I guess I didn't realize how large my oscars have grown because I bought 2 clown loaches today placed them in the tank after giving my oscars a good meal and they are looking at them like they are food and it seems that the clown loaches are clueless that they are predators so heres my question my oscars are about 5" and the clown loaches 3" so if I put the clowns in another tank will they grow fast enough to be able to be placed with my oscars or should I just return them?

A 3'' clown loach will do just fine with a 5'' oscar. Clowl Loaches have switch blades behind their eyes as a self defense mechanism.

I have to agree with Jelimafish I would think a 3" Clown Loache would be fine with a 5" O. You might want to provide some hiding places for the loaches.

How big is the tank?

artemis1 wrote:



I know this as i found out the hard way, i was moving a loach and i supported the bottom of the net when i got cut. The switch blades are white in colour and they cut!!!!

Really you need to keep more than 2 clown loaches for there own welfare and hierachy as one fish may well get bullid by the other.
As Johnl mentions they'll seriously appreciate hiding places as its int heir nature.
If they can get out of sight they'll be more confident.
Do you feed your oscars live fish?
If so you can appreciate their interest, anything new that moves is food.
My personal opinin would be to create caves and hiding places and reintroduce them preferably with a few more if you have the space.

i hav 3 2" clown loaches wif my 5 6" oscars and ther just fine they never seem to bother them

clowns tend to grow aa lot slower than oscars which why they often end up as lunch.
Its not impossible if you get the clown loaches at the decnt size and they get extremly big if well looked after and will live for over 50 odd years from memory.

I agree w/dwss59, you'll need at least five loaches for them to be happy. BTW, clown loaches can get up to 12'' or more(although it takes a LONG time), and need a tank of around 125 gallons for a school.