The excited clown loaches
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- Emma Turner
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The excited clown loaches
3 days ago, we had to take most of the decor out of the clown loach tank so that we could catch out the Puntius filamentosus that we decided to part with. We were a bit sad to see them go - they are beautiful fish and we've had them for some years (the big males were 6" in length) - but they were so very very greedy.
We put all the bogwood back how we wanted it (which was different from before - with that amount, it was impossible to remember exactly where it all went) and added some new Java fern motherplants.
It was left like this for a couple of days (with clowns hiding in protest at the upheaval) and then last night added 20 Puntius narayani, which are about 1.75" at the moment. These do not grow anywhere near as large as the P. filamentosus and I like their subtle beauty.
When settled, our clowns do congregate and dance every night in big groups (which is the most amazing sight), but shortly after the new little barbs were introduced under blue moon lighting yesterday evening, the loaches became REALLY excited! They immediately formed a tight pack and came out of hiding to investigate the newcomers. At times, I think the entire group were out all at once, and although we are used to seeing a lot of them out together, it was a real priveledge to see virtually all the group together. Marge did come out a bit but not as much as the others, as she seems to be defending the left hand corner of the tank which she has decided is hers (nice big shady bogwood caves, navigable by the bigger fish). I didn't manage to capture the entire group shoaling together, but I did get footage of good sized groups.
So without further ado, here are a few short videos of some of this behaviour. Please turn the volume down/off to avoid listening to my camera making its focussing noise. They are quite dark because of the moonlight conditions so it may be a little tricky to see them using the full 28" of height for their loachy dancing in the corner, but when they swim towards the other side it is lighter:
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8695.flv
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8701.flv
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8691.flv
Hope you enjoyed them,
Emma
We put all the bogwood back how we wanted it (which was different from before - with that amount, it was impossible to remember exactly where it all went) and added some new Java fern motherplants.
It was left like this for a couple of days (with clowns hiding in protest at the upheaval) and then last night added 20 Puntius narayani, which are about 1.75" at the moment. These do not grow anywhere near as large as the P. filamentosus and I like their subtle beauty.
When settled, our clowns do congregate and dance every night in big groups (which is the most amazing sight), but shortly after the new little barbs were introduced under blue moon lighting yesterday evening, the loaches became REALLY excited! They immediately formed a tight pack and came out of hiding to investigate the newcomers. At times, I think the entire group were out all at once, and although we are used to seeing a lot of them out together, it was a real priveledge to see virtually all the group together. Marge did come out a bit but not as much as the others, as she seems to be defending the left hand corner of the tank which she has decided is hers (nice big shady bogwood caves, navigable by the bigger fish). I didn't manage to capture the entire group shoaling together, but I did get footage of good sized groups.
So without further ado, here are a few short videos of some of this behaviour. Please turn the volume down/off to avoid listening to my camera making its focussing noise. They are quite dark because of the moonlight conditions so it may be a little tricky to see them using the full 28" of height for their loachy dancing in the corner, but when they swim towards the other side it is lighter:
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8695.flv
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8701.flv
http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k183/ ... CN8691.flv
Hope you enjoyed them,
Emma
East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
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- Emma Turner
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Thanks for all the fantastic comments!
Brett, we've never been entirely sure how many clowns are in the tank (lost count!) but I think 35+.
Jason, the tank is 1000 litres, it measures 84" x 28" high x 27" wide. The other day, there was talk of extending this house in 2 years time. And plans include a 16ft loach hilton to be built on site. So I really really hope that this does happen!
And here are the barbs for anyone who's interested:
They looked a good size at the shop, but in the clown tank, they look tiny!
Emma
Brett, we've never been entirely sure how many clowns are in the tank (lost count!) but I think 35+.
Jason, the tank is 1000 litres, it measures 84" x 28" high x 27" wide. The other day, there was talk of extending this house in 2 years time. And plans include a 16ft loach hilton to be built on site. So I really really hope that this does happen!
And here are the barbs for anyone who's interested:
They looked a good size at the shop, but in the clown tank, they look tiny!
Emma
East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
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