suya1 wrote:Thanks for sharing the video Emma. It was great watching all your loaches eating greedily and scatter so fast once Marge appeared. She is so huge! How long have you had her? I am amazed that clown loaches can get that big. I thought they can't grow that big in captivity. What else do you feed them to keep them happily growing?
Thank you!
I've had Marge and Stripes for just over a year now. They had been taken to a shop for re-homing by their old owner, and thanks to a tip-off, we promptly drove over and rescued them from where they were cowering behind a small lump of bogwood. Sadly, the old owner did not leave any details with the store, so I have no accurate information as to how old they are. However, I have other large clowns that are between 8 and 9" long which I've had since they were tiny, and are now 13-14 years old, which may give an indication. These fish have been kept in tanks at least 4ft+ from when they were young, small fish. Keeping them in tanks that are too small will stunt their growth quite considerably.
It is not just the food which makes them 'grow happily', although a good varied mix does help. Just as important is the size of the tank and the frequency of the water changes to ensure that they grow 'as nature intended'. But with regards to feeding, mine receive a mixture of dried, frozen and fresh foods. Their favourite dried food is JMC sinking catfish pellets, which I think are only available in the UK. They also receive Tetra Prima and other sinking pellet foods, including algae wafers. They really enjoy their frozen foods, and we tend to give them white mosquito larvae, spirulina-enriched brineshrimp, krill, chopped cockles etc. Then I buy fresh prawns and chop them up and add them to the mix. Many clowns will also enjoy eating fruits and vegetables such as cucumber, squash, melon, broccoli etc, but you must only leave items such as these in the tank for a short time, removing after a couple of hours if uneaten.
Emma
The video starts off with some of the medium sized clowns, then Stripes comes out, then they all get scared by Marge's sudden appearance! 
You can see why larger clowns need a big tank because of the sheer bursts of speed they are capable of.
and you might want to turn the sound down as the big glass coverslides being opened and shut makes a bit of a racket part way through.
