hey everyone, my hubby and I just set up a 4ft tank. we have an 18cm Oscar named Ozzie. we recently have added new fish to the tank and one of our Silver Dollars is stressed out. Hes laying tilted under a rock. he was shoaling earlier with the other 4 fish but he has gone back to being sad again, any advise? and should i take our other 2 small clown loach out untill they grow a little bigger? he already ate 2 today, expensive lunch! i have a smaller tank with 2 gouramis 2 paradise, 2 angelfish, a fighter, 3 rose nose neons, 4 silver sharks (approx 4cms) and a suckerfish. would it be suitable to house the little clowns in there to grow a little before they get chomped by OZ?
Any advise is considered, Cheers!

OK! Ozzie didnt chomp the other 2 clowns! they just found an awesome hiding spot is all, altho one looks like its been bitten on the tail, will he be ok or do i need to use medicine?

hey there.
Silver dollars can be very skittish. Mine passed out during waterchanges in the first months after i got them. They slammed into he glass over and over again.
It took them some months to get used to the routine. I say give him some more time.
Mine do not allways scholl alltogether, one may stray from time to time.
Clown loaches are an expensive lunch indeed.
better to grow hem out to a reasonable size, but keep in mind they grow very slow.
Any damage to its tail will heal fine with pristine waterconditions, as long as the base of the (tail) fin is not bitten of completely.

btw Welcome to OFL!

thank you for your advise we have decided that the clown loach are fine and have ample hiding space. we love our new hobby and cant wait to see our lil babies mature!

You better hope he dont get the clown loaches as they have a defence of grizzle like bone that sticks out just under the gills (dont hold the net when you net one or you might get cut).

You can add the SD's to the smaller tank if they are not happy in with the O

ozzie-owner wrote:

and the clown loaches are a fishspecies that can become very, very old.
I heard they could even reach 80 years of age!
I'd love some but the big specimen are very hard to find and very expensive at adult size in Holland.

are your water parameters ok?

I lost 3 of 4 10 year old silver dollars within hours from an improperly cycled tank..... not to say that is what is happening to you; but better check in case.

yep the guy in the aquarium told us... thanks

what do you mean by water parameters m8?

they are looking for your reading for ammonia. nitrites and nitrates..........

oh right okay. i need a testing kit for that... ill ask my aquarium guy!

if you are going to purchase a testing kit i would recommend the api master test kit. easy to read and use...............