clown loach viscious
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clown loach viscious
well i added 3 clown loaches to my 55gal tank with some goldfish....the water and everything is fine and the loaches are thriving buuutt....my goldfish on the other hand are being eaten alive by the loaches...ive seen them nip at the goldfishes heads until they are bald and u can see much of their head.....so i moved them into a tank with just one little angelfish...they nibbled on it until it had raggedy fins...i feed them 2 times a day...so can anyone tell me the reason for this behavior? i thought they were community tank friendly?
currently-90gallon-5 rummy nose tetra,9 clown loach,3 rainbow fish, and soon 10-15 cardinal tetra.
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Emma Turner
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Hi Toothpik,
What type of goldfish are they? Single tail or fancy? Neither should be kept alongside tropical fish such as clown loaches IMO. Some of the fancies can tolerate higher temps, but this does speed up their metabolism. Clown loaches, being river fish, prefer a much higher flow rate to that of goldfish too. Clowns are naturally inquisitive, but are usually quite gentle.
What other fish are in the tank? What size are the different types of fish? How often and what are you feeding them?
Emma
What type of goldfish are they? Single tail or fancy? Neither should be kept alongside tropical fish such as clown loaches IMO. Some of the fancies can tolerate higher temps, but this does speed up their metabolism. Clown loaches, being river fish, prefer a much higher flow rate to that of goldfish too. Clowns are naturally inquisitive, but are usually quite gentle.
What other fish are in the tank? What size are the different types of fish? How often and what are you feeding them?
Emma
East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
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helen nightingale
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Emma has asked for some very usefull info. all i would add is, do you have any plants or decor in the tank to make the fish feel secure in the knowledge they have somewhere to hide?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT ... 1&index=11 spam spam spam
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bslindgren
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Apart from mature clown loaches just before breeding (which apparently get some extra protein by eating fish, if I recall correctly), they are unlikely to touch any healthy fish. Any fish like fancy goldfish or Siamese fighting fish, which because of their long fins (and in the case of goldfish distorted body shape) essentially behave like injured fish, and will consequently attract attention. The only incidence I have had with my clown loaches occurred when I (against my better judgement) accepted a free Betta splendens which gave my clown loach no end of entertainment. It would grab a fin and tow the poor Betta backwards, and soon shredded the fins. Other than that, it has not touched anything - including some recent additions of VERY small cardinal tetras (which arrived by mistake in a shipment of fish). My largest clown laoch at the time was about 41/2 inches and the cardinals were perhaps 3/8th of an inch. So this is not viciousness at all, but just natural reactions to injured fish IMO.
Why does my aquarium always seem too small?
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Mark Janssen
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Goldfish prefer cooler temperatures, even the fancies are better with water temps not higher than the mid 70s F (23*C)
Clown Loaches are a very warm water tropical, and much prefer a temperature closer to 80*F (27*C)
The fancy golds, with their altered bodies are not very efficient fish at anything. Their internal organs are not properly lined up, they are subject to problems from this angle. Their fins are altered, so they do not swim right.
I would keep them in a species tank with specifically the conditions they need: Low temps, somewhat alkaline water, moderate or hard water, moderate water movement, high oxygenation, specific foods that discourage constipation and gulping air. (Actually I wouldn't keep them, personally)
Clown Loaches are also in need of the highly oxygenated water, but prefer much more water movement than the fancy golds can handle, lower pH, softer water.
Many fish are suggested for a community tank, but there are all sorts of community tanks. Make sure the fish you are thinking about are compatible in several areas, not just that they have the label 'Community tank' in the store. Make sure the range of their needs have a generous overlap so that minor variations in the tank conditions will not push it over the edge for anyone.
Temperature- I would try for at least 3 degrees (F) of overlap, for example a fish that handles temps from 70* to 76* is OK with one that handles a temp of 73* to 78*. The tank would be kept at 74-75* as nearly as possible.
pH- Along with pH I also check whether the fish I want prefers black water (I do this with peat moss) or not (Low PH without tannic acid is possible!)
KH- So closely linked to pH that I actually manipulate KH as the first step in modifying pH.
