Clown Loaches

[fish fan]

Has anyone had any luck with breeding these?  These are my wifes favorite fish, and I plan on dedicating a tank to them.

[Ron]

If anyone's bred these in an aquarium, it'd be news to me.

Last I knew they were almost always bred in ponds overseas. Oddly enough, for them being a slow grower and so hard to breed in an aquarium, back home they are considered a food fish IIRC. There's also certain times of the year either due to shipping or breeding conditions that supply increases and prices drop for a while. If you've watched LFS prices long enough you'll have probably noticed how sometimes they are perhaps as low as $5.99ea @2" and other times $12.99 @2".

[robmc13]

I seen them today at a petsmart for 5:49 each at 2" I am just not sure about getting any fish from any pet smart? I am curious, Would anyone buy these from the Petsmart?

[Marty]

I would quarantine them for a couple of weeks first.

[JeffroM]

I seen them today at a petsmart for 5:49 each at 2" I am just not sure about getting any fish from any pet smart? I am curious, Would anyone buy these from the Petsmart?

All clown loaches come from the same few sources in Asia.  It doesn't really matter where you buy it from as long as it is healthy.  Also I've been told by a very reliable source that ALL Petsmart's get all their fish from Segrest Farms.  Segrest is a pretty reliable wholesaler as wholesalers go.  Would I buy a cichlid - probably not.  Would I buy a clown loach - absolutely.

[Marty]

I recommended a quarantine period because I believe Petsmart filtration systems are centralized.  Which means one sick fish = potentially many sick fish.

This is not to say don't buy fish from them, just make sure they're healthy before you put them in your main tank.

[Regalblue]

I'll buy fish from petsmart every once&  awhile.  DEFINITELY QUARANTINE

Almost every fish I've gotten from them has at least had ich

& yes as Jeff said Petsmart 's supplier is Segrest&  Segrest isn't bad.

[Ron]

I have 3 clown loaches growing old. 2 of them are from the many clown loaches I bought from stores and the only 2 that I medicated before they looked sick. The third one is one I got from Jeff. Every other clown loach I've ever had grows well for a while, then it's stomach shrivels up, it gets thin, and it eventually dies.

[SKISWETPETS]

I have 3 clown loaches growing old. 2 of them are from the many clown loaches I bought from stores and the only 2 that I medicated before they looked sick. The third one is one I got from Jeff. Every other clown loach I've ever had grows well for a while, then it's stomach shrivels up, it gets thin, and it eventually dies.

Any idea what causes there stomach to shrivel up at all, and have you seen this in cichlids as well. I have seemingly noticed this in a few of mine.

[Helloitsme]

Clown loaches need meat and lots of it. I've kept a shoal of 9 for a number of years now. Feed them the snails from your other tanks and or black worms. That's what I do. They also need to be kept in groups to thrive and for you to witness Clown Loach behavior.

[Ron]

Any idea what causes there stomach to shrivel up at all, and have you seen this in cichlids as well. I have seemingly noticed this in a few of mine.

The ones I treated with parasite clear are the ones living today. I'd used Kanacyn on the group previously it didn't help, so I'm presuming it was parasitic and not bacterial. IMO anything viral would be a stretch. Not to be a bearer of bad news, but unless you bought fish from a sketchy place, I'd suspect stress/water parameters over parasites. The clown loach issue IMO is that they come from ponds overseas.

They also need to be kept in groups to thrive and for you to witness Clown Loach behavior.

I definitely agree with that statement! FWIW I started with a larger group, but the rest just didn't make it. I've seen some large groups of them in aquariums and it's a really cool sight.

[fish fan]

I have added 6 Loaches to a tank that already had 1 in there.  The 1 is about 7" and the new 6 are 2" purchased from petsmart a couple months ago.  The 6 newer now have ick and I have read conflicting articles about how to remove it.  More are suggesting a temp increase and adding salt vs. medication.  Any help would be appreciated!

[Ron]

The 6 newer now have ick and I have read conflicting articles about how to remove it.  More are suggesting a temp increase and adding salt vs. medication.  Any help would be appreciated!

Because they have very small scales/thin skin, they are typically more sensitive to medications, thus the suggestions of temperature and/or salt to help combat the ich. Personally, I'd probably use Nox-Ich because I know it flat out works, but do so in a smaller tank (so you'll not need as much medication and because the malachite green will stain the silicone dark green - don't want to ruin the display tank!). Also be careful with the dosage, as typically medications are used at 1/2 the normal rate for sensitive species (loaches, catfish, etc).

[Regalblue]

I like the raising temp&  adding salt for Loaches&  catfish remedy.  But, I do use Nox-ich&  it does work very well on my Cichlids

[fish fan]

Thx for the input.