Added: 4 years ago
From: squirrelrat
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  • does anyone know which kind of loaches burrow under gravel and eat uneaten food?

  • Did it live?

  • i have one 12 years old and is still living

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  • @brandonkr...Clowns are very social and need to school with other clowns. Yours won't last very long alone. You should have a minimum of three about the same size.

    Mine will be ten this year.

  • @brandonkr...Clowns are very social and need to school with other clowns. Yours won't last very long alone. You should have a minimum of three about the same size.

    Mine will be ten this year.

  • can clown loach be with gold fish or do they need speacil treatment?

  • @el17algol goldfish are coldwater fish and should not be kept in tropic tanks. along with many other reasons.

  • @Irenical

    They can actual be kept in a tropical tank, in an emergency I put my pond fish in a tropical tank and they survived. Although I left the tank cooler for them, running 2-3 Celsius out.

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  • I was very sad when I saw my clown loach lying dead on his side the second day I had him. About time I tried to scoop it out with the net I found out it was still very much alive. They just like to rest on their sides and even on their backs.

  • dont they get to be a foot long?

  • i just killed 2of my clown loach :(

  • I've got some clown loaches and they like to perch themselves up in the plants

  • Think your set up is amazing what PH is required for the set up you have. Also is sand pit sand ok to use as a substrata for clown loach and what type of filteration do you have on your set up

  • clown loaches some times roll over on there sides

    "playing dead". there are many reasons that they do this. these 2 just don't like each because there is only 1 resting spot. the big one is trying to hold it by going on its side. the smaller one can't budge him so he has pulled out one of the 2

    scalpels under his eyes in order to try & shank him.

    clown loachs are very sociable & should not be put in this position

    bottom line create a hiding spot for the smaller one jack ass

  • My Clown's are about 4 years old and still small enough to keep in a 20 gallon tank. If you have trouble with snails in a tank this is the fish to get. They sleep upside down and give off a strange, loud clicking but a great fish to have in a med to large tank. They also need a large dark place to hide. I have 2 large plastic drinking glasses for them.

  • @Camman010 im only 13 but clown loaches need a larger tank than 20gallons. the maybe are still small enough to fit in the is becuase they may have been stunted. this is very painful to the fish.stunting can stress the fish and decrease their lifespan dramatically. they ejoy tight fitting hiding spots more than large more open ones. And you can often distinguish their favourite food when they make clicking sounds.

  • i dont see where the spine is sticking out

  • @Darthcheese114 under the eye

  • wat did u use to treat ick? my clown loaches hav ick now and i'm trying the heat and salt method. its been abt a week but ick is still staying....i hav 2 angels, 2 balas and 1 fire eel with it but the loaches are the only ones with ick. any suggestions on medicines?

  • @zaracki92 heat and salt should do it. around 1tablespoon of Rock salt per 5gallons and raise the heat to 30-32degrees celcius. this will kill the ich whilst its a thormont and a tomint. If this is too stressful on the fish only raise the heat to 27-28 degrees(no more than 1 degree an hour) plus thee. this method may take longer to heal because this will only kill the ich once its free swimming. the salt kills it and the heat speeds up its lifecylcle and prevents it from reproducing.

  • @liamgray100 yea, the ich is already taken care of :P

  • would a 5 gallon tank suffice in owning a couple of clown loaches?

  • Beautiful fish, I always loved their coloration....

  • i have 2 angelfish, an oscar, a red tailed black shark and 3 clown loaches in a 4ft tank. im about to go away to europe for a month and my pop is going to take care of it for me. will he have 2 vacuum the gravel or can he justtake some of the water out and replace it without vacuuming the gravel. note that i have an oscar and he is usually messy. can some one help me if so i would greatly appreciate it.

  • One of my loach had very lazy evening. Check this out :)

  • i have 6 of these guys and they seem to all be friend with my tanks mascot a giant gibbiceps which they all lie around

  • such a beautiful fish.. oranges fins look so cool... can u mix these with a ghost fish? they awsome too!

  • Aaaaah. Radiohead and fish. Love it

  • how long time do it takes for them to grow pretty big?

  • 10 year life span, so if you buy them when there small it takes a long time for them to get big :)

  • iv had my loaches for nearly 13 years and they would be between 20 and 25cm. they need at least a 180gal once they r this size

  • ive had my loaches for a week now and they still havn't eaten anything ive tried flake, worms, pellets and cucumber.

