Lonely Loach

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QueenBee
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:36 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Lonely Loach

Post by QueenBee » Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:12 pm

Hello everyone,

I am the recent owner of one loach which I named "QueenBee". I rescued "her" from a bad situation where she was the only fish in a very neglected tank and have been recuperating her over the last few months in my quarantine tank. She has recuperated amazingly well and has visibly grown/filled out and so I want to move her into my larger 75 gallon planted tank in which I currently have: one 6.5inch pleco and six denison barbs (~2-3inches long). All of which I have raised and happily owned going on three years now. QueenBee herself I estimate to be in the ~4 inch range now.

My question is: How many more loaches do you think I can responsible add to the tank so that she has the social structure she requires? Taking into consideration that she will continue to grow as will any other loaches I add.

If the general consensus is that I can't add more/enough loaches to do right by her, then I will start looking for a good home for her. She is an amazing fish with lots of personality, but I think the fact that she is a lone loach is stressing her out.

Thank you!!

QueenBee
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:36 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by QueenBee » Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:25 pm

Oh, sorry I forgot to include that QueenBee is a clown loach.

Thanks!

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mikev
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Location: NY

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by mikev » Wed Dec 10, 2014 6:42 pm

5-6 is the minimal number for them to have a normal social life.... good luck!

You should be ok with 2" ones ... just quarantine them. And while ultimately you would need a larger tank, 75g will work for a few years.

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redshark1
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Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by redshark1 » Thu Dec 11, 2014 2:14 pm

I've no idea what social group size these fish adhere to in the wild and anything we provide will be suboptimal.

Do what you feel comfortable in doing, but what you may not fully appreciate until you get there is how BIG these fish get if they are not stunted and are able to reach their potential.
Last edited by redshark1 on Fri Dec 12, 2014 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

QueenBee
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:36 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by QueenBee » Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:30 pm

Thank you redshark1 and mikev for your responses!

I am considering that she and any other loaches I put into the tank will continue to grow and will get BIG hopefully. I am afraid she may have been stunted already given her poor care in the past. I am prepared to keep buying bigger tanks, also considering that I do have a pleco that will hopefully reach full potential. In 2-3 years I planned to move onto another tank.

I will start slow with a couple new loachs to see how she responds. I am not sure how long she has been alone and if such a thing can impact how social they will be.

Do you guys feed snails routinely? While she was in quarantine I went to my local shop and they would gladly scrape up snails for free. However, now that she will be going into my community tank I am worried the copious amounts of snail shells will alter my water chemistry. Do you think I would just have to keep removing them?

Many thanks again!

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mikev
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Re: Lonely Loach

Post by mikev » Fri Dec 12, 2014 11:53 am

This sounds fine. The rate of growth is *roughly* 1" per year, so you would want a 6' tank (say 125g) in 3 years, earlier if possible.

Most important is that you need a qtank if you are planning on getting more clowns (as you should), the chances of new clowns bringing in Ich or something else nasty are high. 10g for 5 2" clowns is ok, this will be only for 1-2 months.

Why do you call her "her"? At 4" clowns sexing clowns is iffy...another inch or two seems to be needed. Post a photo, let us guess....

Pleco: assuming it is a common, it does not need too much space... but it will indeed get larger.

Snails: not essential but why not provide the fish with some entertainment? I routinely drop ramshorns into the clown tank ... but my snails come from my other tanks. The idea of getting snails from a lfs is a very dangerous one, don't do this! -- grow your own. And chemistry changes in a 75g because of a few shells is not to worry about. In fact, if you are in Virginia, your water is likely very low on buffering, so the shells do some good... but most likely you need to add something more serious to the water to keep it stable. Check your water params, gH/pH/kH/TDS.

QueenBee
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:36 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by QueenBee » Sat Dec 13, 2014 9:28 am

Yes, agreed. A quarantine tank is a must. My quarantine tank is 20g. I used to have it be a 10g, but I took that tank to work and have set up a little tetra tank for myself and my office mates. :D Once I move Queen Bee out, I can set that up as new loach quarantine tank, and then once they move into the larger tank, transition it into a snail growing tank. I don't anticipate adding more fish to my 75G after the new loaches. I am sure I will have more then enough snails in no time.

