Clown Loaches

I am interest if anyone else has clown loaches? I have a trio that I bought a few months ago and I absolutely love em. Very odd for me as I normally prefer aggressive fish but these lil guys have such personalities. Right now all three are a bit over 2" so I have them in a bowfront 30gal. Funnies thing though.. I have one of these betta logs [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and at any given time I find one of the loaches has swam up and into the log and just rests inside of it as it bobs around the surface of the tank.

I am told I should have atleast 5 so I think I might need to get 2 more, but maybe someone else has had different experiences?

I keep other botia sp. but have never kept b. macracanthus as I don't have room for a 6 ft tank that they'll eventually require. Botia sp. are all very social fish, and while there's no doubting the more the merrier, I think 3 is an acceptable number, albeit bare minimum. IMO they overstate the 5 fish minimum at lol. You will see more natural behavior and the interaction that makes these fish such a joy to watch with more. If your tank will support them, a few more would be a plus. My 2 cents.

Yeah goal is when they get a bit bigger I will move them to a 60gal and hopefully they will continue to to grow slow enough that I will have built my 4'x4'x20" tank. I think they just need room to roam so I am not worried about length more about footprint.

plaamoo wrote:I keep other botia sp. but have never kept b. macracanthus as I don't have room for a 6 ft tank that they'll eventually require. Botia sp. are all very social fish, and while there's no doubting the more the merrier, I think 3 is an acceptable number, albeit bare minimum. IMO they overstate the 5 fish minimum at lol. You will see more natural behavior and the interaction that makes these fish such a joy to watch with more. If your tank will support them, a few more would be a plus. My 2 cents.

Exactly what plaamoo said, except that not all Botia do well in groups, but for the most part they do. I started with 3 myself, and since I added 4 more, their activity and interaction is far more enjoyable to watch. Clowns can reach a length of 12" so any 4' tank eventually will be to small. My largest is about 7" and it is probably 3 years old. It seems like it took forever for them to get to a certain size, and then they had a growth spurt.

Madness wrote:

plaamoo wrote:I keep other botia sp. but have never kept b. macracanthus as I don't have room for a 6 ft tank that they'll eventually require. Botia sp. are all very social fish, and while there's no doubting the more the merrier, I think 3 is an acceptable number, albeit bare minimum. IMO they overstate the 5 fish minimum at lol. You will see more natural behavior and the interaction that makes these fish such a joy to watch with more. If your tank will support them, a few more would be a plus. My 2 cents.

Exactly what plaamoo said, except that not all Botia do well in groups, but for the most part they do.  I started with 3 myself, and since I added 4 more, their activity and interaction is far more enjoyable to watch.  Clowns can reach a length of 12" so any 4' tank eventually will be to small.  My largest is about 7" and it is probably 3 years old.  It seems like it took forever for them to get to a certain size, and then they had a growth spurt.

Well doing the math a 4x4x20" is 16sq Ft. and a 8ft tank(I guessed 24" wide) is 16sq ft but with a much wider footprint allowing for more then just back and forth motions. Perphaps I am not understanding their needs?

I guess you are correct when putting it that way. My loaches like to hang at the front of my tanks, swimming from left to right, and on occasion venturing to the back of the tank. So from what I have noticed for my guys because I see them utilize the entire length of the tank, I would not put them in a 4' tank.

But a 4' x 4' is a nice sized tank. Its just me I guess.

Well I have read some people think a longer tank is better because some people report their loaches just randomly jet across the tank. Do you have this issue? If so then perhaps a longer tank would make more sense. The loaches I have now anyway seem to just wander across the floor of the tank they are on so I assumed they (like just about all fish) needed more footprint then long deep tanks.

I agree with the footprint comment, and I just have had better luck in longer tanks. My 400 gal is only 17" deep, I look at my stock and then determine the depth of my tank. A huge percent of the time the entire 8-10" of the top of my tanks are wasted because the only time fish go up there is during feeding. Which is why my next tank (hopefully) is going to be 10'x4'x24".

whats a tank that size run for? $5k

Madness wrote:

Exactly what plaamoo said, except that not all Botia do well in groups,[/quote]

Which sp. don't?

plaamoo wrote: Exactly what plaamoo said, except that not all Botia do well in groups,

Which sp. don't?
[/quote]

We getting a bit touchy? Well for one the Syncrossus berdmorei, the Blyth loach also known as the fire tail botia or the tiger botia. I can list more but its kind of a waste to bicker over something so miniscule.

