if my oscar eats a clown loach thats under 3 inches? Ive gotten two of them and theyre attacking my angel fish. the pet store I got them from doesnt accept fish after 24 hours of purchase and Ive had them for about a week.

I'm no expert on the matter, but i understand that loaches have retractable spines.
Could be they use those in the same way a pleco does,as a defence mechanism .
That means a loach could get stuck in your oscars throat.
And that would be very dangerous.
But i may be wrong.
I'm sure some loach experts will be able to tell you if i'm correct.

well damn, I may just have to drop them off at the pound then.

looks like you were right:

www.aquariacentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-224469.html
www.oscarfishlover.com/oscar-fish-advice...ar-and-clown-loaches
www.freshwaterhobbyist.com/infopages/clownloachinfo.html

case closed. packing to the pet store regardless. what are they going to do, say 'no' if theyre left on the counter?

Noddys correct, my clowns will give my arow a quick jab if it gets too rowdy for comfort. arow goes away shaking its head. given the arow can fit my smallest clown in its mouth sideways they do a good job defending themselves. that said, I can't guarantee yours will be ok. but its likely they will. my oscars have always left the clowns alone too. that little spike must hurts ))).

fir anyone else reading this and considering mixing the 2, try to get fish of a size that can't be eaten and avoid the risk, clowns are not cheap food! and I would be gutted to loose one of mine, would you? ))))

marcus wrote:


thanx for explaining, Marcus.

And i hate losing fish that i know have an incredible possible lifespan.
Lost a yellow phantom pleco lately, and it only lived for 2 years, where as 20-25 years shouldt have been more like it.

further,losing one fish is painful...but losing both, in case,
is devastating.....

Those spines are just behind/below the eye and only come out when they feel threatened. I first found this out by supporting a CL in a net while moving it. It drew blood!!! You dont want one to get stuck in an oscars mouth.

With most small tankamtes i would suggest a divider/ grow on tank until they are big enough not to be eaten. however CL's growth rate is very very slow so you are better of rehoming them

delboybully wrote:

Yes, give them their own tank, so they become bigger.
Then introducing them to your O's tank, there will be less risk.
Plus you enjoy the loaches by themselves in one tank, for they have great personalities.

If it fits it will eat it...

I know this is an Oscar board, but I have to admit; clown loaches are probably my favorite fish (if I had to choose:). as mentioned, they grow very slow. Mine are all big enough that they couldn't be Oscar food and I'm lucky they all get along great. My Oscars tolerate the CL swimming up at their faces - ready to eat the food they sometimes puke out of their gills. I have observed mine flaring their spikes - that are underneath their eyes - just like Delboy mentioned. They're quite large (depending on the size of the CL); and I would agree - they could be very dangerous to your O if swallowed.

If your LFS won't take them back; perhaps selling them online (craigslist, etc.) is an option. Two of my CL's I bought from a LFS from customers that returned larger adult sized fish. Larger ones are hard to find and dictate a high price.