Loaches Online Forum

https://youtu.be/4-0E6XjGYt0

Speaking of eggs do you think one of my clowns could possibly be a female carrying eggs? This particular one is exceptionally round and they haven’t eaten in a day and a half in preparation for the move from a 55 to a 120 today. They all eat pretty much equally. And again no one has been fed for a day and a half. All this egg talk has me wondering....

Thanks.

I do think that females regularly carry eggs and males regularly carry sperm but the environmental cues they need to lay and fertilise them are not there in our aquaria.



I haven't weighed my 25 year old fish as it would stress them but I'd be surprised if my females were not approximately four times the size of my males (see pic - female Clown Loach on left, male Clown Loach on right, Red-tailed Black Shark and Congo Tetra also in picture).

Ok. Thanks. Not sure if you watched the video but you don’t see anything out of the ordinary with the clown, right?

Hey Fran, I'm thinking your pudgy clown might be female. They are usually both "taller" & wider than slimmer males.

I agree with redshark, females often carry eggs & males probably "can" fertilize them...with the right environment cues...whatever those may be. But we as hobbyists hopefully can find the answers eventually. I know hormone treatment has work for both clowns & sidthimunkis but I'd love to see a more "natural" breeding of them both. As fish keepers we have come very far toward this goal but all knowledge is good.

Amber eggs say fertilized to me, white does not. But until there are fry, however short lived, we're not close enough to actual breeding.

So carrying those eggs aren’t an issue? No egg binding issues or anything? My guess is no but I like to hear it anyway. Lol. Thanks.

I've had several females of several species look to be carrying eggs. It doesn't seem to harm them to be so full of eggs, except they are often slower swimming (think chubby jogger, lol). My females were often the "alpha" fish in their species group(s). Your fatter loach should be fine.

Ok. Thanks, Nancy.