Too many fish in my tank? Clown Loaches always hiding.

[tacojosh89]

My first post! Hello Everyone!

I just set up my first large tank just over a month ago. I have a smaller 35 gallon as my first tank; both are freshwater. I researched a lot of fish and I fell in love with Clown Loaches! I got some and some other tankmates but I think I may have too many fish for my tank right now. I currently have 5 Clown Loaches, 4 Bala Shark, 3 Roseline Sharks, 2 Pink Kissing Gourami, 2 Powder Blue Gourami, 2 Turquoise Rainbows, and some Ghost Shrimp.I know some of these fish get pretty big. For filtration I have a 90 gallon overhead power filter and a Fluval 306 Canister for a combined 704 gph. The substrate is CaribSea sand (100lbs) and there are a few plants in the tank. I originally had 3 Clowns but I added two to the family last week hoping to give them more comfort in numbers. I never saw my 3 loaches schooling and occasionally I see them out and about seperately. This is why I added the new two. Now I see my new two at feeding times and my other 3 are always in hiding. Im afraid my others are starving. I still havent seen all 5 at once. I feed everyone Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp squares and Veggie Flakes. I occasionally drop a Veggie Round in. I love these loaches and want them as my main pieces to show in my tank. Ive seen other peoples videos where they are pretty active fish. Im sad to not have that yet. Any advice would be awesome. Ill try to post pictures soon.

Your New Member,

Joshua

[DainBramage1991]

It would be helpful if we knew the size of your loach tank.

I don't have any personal experience with clown loaches, but as with most other botiine loaches they have a few basic requirements that must be met for them to be happy and healthy. It sounds to me like you are heading in the right direction as far as that goes.
First, they need space. I don't know how big your tank is, but you have a large population of fish that you can expect to get fairly big (depending on what your idea of "big" is). Clown loaches can grow up to 12 inches or more in length, and most of the experts agree that they need to be kept in a tank that allows them to halve plenty of swimming room. If your tank is too small, your loaches may be feeling crowded.
Secondly, they need the company of their own kind. 5 fish is generally considered a bare minimum for clowns, which (from what I've read) seem to be even more social than other botiine loaches. The more the merrier, quite literally.
They also need a lot of hiding places. The usual rule-of-thumb is to have at least one good hiding place per fish, if not more.
This list is by no means complete, but hopefully it is helpful.

Another thing that comes to mind is specific to your particular setup. It sounds to me that you have a number of territorial and semi-aggressive fish in your tank that may be stressing the peaceful loaches out. You may want to keep en eye on your fish and see if there is any bullying going on.

One other thing I just noticed when I reread your post. Is your substrate (the CaribSea sand) chemically neutral or is it, like the name suggests, actual sea sand? If it is, it will likely be increasing the hardness and alkalinity of the water, and clown loaches generally tend to prefer softer water with a pH between 6.5 and 7.0. If your tank is significantly outside of that range, it could be causing them stress.

Good luck, Joshua. I hope your clowns come around soon.

[tacojosh89]

Sorry, My first post didn't submit and I missed it in my rewrite. Its a 75 gallon (48.5 x 18.5 x 21). My substrate is chemically neutral. I do have all tropical semi aggressive but I never see any bullying between any of the fish. They all swim mixed all the time. Even when a few loaches are out, they all just swim around with each other . I know with all these fish that they won't be able to live together forever due to how large some grow. I will eventually separate what I can. Probably 5 clowns, 4 balas and the 2 kissing gourami will have the 75g to themselves while I move the rest to my empty 35g. There are hiding spots but they all seem to hide in my ornaments where I can't see them.

[redshark1]

I don't think Balas will be happy in a 75. I feel that such large and most importantly skittish fish should only be in public aquaria or Monster Tanks. Also Clown Loaches should ideally be in something bigger to avoid stunting.

I feed my Clown Loaches in the morning and early evening and they have always come out looking for food.

Concentrate on water quality and providing a good environment for the Loaches and I'm sure thay will be out more.

Looking at your stock I would lose the Balas.

[tacojosh89]

redshark1

Yeah I understand they will out grow it. All the fish I have are juveniles now. Not one is more than 2 inches. Thank you and DainBramage for the advice. I will keep doing routine maintenance and watch behaviors. 3 of my loaches were out this morning for feeding time. Hopefully the other two join soon.

[Diana]

Your list
5 Clown Loaches,
4 Bala Shark,
3 Roseline Sharks,
2 Pink Kissing Gourami,
2 Powder Blue Gourami,
2 Turquoise Rainbows
some Ghost Shrimp

How I see it:
Clown Loaches- need a longer/larger tank, mine are in 125 gallon, 6' long, and this might be about the smallest that would really work.
Bala Sharks- are highly active, startle easily, and crash into the ends of the tank. The best set up is at least 6' of clear swimming room plus a foot or more of planted cushion at the ends. This means a minimum 8' long tank.
Roseline Sharks- much better choice, get more.
Pink Kissing Gourami- no way in a home aquariums. They get way too big. A foot long, and big, blocky fish. The ;kissing' behavior is actually a couple of things: To each other it is a challenge, a way of fighting. To other species of fish it is a way of eating. They are known to rasp the slime coat off other fish. To plants and algae it is a way of eating, these fish may eat most aquarium plants.
Powder Blue Gourami- aggressive to each other and other Gouramis. They may work in this tank, it is large enough. It would help if you can define their territory with tall plants, driftwood or other things that break up the top area of the tank. This species is subject to some diseases that will likely kill them before too long.
Turquoise Rainbows- social, not exactly schooling. I would get more, total 2 males, 4 females.
Ghost Shrimp- Pass the cocktail sauce!

I would get a longer, larger tank.
Keep the Clown Loaches, Roseline Sharks, Turquoise Rainbows.

[redshark1]

Roseline Barb ? Doesn't this species require cooler temperatures than the Clown Loach or is there some solution I wasn't aware of ?

Sorry to be an awkward bugger. Just asking !

[kimura]

I picked up 5 balas for my 240 gallon 8 foot tank and they quickly grew to over a foot each. If I didn't
slowly approach the tank they would take off like crazy and ping pong off the walls

[bookpage]

Roseline Barb ? Doesn't this species require cooler temperatures than the Clown Loach or is there some solution I wasn't aware of ?

They thrive in a subtropical climate in water with a 6.8–7.8 pH, a water hardness of 5–25 dGH and a temperature range of 65–79 °F (18–26 °C).

80°F may be the upper limit of Roseline Barbs, but my eight seem to be doing okay.

[redshark1]

Thankyou for your reply Bookpage.

In the past I had counted out this lovely fish as a companion to my Clown Loaches due to this temperature issue.