I love my clown loaches something fierce. I watch them very closely. With them being scaleless, and so sensitive, I use them as an additional barometer for my water quality and stress level in the tank.
I read a while back as clown loaches mature, they gradually lose their stripes and turn into a a more solid color.
My biggest loach (about 6" now) I noticed today has lost a good deal of his black markings. He is turning into almost an orangish-rust color. His tale and fins are the deepest color of red I have ever seen on a loach. It rivals the red of a red tailed shark.
This is normal right? I have seen show loaches far larger than mine that still have more black than this guy has, but I have never seen any loach with as red a tail as this guy either.
I lost my C-loaches last year, I was absolutely gutted, I had four, two of them were 7 inches. I think you are correct, they are very sensitive fish that do not tolerate poor water conditions so if anything goes wrong, I suspect they are the first fish to show signs of problems.
My largest CL became quite pale the older they got. However, sometimes they would change color dramatically,occasionally going very very pale, other times the black really showing through. I think these color changes in fish are probably down to aggression, stress, breeding etc.
From my experience keeping these adoring little guys, if they seem happy and contented, as in eating and swimming around, then you don't have much to worry about regarding water conditions.
I may not always be right, but I am always the boss
If you can't ignore an insult, top it; if you can't top it, laugh it off; and if you can't laugh it off, it's probably deserved
Great to hear from you! I haven't seen your name since you helped me with my tank setup and initial migration last year!
I too had an experience where 10 years ago I lost some clown loaches. While I was at work, the canister filter malfunctioned and pulled all the water out of the tank. When I came home, I found a ruined flat, and dead fish including my loaches :-/
That is actually what stopped me from having a tank for 9 years. I was absolutely heart broken.
I have 5 loaches now, and I am hoping with the new 240 my gang will be able to stay together for quite some time. I captured some feeding time video this morning that show all my babies, including the loaches. You should check it out. When it finishes processing and I post the link here.
Great to hear from you! I haven't seen your name since you helped me with my tank setup and initial migration last year!
I too had an experience where 10 years ago I lost some clown loaches. While I was at work, the canister filter malfunctioned and pulled all the water out of the tank. When I came home, I found a ruined flat, and dead fish including my loaches :-/
That is actually what stopped me from having a tank for 9 years. I was absolutely heart broken.
I have 5 loaches now, and I am hoping with the new 240 my gang will be able to stay together for quite some time. I captured some feeding time video this morning that show all my babies, including the loaches. You should check it out. When it finishes processing and I post the link here.
May I ask how you lost your clown loaches?
I closed a 125 gallon tank down that the loaches lived in and transferred them into my 300 gallon tank. I then went into hospital and something happened whilst I was away, all I know is I had a phone call telling me that 3 had died when a rock fell on them, we weren't sure about the other one. Obviously this was the last thing I wanted to hear when I was in the hospital. When I got home, it was one of the big ones that were still alive. Anyway, it was almost as if he had given up because he had lost the other three, he didn't do anything and died a few days later himself. It was absolutely horrible, even though the Oscars my fish of choice, I was more upset at losing these fish than I ever have done losing an Oscar.
Videos were my fish when I had them
I may not always be right, but I am always the boss
If you can't ignore an insult, top it; if you can't top it, laugh it off; and if you can't laugh it off, it's probably deserved
If you watch it in HD (720p, full screen) you can see him best.
Loaches are fast little devils!
If you go near the tank they scatter. I turned the camera on, and hoped for the best. You can see him a bit before he goes into his cave, however, he stays near the entrance after he goes into the cave, and when the camera focuses on the opening he went in, you can clearly see his back for a couple of seconds straight with good light and clear focus. If you also watch and compare him to the other loaches, he looks quite a bit different.
Clown loaches are my 2nd favourite fish. I initially had 4 but this has mushroomed to 14. They vary in size from 3 inches to 6. I have had several people who have given up keeping fish and I have had to rehome them. I know I have too many for my tank when they are full grown but its ok at the moment and they do grow slowly. Its going to be hard when i rehome them. A school of 14 clown loaches looks the nuts when they are all out and about waiting to be fed!!!!!!
The larger 2 have lost a lot of their vivid colour. The best way to describe them is 'washed out', like a faded pair of jeans
I absolutely adore mine too! I watch them for ages too while they work so hard cleaning every nook and cranny. I got a few different corydoras as well for the same reason. I love looking at the cl and remembering how small they were when I got them compared to now.Shaz