  • @liamgray100 you 100% sure they havent eaten? mine didnt seem to be eating but i found out they only eat when nobodys around

  • Tried live food?

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  • Get a treatment that is suitible for clown losches or you can raise the temprature to 85f and add salt.If u use salt,Rember to do a water change after 14 days.

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  • If its only a 0.50% dosage,it probably would not harm them.I have scaleless corydras that are more sensitive and I had to treat them for white spot.I added salt and they came out fine.Its very important that you do 50% water change after a few days.

  • i love these i cant way to get 1 and 2 aquatic frohs and a heater tomarro

  • I hope you don't plan on having the clown alone, they really need the company of other clowns to be happy.

  • awesome fish ? Yes, but hidden all day long. My 5 clowns are activ only in the dark.

  • cant wait to get my clown loaches. awesome fish!

  • is there any sharks that breed fast if so tell me.. chuz im getten sharks this weekend ??

  • paroon shark is growing very fast! and very large...

    i got one... he is only 5-6 cm now (2 inches)

    But they get over 2 meters when grown up :)

  • That's why I don't have them. I'd love to have paroons if they grew to maybe 30cm or so, but they get waay too big for most aquariums.

  • dud clown loaches only get like 6 inches IN CAPTIVITY iv had mine for 2 years and its 5 inches

  • I've seen a bunch of people who have clowns at around 20-30cm. Also they can get pretty old, they can apparently reach over 40 years of age. Don't want to sound like a douche, but yours is just a baby, he'll probably get a lot bigger in a couple of years.

  • hey i bought 2 vary tiny baby clown loaches last month and i have 2 125 gallon tanks. all the fish are in the top only one big leperd catfish in bottom. we have all sorts of fish in top . i havent seen my clown loaches for 2 weeks and iv had them for 3. should i be concerned?

  • lol you did sound like a bit of a duche. Call BABY fish juveniles. Its sounds better

  • @crashnburnxvx: They are slow growers. They can fairly easily reach a foot in length, but it takes a while. The minimum tank size for one is 55 gallons, although it's usually suggested you keep at LEAST 3 Botias. So ideally a group of 3 in at least a 90 gallon tank, with good filtration.

  • NO.Most sharks now neeed the help for breeding with hormones bot the tri colour shark is somewhat easy to breed but u need a larde 2-4m tank.

  • Great video, they look gorgeous & great fun to keep.

    I'm trying to source some smaller Loach for my 90L tank which is empty now.

    Thanks for sharing!

  • Try a dwarf laoch.They only grow to 5 cm.

  • i hope u dont mind me asking but wot loss

  • i just got 4 clown loach and they hide inside a holo pice of bogwood . do clown loach normaly hide?

  • BowHunt, dscot does a wonderful job below explaining what a spine is in these loaches. So "do you have any idea where a spine is located on an organism with 'spines?'"

    I hate it when people pull that crap..... ignorance and arrogance.... a wonderful combination.

    Anyway, I'm very sad to hear of your loss Spuirrelrat. If you don't mind a question, do you run a UV sterilizer? I ask because this is probably the most sure fire way to deal with many, perhaps most disease.

    (cont in next post)

  • For years I treated Ick (white spot) and other diseases just as you did, and others. Then I got a UV sterilizer. This, and a bit of table salt (no, not in a saltwater tank, I run all Freshwater tanks) worked miracles. I don't have the money to run UVs in all of my tanks and I can attest to the fact that the fish in the tank with a UV sterilizer seem healthier... so I'm sold.

    Anyway, I know it won't help now, but maybe in the future. Best of luck and sorry again for your loss....

    AEWHistory

  • Hi, no I don't use one, I have thought about it but the money wasn't around at that time, I have shut this tank down now and sold the fish to move my oscar into it and the mollys have moved into his old tank, the cost of running everything was getting to much. I've bought whitespot in alot of times but never encountered the resistent strain again it has always gone with just one treatment course, but on the sterilizer it's something I would have liked to of had.

  • I'm sorry that this tank's been shut down; it seems like it was a really nice one. (BTW, my wife loves Oscars..... and if I let her get them, the Oscars would love my Neon Tetras....  :-).

    Anyway, I can certainly empathize about money, although if you figure the cost of meds and compare it to one of the cheaper UVs, it will pay for itself fairly quickly, depending on how often you need to medicate IMO. My first UV was a $45, in-tank variety, so this could be an option. All the best!

