What to do with a single clown loach...   12/27/11
Sorry to bother all of you again, but can you please help me with my new problem?
<Let's see>
I have 7 aquariums in my house:
'¢120 gallon full of Aulonocara cichlids (all females except for two males)
'¢120 gallon full of Aulonocara/Fossorochromis males
'¢120 gallon with five 3" Aulonocara females and one 6" fossorochromis female
'¢55 gallon tank with two goldfish
'¢40 gallon well planted tank with 5 zebra Danios, 4 neon tetras, 4
Corydoras, 1 female Betta
'¢40 gallon (empty)
'¢20 gallon with one Chinese algae eater
All tanks get weekly 50% water changes and most have homemade plant filters in addition to canister filters. Water is regularly 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, 10-30ppm depending on the tank. Water is from a well in sand country, slightly-moderately hard and of neutral Ph. I don't have the numbers offhand, but test strips said as much and I don't have too much of an issue with minerals messing up the glass. Fish are all healthy and have been for a long time. I've had most of them for at least four years, some of them over nine years.
Now the problem.  About a year and a half ago, I agreed to take a very old Severum (15 yrs) and an old clown loach from a friend. They were the remnants of friend of friend's early interest in the hobby and had been living together for years in a 29 gallon. I moved them into the empty forty gallon tank. Clown loach was active and happy.  S/he seemed to have bonded with the old Severum well before I knew of them.
Unfortunately the Severum passed away a few days ago and the clown loach is now alone and unhappy. What should I do?
<Mmm, t'were it me/mine, I'd get more loaches of whatever size to go w/ this one... Is a social species. Or trade it in to a shop, w/ someone who can/will appreciate it. Perhaps CraigsList...>
-I can't give it back. I don't think previous owner wants back into the aquarium hobby and certainly doesn't have a tank large enough for it.
-I can't add another 120 gallon aquarium to hold the recommended 4-6 loaches. No more room or time and the house is humid enough as it is.
-I am not sure I want to add it in with the 120-gal female cichlids as that tank holds my favorite fish and I hate to add unknown infectious agents,
<Not likely at all>
but the water hardness and ph are the same in all the tanks and they are a very peaceful tank. Since the loach was strong enough to live this long in a 29-gal and odd enough to bond with a Severum, might he befriend one of them?
-Should I just go ahead and purchase another loach or two and watch the water parameters on the 40 gallon?
<I'd purchase two more>
Thank you for your advice. I'm just tired out from the whole mess and depressed at losing the Severum.
<Move on, keep moving forward... Cheers, Bob Fenner>
Re: What to do with a single clown loach...   1/6/12
Thank you for your reply. I purchased the recommended loaches the day after your answer. Unfortunately the only available clown loaches in my area are only about an inch long
<Have seen them even smaller, less than half this size>
 and the big guy doesn't seem to recognize them as fellow loaches. 
<Like an aircraft carrier and pleasure craft>
He just ignores them and continues to hang out around and rub against a larger fish (who doesn't particularly enjoy it) during the evening hours and hides out most of the day. This is in contrast to his former constant digging around and exploring when he was with the Severum. Do you think things will settle down eventually?
<Yes; I do think so>
 Thank you for your time and expertise.
Rebecca
<Welcome. BobF>

Snails and clown loaches... contr.   11/26/07 Hi guys, I was wondering, I have a snail problem and I was thinking about getting a clown loach. <For a start, no kind aquarist gets "a" Clown Loach; they are schooling fish, and should be kept in groups of three at least. Single specimens are nervous, unhappy, and constantly stressed.> Do you know what community fishes go well with clown loaches? <Almost anything too large to be eaten and robust enough to deal with their pushy personalities. Classic tankmates are things like Spanner and Clown barbs, Silver Dollars, medium-sized gouramis, Australian Rainbowfish, Plecs, Brochis spp. catfish, etc.> Are they aggressive? <More boisterous than aggressive. Singletons sometimes turn nasty (frustration more than anything) but in groups they mostly confine their aggression towards one another. I wouldn't mix them with anything else that was a territorial bottom-dweller, that would be asking for trouble, but otherwise Clowns are pretty good pets.> I so far have a 45-50 gallon tank with lots of snails, 3 platies, and 2 swordtails. Also, do my fishes I have eat snail eggs because I have seen them eating things on the plant. <Platies and Swordtails both eat algae. They *must* eat algae. Aquarists often ignore this. For lack of anything "green" in their diet, Livebearers will peck at the green algae on plant leaves.> Another question is, about how many snails do clown loaches eat? (I have gold Inca snails.) This is because I don't want all the snails gone. <They will all be gone. Imagine keeping cats and mice in the same enclosure. That's what we're talking about here.> Will the clown loach eat all of it or just some and the snails reproduce again...and the loaches eat and etc.? <The Clowns will eat them until they are all gone.> I'm planning on getting just one clown loach. <Don't. Keeping one Clown Loach is cruel. A single Clown Loach is one of the saddest sights in the hobby. They have strong social instincts and a deep desire to be with their own kind. Only aquarists who don't care about the feelings of their fish keep them singly, and I have no time for such fishkeepers! Serious Loach-keepers actually recommend they should be treated just like any other schooling fish and kept in groups of 6 or more. I certainly consider keeping 3 the absolute, non-negotiable minimum. If you want a singleton bottom-dweller of some sort, get something that doesn't mind being kept alone. Loricariid catfish tend to fit into this bracket. Besides Plecs, many of the whiptails make fascinating pets and they won't harm snails. There are also some lovely Synodontis out there that can work well in medium/large-sized fish communities, such as Synodontis decorus and Synodontis angelicus. A school of Brochis spp. catfish would also be a lot of fun.> Thanks for all your help. ~Chris <Hope this helps, Neale.>