Madness wrote:

plaamoo wrote: Exactly what plaamoo said, except that not all Botia do well in groups,

Which sp. don't?

We getting a bit touchy?  Well for one the Syncrossus berdmorei, the Blyth loach also known as the fire tail botia or the tiger botia.  I can list more but its kind of a waste to bicker over something so miniscule. [/quote]

Not touchy at all Madness   and not looking to bicker. I just wanted your opinion. I don't think of syncrossus and yasuhikotakia as botia sp. though they are technically botiidae. Some of these can indeed be a handfull, but I've seen them in large tanks in Thailand in groups of what looked like hundreds and there was no hostility. I think when we keep them in small numbers their aggressiveness magnifies.

In all my years in fish keeping Ive only ever had one loach. When I had tanks as a kid I had a horseface loach. Maybe I need to step up and get some....

plaamoo wrote:

Madness wrote:

plaamoo wrote: Exactly what plaamoo said, except that not all Botia do well in groups,

Which sp. don't?

We getting a bit touchy?  Well for one the Syncrossus berdmorei, the Blyth loach also known as the fire tail botia or the tiger botia.  I can list more but its kind of a waste to bicker over something so miniscule.

plaamoo wrote:Not touchy at all Madness   and not looking to bicker. I just wanted your opinion. I don't think of syncrossus and yasuhikotakia as botia sp. though they are technically botiidae. Some of these can indeed be a handfull, but I've seen them in large tanks in Thailand in groups of what looked like hundreds and there was no hostility. I think when we keep them in small numbers their aggressiveness magnifies.

   They do things over there in Thailand that I wouldnt recommend doing ever.

I've been keeping a large pack of clown loaches for many years now. I find the most important part is good quality meaty foods and water quality. Beyond that do what you can to make their home interesting. Be it powerheads, plants, tank mates etc.

Always fun to post a pic of loaches

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I had 7 clowns between 6 to 7 inches in a 70 long community tank. Very entertaining group at all times not to mention the color added to the tank. Had no problems between themselves or their tank mates including discus.
Corey, that is what I would call a pack of clowns. How big are they and what size tank are they in?

I love these guys but my 60 is too small for them, and I don't want to get them until I have a plan for a tank that they will fit in I will be getting a new tank shortly but it'll only be around 100 gallons too.. When they get huge what are some good tank mates for them? Eventually when we add on to our house (plan is 5 years) then I want to have a fish room.. that of course will be where "most" of the tanks are with more in the house

I have nine clown loaches total. Four of them are in one large tank and five of them are in the other. I have them housed with my Central American Cichlids with no problem. Like Cory said they do like good water flow and cleaner water. My fish don't pay too much attention to them.

plaamoo wrote:

Madness wrote:

plaamoo wrote: Exactly what plaamoo said, except that not all Botia do well in groups,

Which sp. don't?

We getting a bit touchy?  Well for one the Syncrossus berdmorei, the Blyth loach also known as the fire tail botia or the tiger botia.  I can list more but its kind of a waste to bicker over something so miniscule.

Not touchy at all Madness   and not looking to bicker. I just wanted your opinion. I don't think of syncrossus and yasuhikotakia as botia sp. though they are technically botiidae. Some of these can indeed be a handfull, but I've seen them in large tanks in Thailand in groups of what looked like hundreds and there was no hostility. I think when we keep them in small numbers their aggressiveness magnifies.[/quote]

I have had loaches off and on now for a few years. I indicated in one post I have 9 of them split into my two 360G tanks. I wouldn't compare to what they do in Thailand because as Madness stated, they definitely do things there I wouldn't recommend. Most of the loaches I have tend to stay on the bottom half of the tank and only come to the top to feed once they see other fish in the tank doing the same thing. The loaches IMO get used to their owner feeding them and have no problem pushing other fish out of the way to get something to eat. Loaches are an interactive fish and IMO tend to do better in groups as they have a hierarchy amongst themselves. Sometimes they do tend to dart across the tank when playing or when they get spooked, so having a larger, longer tank is beneficial to them. I really enjoy watching them.   

" I wouldn't compare to what they do in Thailand because as Madness stated, they definitely do things there I wouldn't recommend."

And you two are well experienced at what goes on in Thailand I suppose?    The fish I was referring to are native to Thailand. I have seen them in their native habitat, en masse at wholesalers, and in large groups in large tanks. When kept in large groups, they show much less, if any, aggressive behavior.