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  • @Hill9008 Hey there, congrats on the purchase and sorry to hear about the ich (that's what it sounds like, although if it doesn't respond to treatment then you'll want to consider other options as there are a few diseases that look similar). As for your treatment, sounds spot on to me. Forget the ich meds, although if you don't mind spending the loot then a UV would be helpful. One last thing, try to feed him some live food like black worms. Kicks fish immune system into overdrive!

  • @AEWHistory is low salt ok to use???he is nt stressed .not scratching.eating away..earthworms and flakes

  • @Hill9008 Low salt should be fine. At low concentrations salt can actually be kept in all freshwater tanks all of the time, not just for sick treatment. Just make sure that the level is low enough not to harm the fish and live plants (if you keep those as I do). In a quarnt. tank you can use a slightly higher concentration of salt, or much higher as a dip. Salt is an excellent preventative, as well as a cure. It sounds like you're doing everything right, now all you need is time. My $.02

  • @Hill9008 low salt is fine to use right??????????????he is grand no signs of stress anyway

  • @AEWHistory table salt will work? if so how much do i need for 50 gallon 204 litres??? pls help my fav loach is dying!!!

  • I actually face palmed at Bowhunt's comment. I thought "no one is that retarded", guess I was wrong.

  • do you have any idea where a spine is located on an organism with a vertebra?

  • It's just what its called man don't freak out.

  • oh. sry.

  • Beautiful loaches! I was surprised to read that they were only 3 - 4 inches long when filmed because their "deep" bodies would suggest they are older than that. They look to be in very good condition with clear, smooth skin and good colour. Congratulations on keeping such healthy specimens!

    I assume you still have them, a year after adding this video? My clown loaches are eight years old - you really have to be prepared to have them for a long time. They are quite a serious commitment!

  • unfortunatly they are long gone, we bought a kubati loach treated it for the whitespot it went down with in quarentine added it to the tank a week later within 7 days we had a massive outbreak of it which turned out to be the resistent strain three whitespot treatments and a month later it finaly went but the loaches were dead within the first few days nothing stood a chance. A lesson for people who don't do a months quarentine that was nearly the end of fishkeeping for me I was devastated

  • Oh no! That's terrible :'(

    Sorry to hear about your loss - and thanks for sharing such a valuable lesson for others.

  • @squirrelrat im sorry to hear about that. i recently lost my three loaches 2 white spot 2.

  • @squirrelrat

    Do you think you could help me out? One of my Clown Loaches has dark spots near its belly. I thought it might be pregnant, but then I read that breeding in captivity is very rare. What is this?

  • @whetutu wow 8 years? thats amazing! i have 1 clown loach in a 36 gallon african cichlid tank and hes doing great. if i maintain the tank will he last as long as yours? i dont plan on getting rid of him but i may switch from africans to south americans in the future.

  • hey i was thinking about bying a clow loach to eat scraps off the gravel will they do that and how big do they get please re spont fast

  • nice loaches! i have 3 myself, im guessing that you have a marble anglefish, those are really nice fish

  • wow radiohead and clown loaches my two favorite things thanks

  • i thought i was the only one

  • wot do u mean, its spine stuck out?

  • In this case, the "Spine" isn't referring to the bones running down the back.

    A Spine on a clown loach is a bony protrusion that sticks out from underneath the eye. It pokes out when the fish are excited or trying to defend themselves.

    When handling loaches you have to be careful they can puncture your skin with their spines.

  • is it okay for him to swim on its side or lay down like that cuz mine dose that

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  • Please go get a larger tank for them, the clown will outgrow your tank slowly if it can grow at all.

  • seriously dude clown loaches are slow growers but that not healthy they grow to 12 inch

  • dont you think thats a bit too big for them. you should at least get a 10 gallon tank.

  • My Clown Loach survived a white spot epidemic that killed all of my fish at once. I named it...Clown Loach.

  • how you can now the male and female???

  • there is no sexual dimorphism between the male and female. it doesnt matter anyway you will NeVER be able to breed them. in tank conditions

  • how you can now the male and female??? how you can now the male and female???

  • im geting a clown loach soon!

    :)

    XD

  • need places to hide and is hidden all day long

  • how you can now the male and female???

  • What's this song called?

  • parinoid android by radiohead.

  • the first time I ever saw the spines from one of mine was when he yawned. They just popped out, and then went back in.