Buffering Fresh, 2.1 >Marina, Thanks for the advice. >>Quite welcome. >!ST bubbles from the bubble stones, not the powerhead. >>Gotcha, so you've got excellent oxygen/carbon dioxide (O2/CO2) exchange. >I did check KH and GH.... both WAY TOO LOW...... so I guess the best thing to do is to find some of the Seachem products. I do like Seachem best, as I said.  The products were quite easy to find online, and relatively inexpensive. >I have read that clown loaches do much better as a pair or more? Is that not so? >>They may be a bit happier, but honestly I've never known them to do poorly if kept singly, either.  They can grow quite large, though, something to consider. >Thanks for all the help. Monica >>Again, very welcome, I'm glad I was able to answer your questions.  Marina

Lookin' for Loaches Hey guys, first thanks for all the great info on this site. It has saved a lot of headaches so far. I have a 25 gallon tank that just finished cycling. I have 3 Serpae Tetras and 2 Zebra Danios. I have a fine sand substrate and I am looking for a fish to add that would help stir up the bottom of the tank a little. The LFS recommended a Clown Loach but that advice I'm not sold on since I've heard they can grow to 12 inches.  Thanks for any ideas. <And indeed they can!  There are so, so many options available for you.  Any of the smaller loaches, Botia striata, Botia dario, Botia lohachata....  Kuhli loaches.... soooo many loaches out there!  Also Corydoras cats.  http://www.loaches.com  is a nice place to start looking at loach options, and you can find loads of info on cats of the genus Corydoras at http://www.planetcatfish.com - as well as on the WetWeb site and FAQs.  I would like to mention that loaches and Corys are scaleless, and that you might want to keep an eye on them to see if they react poorly to the sand if it is at all sharp.  Also, please be sure to keep loaches or Corys in groups of three or more, as they are schooling fish.  -Sabrina>

Loach party? (06/10/03) Hiya campers! <Hi! Ananda camping out in front of the computer tonight...> I purchased some plants about a month ago, and while the peeps in the store SWORE there were no snails in that tank, obviously there were as I have apparently become a snail breeder (ick). <Unless, of course, you have puffers or loaches! Since I have both, I actually have a snail farm tank.> Someone recommended loaches, and I went to the good LFS (which is 40 min.s away) to pick up some yo-yos. Of course, they had none so I purchased 3 clowns instead (like em just as well, but was hoping NOT to need a new tank in the near future LOL). <They don't grow super-fast, but they do grow. Kudos for getting a trio!> One of the clown didn't make it (no surprise; I understand they are all wild caught and they can be tetchy). <Yup! Be very, very careful to match the water temperatures with all water changes!> The other 2 are happy, hale n hearty, and will be out of QT next week and into the main tank. <HOT DANG SHE QUARANTINED HER NEW FISH!!  [insert applause here] My loach-fanatic friend says you should try to get clown loaches that are at least a couple of inches long (excluding tail length). And look for the ones that are the most robust.> I went to the icky LFS today to get some bloodworms (its closer), and noticed THEY have yo-yos. So my question is, if I purchase a yo-yo to replace the clown I lost, will he be just as happy hanging with clowns as he would with other yo-yos? <I haven't had yo-yos, but I'm not certain that they would.> (This is assuming I can get the lil guy to survive; the icky pet store is a fish morgue.) <Oooh.. then don't get them there!> I understand loaches are not happy alone (hence my original purchase of 3) but can't seem to find if they will be happy with other types of loaches. I checked your faq and loaches.com, but there were no clear answers. <You might want to post on both the WetWeb boards at http://wetwebfotos.com/talk and the boards at loaches.com. We do have a yo-yo loach fan on the WetWeb boards.> I'd prefer to understock the tank as its a 25 gallon, and I've already got 2 angels and a liposarcus in there (and yeah, there will be a larger tank in the future LOL just hopefully not till next year); hence my thinking of only getting the single yo-yo. Any suggestions? <Shop around for another clown loach. I usually like to get my fish from independently-owned stores. But not with the loaches. I admit to getting mine from a chain store, because they *consistently* had the healthiest clown loaches. Something else to keep the loaches happy: give them some caves they can hide and sleep in. My loaches absolutely love playing "loach pile" in the carved strawberry rock pieces that came with my 55g tank. When they cruise from one end of the tank to the other, I swear they go out of their way to swim through the holes in the rocks!> Thanx! Allison <You're welcome! And please join us on the WetWebMedia discussion boards and give us a progress report.  --Ananda>

Clown loaches for snail control <Ananda here tonight, answering the freshwater fish questions...> hi guys need your help again if you do not mind . <Not at all -- that's what we're here for.> 100,s of stinking snails. these are the cone shaped type not sure of scientific name. <Probably the ones commonly called "Malaysian trumpet snails".> guy at local fish store said clown loaches will not eat them shells too hard <Baloney. My clown loaches eat these all the time. They don't need to crush the shells; loaches suck the snail out of the shell.> want to refrain from chem.s-  he suggested a product called had-a-snail. <I'm surprised he's trying to sell you chemicals rather than more fish.> at my wits end  heeeeeeelp meeeee rocky <Check out our loaches page and its associated FAQs: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/cobitids.htm ...also http://www.loaches.com has much info from loach fans. --Ananda>