I call her a "she" mostly just arbitrarily. I just started referring to her a she, and I guess it stuck. But also, she grew so quickly once she was with me, in little over 3 months she has grown almost half an inch and filled out very nicely. I agree it is early, but I hate to refer to her as an "it" and she has so much personality I had to give her a name, Queen Bee. If I/we ever figure out that she is actually a he, then I will just change it to King Bee :D That happened to me with a tortoise when I was young. It went from "Gertrude the Tortoise" to "Oscar the Tortoise".

My Pleco's name is Rambo, he got the name because he likes to hang out in the plants very quietly and still with only his eyes moving, and camouflages very well (you don't see him, but he always sees you...). I think he is a male based on the shape of his head and body, but I can't be sure in this case either.

Yes, VA water is a lot of more work! I keep a close eye on the params and the 75G has been very stable for the last three years. It is a fully cycled, mature tank that I think she and her soon to be cohorts will enjoy very much.

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I will try to take a good picture of Queen Bee so we can decide what gender to pick for my loach friend.

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redshark1
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Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by redshark1 » Sat Dec 13, 2014 10:50 am

Hopefully it may be obvious what sex Queen Bee is. Females are much more rounder bodied and thickset than the slender males.

I also call my Kissing Gourami a "she" despite not knowing what sex the fish is! Like you, calling her an "it" doesn't sit well! But my Clown Loaches are obvious (or so I believe!).
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

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mikev
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Location: NY

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by mikev » Sat Dec 13, 2014 11:21 am

My alpha female went under the name Spot until it became obvious that she is not a male, so we had to rename her to Dotty. OTOH, the "centerpiece" fish in my living room tank, a dorminator, is always referred to as a "she", even if it is obviously a male.... just way too fat and indecisive to think otherwise.

You can use your 10g tetra tank for snail growing, no need for a dedicated tank, especially 20g!. Ramshorns reproduce quickly, you will have some every week. Or if you prefer a dedicated tank at home, 5g is sufficient.
I don't anticipate adding more fish to my 75G after the new loaches
Famous last words.....

When you look for new clowns, perhaps this is of interest. What they call "Harlequins" are clowns with variant patterns. Pattern variations make it easier to know who is who in the tank.

Good luck!

QueenBee
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:36 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by QueenBee » Sat Dec 13, 2014 12:40 pm

20G may be the Taj Mahal 0f snail tanks, but I just don't want to buy another tank. Because you know I will fill it! Adding yet another tank to my house? even if it would be 5G, I think my husband would organize a mutiny with the dogs :)

We have a 50G cichlid tank, a 33G long gourami tank, and the 75G planted community tank. We had a 10G that I took to work, and the 20G that used to be a salt water tank way back in the day, and then my first gourami tank before I moved on to the 33G. It stayed empty for ~1yr. and then I used it to quarantine Queen Bee. It is cycled and ready to go for new fish.

I could also quarantine a snail before/after the new loaches. Then I would add the snail to the gourami tank and break down the 20G, but that seems a waste of a cycled tank :(

QueenBee
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:36 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by QueenBee » Sat Dec 13, 2014 12:41 pm

Oh, and Dotty is gorgeous! I hope mine get that big.

QueenBee
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:36 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by QueenBee » Sat Dec 13, 2014 9:26 pm

Here is a picture of Queen Bee
Image.
It is not the best picture but I will try to get better ones later. I moved her into the 75G today, and she is settling in nicely.

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mikev
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Re: Lonely Loach

Post by mikev » Sun Dec 14, 2014 9:21 am

all I can see is a healthy looking loach.... yeah, female quite possibly... but need another photo

QueenBee
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2014 2:36 pm
Location: Virginia, USA

Re: Lonely Loach

Post by QueenBee » Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:04 am

mikev said
all I can see is a healthy looking loach
Thanks! My goal for her is that she have the best life possible now. I will try to capture a few more tonight when she is more active.

Below are a couople of pics of my pleco Rambo, her new tank mate (and largest). They are getting along great so far, and foraged together last night. She was very curious about him, and he didn't seem to mind the interest. In the first picture Rambo is laying under the driftwood that Queen Bee is tucked into, you can just make out her tail sticking out a bit.

Image
Image

Sorry for the poor quality, I have to get something better then my cell phone!

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mikev
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Re: Lonely Loach

Post by mikev » Sun Dec 14, 2014 12:21 pm

Looks like a common pleco...

I have one like this... 14" now, grown from 1".... may or may not be a problem later, depending on its personality. Mine is safe, he has no problem with 2-5" kubs.

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