    My big guy (5") likes to lay on his side on the sand at the front glass and follow us with his eyes when we walk by the tank. It"s so cute! We have 9 of them in a 180 gallon.

  • heres some tips tht i know they eat any food tht sinks they like to be in groups and they wont eat other fish i think.

  • need places to hide - mine like moscito lavae and SERA viformo tablets - are better in groups

  • does it eat other fishes? cos i have one small one in my tank.

  • it doesnt eat other fishes... their mouths are too small... but sometimes it will just harass other fishes by following them as if they were sniffing them... but no harm done... :)

  • why it goes side ways? dying?

  • normal behavier for clown loaches

  • @squirrelrat wow, great to hear that, my clown loaches are always lying down every now and again, i thought it could be a problem...ehauheau

  • i just bought a couple of clown loaches, but what's the best food to feed them??

    thanks.

  • any tips on keeping loaches?

  • get a very big tank and they like to be in schools

  • k thank you.

  • i have just bought 3. they are in a 200 litre tank. how long do they take to get to about 6 inches?

  • how big are they? They grow crazy slow, so it will be a long time.

  • yea mine are in a 90 gallon and all my other fish grew realy fast but my clown loaches are still 3 inches after 4 months in it lol

  • lol...its funny when they sleep,they look dead on the bottom.

  • your fish re wicked! :) i fed my new bristle nose on cucumber today and my clown loaches loved it! every time the take a bite they make a clicking sound. is this normal?

  • Would it be ok to get 1 clown loach for a 36gallon bow fron tank? I allready have 7 tiger barbs and a flying fox. Thanx.

  • no, Don't ever just get one loach, he will mope without another to play with.

  • 3 or more pls

  • yes the clicking sound is completely normal...

  • oh yes its perfectly fine clown loaches make audible clicking sound during feeding alot its just harder to notice sometimes.

  • yes its normal

  • waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! (you wouldn't know)

  • has it ever donged thsat clown loaches are like that and are not lazy.

  • hay you can see the clown loaches razor under its eye in this video hahha

  • hey im hoping yall can help me.. i just bought two new fish from walmart one is a regular pleco and the other is someting called a ruby clown loach or is it just a ruby loach.idk will someone please answer b/c i dont know what kind of loach this is or even if it is a loach.

  • i have two and have never seen that wow

    they both lie on there sides and scar me coz i think there dead why do they do that??

  • Mine usually do that, they lie on their side or upside down and just stare at you until you poke them, its rather funny actually. I have never seen them deploy this "spike" beneath their eyes however. Im guessing that if you were handling them and they deployed it it would hurt?

  • I have 8 of those clowns. Also these lie or their back sometimes. This is a habit and no wonder they are called clowns.

    They can deploy the spike when you catch them in a net. At that moment be very gentle with them for they can hurt themselves.

  • they use there spikes if they feel that they need to protect themselves

  • if I save up enough money for a 50 gallon tank I'm gonna get these. My parents don't want me to get a bigger tank though.  I want one of these so badly that I put it as the desktop picture on my laptop. I hope they realize how much I want one and wouldn't be as mad if I got it.

    You're so lucky that you have them.

  • mine has just breeded. im so happy

  • i hav a oscar tank and i was wondering if i cud put one clown loach and one red tail shark in it?

  • I wouldn't, my red oscars very mean and won't allow anything with him including my hand.

  • what kind of gravel/sand is this

  • not sure, it was just cheap sand from the fish shop that I liked the colour of.

  • clown loahces are my favourite bottom feeders, maybe even fish. when i move my 2 fellas two there new tank i will invest in some more so they can be in a proper group.

    CLOWN LOACHES RULE!

  • Very cool. Never knew they had a spine! Love the way the lazy one just lies down like nothing bothers him.

  • nice

  • thanks for the comments! i am definitley NOT going to get one!

  • U have very beautifull clowns:D. they are so colourfull, I just got 4 for my 300L and they love my sandy substrate. what type of sand r u using?

  • it was just the cheapest aquairiam sand that was there as we needed alot.

  • what is the spine for? show? defense? attack? is it poisonous?

  • no its not piosonous, its used for defence when threatened.

