Loaches Online Forum

Beautiful tank, Erik! Thanks for posting.

Emma

Lovely, lovely pics again Mr T. :D The colours on those tails are just gorgeous. Jerry - your photos really aren't that bad, so stop putting yourself down! It just takes a bit of practice to find the settings that work best for you. And don't forget, most of us here delete a lot more photos than we ...

Great to see your new additions settling in so well, Jerry! I bet they are just loving having all that space to explore.

Emma

We didn't actually treat ours with anything - this last batch we had in arrived in superb condition, and fingers crossed they have been fine since (had them some months now). Once we'd had them in, we observed them for a few weeks before bringing some home. But like Mark says, treating with levamiso...

:D :D :D :D :D Hooray! At last!!! So pleased for you, Martin. Yes, we find our 6 fairly lively, especially when territorial disputes take place. And also late evening, which is their main feed time. They dart all over the place chasing bits of frozen food - ours love white mosquito larvae, brineshri...

Awesome, Nonn! Keep 'em coming!

Emma

Wow!!! Excellent news, Martin! Wish we had access to those dancing bananas! Hope they have arrived in good shape.
Off to bed now as it's about twenty past one in the morning here....

Emma

Hi mikev, Whilst the majority of your advice was good, I felt I had to voice my opinion on the subject of minimum aquarium sizes for Clowns. I am very passionate about this, having nutured and observed Clowns for a long time, and working in the trade, I have seen first-hand the effects of Clowns tha...

Sorry, but I'd have to disagree about a 29g aquarium being big enough for Clown loaches - even small ones. They are river fish, and as such, require a lot of swimming space and water movement. Really, a tank approaching around 55g has got to be the minimum sized aquarium to keep young Clowns in. And...

Hi ashie, Sadly, many Botia species suffer from 'Skinny Disease', which is better known these days as 'Chronic Wasting Syndrome'. This is thought to be where internal parasites affect the fish and cause it to lose horrendous amounts of weight. If left for any significant period of time, the fish wil...

Hi there, I would say it is quite likely that your new Clowns have skinny disease. They look a little 'pinched in' behind the gills and along the lateral line in some of those photos. The most effective treatment for this is Levamisole hydrochloride, which you can obtain from any fish-friendly (or j...

Awww, sorry to hear that, Jim.
It's always a shame when you lose one half of (what were initially) a compatible pair. Fingers crossed that you find another soon.

Emma

The oldest Clown I've owned since she was little is coming up for 14 years. But she must be slightly older than this, as she was already around 2" when I bought her. I have many others who are between 10 and 13 years, and also the 2 giants that I acquired last year that I believe are likely to be ol...

Great photos, Graeme! Looks like the Horsie has chosen a prime spot to watch all that's going on around him.

Emma

Thank you very much for the information, Hendra! I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
I had kind of guessed that some of the blackwater areas in Kalimantan would be very soft and acidic. Our Clown Loaches have been thriving for some time in soft water with a pH of around 5.

Emma