what a nice new place!

[dax29]

It sure has been awhile since I have posted on loachesonline. I last posted on the old forum. Anyway, this new format for the forum is awesome! Good job!

I have 3 beautiful 2.5" angelicus loaches in a 29 gallon aquarium. They have been in there for over a year and haven't grown at all. I feed them everyday and they seem to eat more than the rest of the fish in there. Do these loaches grow as slowly as clown loaches?

[mikev]

my observation has been that the growth is very fast until they reach about 1.7in-2in, then the rate really drops.

My largest is approaching 2.5" now, and while still growing, it is barely measurable.

This is consistent with their max size of 8.5cm=3 1/3 on fishbase: most of them will reach about 3/4 of the max which is very close to 2.5" you see. In other words, your loaches may be already full grown.

Some other sources give 4" for the max size; seems to be an error.

And, incidentally, the growth pattern seems to be closer to barbs than to clowns; this may imply that the lifespan of polkadots is close to that of barbs (8-10 years max), much less than for clowns.

HTH.

BTW, in my tank polkadots win over (larger) clowns every feeding.

[Mark in Vancouver]

Welcome back, dax29. I suspect there will be more improvements soon.