  • I have a rather disturbing story regarding the spines. When i first started fishkeeping i introduced 2 clown loaches to my tank which at the time also contained 2 red crabs,one of them went for my CL. naturally it brought its spines out to defend itself but the crab just grabbed onto them like they where handles and started carrying it around. i managed to grab the blighter and it let the poor fish go. needless to say the fish was dead the next morning from stress.i prompty got rid of the crabs

  • SOMEONE PLZ HELP!! I HAVE HEARD BY PET EXPERTS THAT YOU CAN KEEP ONE CLOWN LOaCh IN A 10 GALLON AQUARIUM AND IT WILL BE HAPPY AND WONT GET TOO BIG BECAUSE THEY "GROW AccORDING TO TANK SIZE". IS THIS TRUE AND CAN I GET ONE?

  • Your pet expert is talking out their backside, you should have at least five as they are shy and miserable on their own and ten gallons is no way big enough and would be outgrown quick and as adults they sould have at least an six foot tank.

  • they get about 11" to 12" long

  • how big are these

  • 3 and 4 inches when filmed.

  • Your pet expert sounds like frozentootsiepop's idiot ass.

  • Alright I'm done. I have no desire to continue this stupid debate about whether or not I knew one fact about clown loaches. Have a nice life.

  • Get outta here.

  • Who are these 'pet experts'. They can reach the length of a ten gallon aquarium. Lol I noticed at wal-mart their tag said clown KNIFES only get 18" Long, I asked the guy about it and he said if you put one in a 20 gallon it would stay small! (probably because it would die before it got big enough). Be sure to check many sources when it comes to fish keeping, as it only takes one persons stupidity to kill a tank full of fish

  • Jeez, who told you that? A clown would be miserable & stunted in that size of a tank! That's certainly NO expert speaking to ya.

    squirrelrat: Great song, BTW.

  • Thats a nice video. My clowns only have their spines out for a few seconds. I have never seen a clown with its spine out for that long.

    My clown loaches yawn quite a lot too which is quite funny to see.

  • My one got its spine stuck in my aquarium net and it nearly died we had to unhook him. But its fine now

  • Yeah they put their spines out when they are frightened so they often get caught in nets.

    If this happens the best way to free the fish is to put the net in the water and allow the fish to untangle itself when it's a bit more relaxed and its spine will go back in.

    It can be very stressful to have a loach caught by its spine but it's important not to hurt it by trying to pull it out of the net.

  • No way! I've researched about Clown Loaches for a long time and I've never heard about them having spines! That is so cool! Right under their eyes? I guess it makes sense, they need some kind of protection. I'll have to watch my loaches more closely, I don't think they've had theirs 'pop out' yet.

  • That's one of the most common factoids about them, literally found in every piece written about them.

  • That is obviously not true. I've read a lot of articles about them and all they mention is where they are from, what size they usually reach, the optimal colors and the fact that they're herbivores. Why would I lie?

  • The specific epithet macracanthus is derived from the Greek word macros, meaning "large" and the Latin word acanthus, meaning "thorny", referring to the large spines below the fish's eyes

    --from wikipedia. 5 seconds of research.

  • frozen, why bother taking the time to type when you are clearly uninformed on this topic? Save us all some time and keep quiet. Thx Chriso for setting the record straight.

  • Yawn. Your attempt at insulting me is very sad. I didn't read the wikipedia article apparently. The fact that you are so bothered by me not knowing that fact is sweet. I'm glad that you care.

  • Clown Loach are NOT herbivores. Ppl feed them tubifex as a staple in their diet as well as freeze-dried earthworms, but they are omnivores and algae pellets/wafers are also good foods and they can serve as a cleaner live an Armored Catfish can.

  • no fish should be considered a cleaner fish its just dumb and ignorant.

  • ya that is true

  • Yawn. Your attempt at insulting me is very sad. I didn't read the wikipedia article apparently. The fact that you are so bothered by me not knowing that fact is sweet. I'm glad that you care.

  • That's the thing. It's not only wikipedia. It's literally every source of info on the clown loach, even it's scientific name. Don't get shaken at me pointing this out to you. The other unbiased outside observer HRE was also appalled and disgusted at you running around here posting misinformation about this aquatic marvel. Think before you post any further misinfo or you can rest assured that I will make it known to everyone that you're a lightweight in this hobby, frozenpoopypop.

  • I knew I got stung! Nobody belived me! Whos carzy now mom?!?!

  • Execlent vid!

    I always knew loaches had those spines but I never seen them use them!

    beautiful specimens too.

  • I had no idea they had a spine, well a spine in its face, cool!!

  • Very nice