Loaches Online Forum

there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence that, in a school of clowns, some will gro quite fast and some wont grow a whole lot, despite being fed well.
however, if the internal organs of the fish keep on growing, and this is what causes stunted fish to die prematurely, does that mean the loaches that dont grow will have a short life?

I don't know about a shorter life, but I can attest to the varying growth rates of loaches.

I bought 4 very small loaches recently and within a month 3 of them are the size of loaches I bought a year ago. 1 of them, however, has barely changed! He is a big eater, so why he's not growing I have no idea.

Of the 3 older loaches, 1 of them grew slightly faster than the other 2, but all 3 were very slow compared to the new batch.

pedzola wrote:1 of them, however, has barely changed! He is a big eater, so why he's not growing I have no idea.

Internal parasite(s) probably (been there, seen that)....

mikev wrote: Internal parasite(s) probably (been there, seen that)....

There has been some speculation for a while now that the Alpha Clown loach releases some sort of hormone that inhibits the growth of the subordinate Clowns, however, I don't think this theory has actually been scientifically proven as yet.

Emma

This is what happens with female bettas. They release some sort of hormone that stunts the growth of those females around them so that you end up with females of various sizes from the same spawn. Most people will make frequent high volume water changes to remove the hormone from the water.

Very interesting if something like this is possible.

My limited observations do not seem to agree with it: my Alpha and #2 clowns are growing at identical rate, with #2 always just a bit behind.

I think that this is something that you tend to notice more when you keep them in larger shoals.

Emma

Most certainly.

Besides having a larger troupe, you have another advantage: since your loaches were parasite-free to start with, your observations were not affected by the parasites which can seriously change the growth rates.

However, in the Petzola's case, with only one of four small loaches slowed down, the cause is *probably* parasites or some other disease.
(why would only one small clown be receptive to the hormones?) I had a similar scenario with 2 non-growing kubotais (out of 6), and then 1 non-growing yoyo (out of 4). One round of levimisole is likely to solve the problem.

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OFT: You were entirely right about funny patterns not mattering. After two weeks together, all six, including the spotted one, behave like a family...at least in the mornings, no chasings or arguments at all.

Thanks man... I had sort of thought maybe this little guy had a problem for a while but was reluctant to treat him because of his otherwise normal behavior, healthy appetite, etc.

Maybe I qill quarantine him and give him some prazi-pro for a while. (dunno where to get levimisole around here).

I'd say buy levimisole on the net, and treat them all. We don't have the advantage of buying fish from a store that deworms (like Emma's), and the chances of buying a parasite along with fish are just too high to be ignored. Easier to eliminate it before it causes real problems.

.... actually, I do have this advantage now. After a recent disaster here, I did manage to convince my primary source to deworm all loaches with levimisole. Not that I trust them enough not to repeat the procedure myself.

Levimisole is better than prazipro: takes care of both round- and tape- worms, while prazi kills only the 2nd class.