GH- This is what is meant when a reference talks about soft water vs. hard water fish.
water movement- Whether a filter is enough by itself, or whether additional water movement from a powerhead is needed, or beyond that a river tank.
Light- And, if the fish prefer filtered light, what plants will work?
decorations- Including considerations about live plants and their needs. Do the fish like caves? Clown Loaches are very agile about swimming forward and backward, and really like caves. Fancy golds are pretty helpless this way. No caves, tunnels or any variation in their tank. Celestials cannot even see where they are going, so nothing hard at all in their tank.
Substrate-
Background- In general light or dark color, sometimes it does not matter.
Air bubbles or not.
Clown Loaches are a very warm water tropical, and much prefer a temperature closer to 80*F (27*C)
The fancy golds, with their altered bodies are not very efficient fish at anything. Their internal organs are not properly lined up, they are subject to problems from this angle. Their fins are altered, so they do not swim right.
I would keep them in a species tank with specifically the conditions they need: Low temps, somewhat alkaline water, moderate or hard water, moderate water movement, high oxygenation, specific foods that discourage constipation and gulping air. (Actually I wouldn't keep them, personally)
Clown Loaches are also in need of the highly oxygenated water, but prefer much more water movement than the fancy golds can handle, lower pH, softer water.
Many fish are suggested for a community tank, but there are all sorts of community tanks. Make sure the fish you are thinking about are compatible in several areas, not just that they have the label 'Community tank' in the store. Make sure the range of their needs have a generous overlap so that minor variations in the tank conditions will not push it over the edge for anyone.
Temperature- I would try for at least 3 degrees (F) of overlap, for example a fish that handles temps from 70* to 76* is OK with one that handles a temp of 73* to 78*. The tank would be kept at 74-75* as nearly as possible.
pH- Along with pH I also check whether the fish I want prefers black water (I do this with peat moss) or not (Low PH without tannic acid is possible!)
KH- So closely linked to pH that I actually manipulate KH as the first step in modifying pH.
GH- This is what is meant when a reference talks about soft water vs. hard water fish.
water movement- Whether a filter is enough by itself, or whether additional water movement from a powerhead is needed, or beyond that a river tank.
Light- And, if the fish prefer filtered light, what plants will work?
decorations- Including considerations about live plants and their needs. Do the fish like caves? Clown Loaches are very agile about swimming forward and backward, and really like caves. Fancy golds are pretty helpless this way. No caves, tunnels or any variation in their tank. Celestials cannot even see where they are going, so nothing hard at all in their tank.
Substrate-
Background- In general light or dark color, sometimes it does not matter.
Air bubbles or not.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.
Happy fish keeping!
Happy fish keeping!
other fish kept with these fish are rainbow fish and a chinese algae eater but thats all the gold fish are like 7inches maybe....well these three are still some pretty bad fin nippers they even nipped my angel fishes...and i have heard they get along well with angel fish
currently-90gallon-5 rummy nose tetra,9 clown loach,3 rainbow fish, and soon 10-15 cardinal tetra.
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Emma Turner
- Posts: 8901
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:07 pm
- Location: Peterborough, UK
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Hi Toothpik,
Have you witnessed any aggression between the clowns and the goldfish? It's just that a more likely culprit would be the CAE (sucking 'loach') which are nasty when adult and tend to latch on to slower moving fish and rasp away at them. Maybe it is the CAE doing the damage, and the loaches are just showing inquisitiveness and getting the blame?
Emma
Have you witnessed any aggression between the clowns and the goldfish? It's just that a more likely culprit would be the CAE (sucking 'loach') which are nasty when adult and tend to latch on to slower moving fish and rasp away at them. Maybe it is the CAE doing the damage, and the loaches are just showing inquisitiveness and getting the blame?
Emma
East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
your tank Toothpik is what many lfs say is A-okayEmma Turner wrote:Hi Toothpik,
Have you witnessed any aggression between the clowns and the goldfish? It's just that a more likely culprit would be the CAE (sucking 'loach') which are nasty when adult and tend to latch on to slower moving fish and rasp away at them. Maybe it is the CAE doing the damage, and the loaches are just showing inquisitiveness and getting the blame?
Emma
but it is not.
drain your pool!
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