviour?
Please help its not nice to watch

If there's two that are doing this maybe they are breeding? What size tank are they in? This could also be a factor.

 

[suzie83]

There in a tank about 450 litres approx. Give or take a few litres. There's 4 clown loaches altogether and only 2 are doing it. Didn't think they would be mating but then again I don't know how they react when they do.

So far they have killed and eaten 2 ottos, 3 platties and a neon that i've seen and others are missing.

 

[suzie83]

I attached a picture but it's not too clear and it's turned round. So sorry.

 

[suzie83]

I have just been doing more reading g and aggressive behaviour is usually a cause of mating but I still don't think that's the problem. I think there a bit young tbh.
Surely though killing other fish and swimming about like a dog with a bone isn't normal!!

 

[AngelLover]

I had to rehome my clown loach for this reason... He never had the chance to kill anyone but was relentlessly biting my other fish's fins and probably would have done worse had we not removed him. It could be that your two have paired off, or they might just have a fiesty personality, either way splitting them up might help!

 

[suzie83]

Oh that's not good.

Only reason I have such a large tank was because I bought one and wasn't told by the shop how big they got. So upgraded my tank to suit.
The large one is the one that eats the fish once dead but it's the other one that kills and then leaves it for the other one. That one is less than half its size although use to be the smallest it's now the second biggest.

I never knew they could be like this, you don't read that anywhere.

 

[AngelLover]

I was always told they were peaceful and aggression was rare! I guess each fish really has it's own personality

 

[suzie83]

Yip. Noticed that all my fish seem to act differently compared to what I read.

Really don't know what to do. I started A post about interesting fish as my partner is thinking about changing the set ups and I was trying to convince him to keep what we have but now I'm not so sure...

Also I attached a picture - did that show? it looked as of it did but now I can't see it.

 

[AngelLover]

I don't see the image but this app is very glitchy on my phone and doesn't always display photos (so frustrating). I would advise to rehome the one that's doing the actual killing and see if the behavior gets back to normal!

 

[suzie83]

Yeah I get a lot of errors from the app.

Would be so upsetting to get rid of him. He was the first one we got.

Better make a decision and soon I guess before other fish suffer

 

[AngelLover]

I totally understand, I did not want to get rid of mine either... They are such cool fish! But at the same time it was even worse watching him stress out my other fish! Fortunately I did not have him very long so I didn't really get too attached. Whatever decision you make I hope it works out for you!

 

[suzie83]

Thanks a lot for your advice. I've only had fish since march of this year and upgraded 3 times just to suit this one clown loache. Really is hard to watch his behaviour now and he is so interesting to watch when he's not picking on others.

 

[AngelLover]

I'm sorry he's giving you such a hard time if only fish could understand how much we do for them lol

 

[vanimal]

First you could try this. Get a bucket and fill it with tank water. Catch the aggressive one and put him in there with an airstone for 24 hours. Rearrange some of your decor then add him back in. This might help if not rehome him.

 

[Cynic]

Wow this amazes me, I've never heard of killer clown loaches :/

Personally I'd rehome your betta, much easier and they're basically just time bombs in communal tanks anyway.

Mine are always happily dancing or lounging around :/

 

[suzie83]

My betta is fine though best fish I have. Planning to move him into one of the other tanks though as don't want him to stress. Thought he would flare up though as people often think there the ones to watch in community tanks but he just tries his best to get out the way then hides in a corner.

So moving the betta wouldn't help really as its the other fish that are getting killed he's just getting chased and possibly getting a nip...

My lps hadn't heard of that behaviour either and finds it fascinating but I don't. The big one makes his clicking sound really loud that you can hear it in another room when he's eating the fish - can be disturbing...

 

[suzie83]

Not if this would even make a difference. But would it help to get a few more clowns as I've only 4. Maybe having more would occupy them more with each other.

A few places I've read says at least 6 is best.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

i'm not sure that adding more clown loaches to the situation will help... it may back-fire but this is definitely weird behavior.

i have 5 loaches myself, started with 4 and one passed due to a water issue then a few months after i went and picked up 2 almost baby loaches.

they barely swim together when i'm home but can't really vouch for what happens when i'm at work.

i guess what i'm trying to say is, it may not even matter to add more fish as the loaches you currently have may just ignore the "new-comers"

i have almost the opposite effect in my tank, my 1 rainbow shark loves the chase all 5 loaches... he's fast but the loaches are MUCH faster so he never makes contact. i sadly don't know what to say about your specific situation.

but on the other hand i would agree with the bucket idea. though it makes me wonder how long a fish's memory last if you can change around the decor and he forgets he used to live in the same tank 24 hours ago lol

 

[Cynic]

i'm not sure that adding more clown loaches to the situation will help... ii have 5 loaches myself, started with 4 and one passed due to a water issue then a few months after i went and picked up 2 almost baby loaches.

I must admit the two loaches I inherited from a different stock do hang out separately to my other loaches...