Post
by Loachloach » Thu Apr 30, 2015 4:13 am
It's hard to tell how old a 6" loach would be. It depends on the conditions it was kept in prior to that. It could be anything from 3-4 years to even 10 years old if kept in a too small tank without much water changes and no good food.
I too bought a large clown loach less than 2 years ago and he does tend to isolate himself from the others where the ones I purchased together grew up together and tend to stick together whatever they are doing. My theory is because he was kept as a solitary loach for years. He surely likes dancing with the others from time to time and lines up for food in the morning like everyone else. But he tends to be more nocturnal than my others, would come out way earlier at night on his own too. You can try feeding at night if possible for the time being. However, they learn when food time is and if you feed at the same times of the day, all loaches will learn and will be out waiting for you, wiggling tails. I feed mine early morning before I come out. Before I used to feed in the evening, and they'd all be out then instead.
As for growth rate, it's a lot dependent on you. From 2" to 5-6" they tend to grow relatively fast. It's harder providing that environment for long enough time because they still tend to grow slower than other fish that reach the same potential size. One needs to keep up with them for longer as they still need to be treated like fry, meaning they need good food regularly and clean water, so if you are serious about growing them properly, best is small feedings a few times a day and a couple of large water changes a week at least for the first year. But not many people, including me, have done this for them. I left mine on one feeding a day and 50% water change a week. My largest after 2.5 years is between 5-6" which doesn't count my big clown loach who's bigger and grew too in the time I had him but I didn't grow him myself from a small loach.
If you make the extra effort, I am certain you can bulk them up pretty quickly faster, in a year or two to 4-6 inches. They may not all grow at the same rate though and their are several theories why. Females tend to grow larger than males and also wider bodied. And the alpha loach will be normally a female, the biggest of all. This could role could automatically be given to your large loach but I think in my group my 2nd biggest is the alpha loach and she's shaped like a female(more ellipse sort of shape)
Some also say they excrete a growth inhibiting hormone, hence why large water changes are a good tactic to counteract this. Also, the less pushy clowns maybe getting less food. I feed mine smaller pellets, like NLS pellets that come in 0.5,1mm,2mm rather than "wafer" size pellets and this way everyone gets to them, otherwise the more aggressive eaters will just steal the food from the others each time and food for growing fish is as important as good quality water.
Good luck with them. They are very entertaining fish to own but take their time to feel comfy in the tank and also with their owner.
