Clown Loach Growth Rate

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Colin clown loach
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Clown Loach Growth Rate

Post by Colin clown loach » Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:36 pm

Hello All,

I am new to your forum and have lots of questions but the ones which are bugging me the most is,

Q1 What is the growth rate of a clown loach?

Q2 How long will it take for a clown to get to say 8"

I understand there is some slow down at about 5"

anyone lived with some clowns from babies to 10" adults?

Any advise appreciated
180 gal
13 clown loach medium 2-4", 1 clown loach large 5" 10 clown loach small >2", 4 zebra loach >2", 1 gold nugget plec 3", Snowball plec 3", 1 hop catfish 3".

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Emma Turner
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Post by Emma Turner » Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:02 pm

Hi Colin, welcome to Loaches Online. :D

There are so many factors that affect the growth rate of clown loaches, from size of tank they are kept in from young, water quality, feedings/quality of diet etc. Clown loaches are very easily stunted by being placed into small aquaria when young, and it saddens me that so many shops sell them for tanks under 4ft long. Juveniles are ok in tanks of this size, but when they get to 5-6", they really need a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft minimum if they are to reach their potential size. Regular partial water changes and good feedings of a varied diet help immensely too. I have kept clowns from 2" TL and they reached 8" within 6 years when kept in a 4ft long tank when small, upgraded to 5ft, then an extra high and wide 7ft long tank (1000 litres) when I judged they needed more room to grow. Water changes have always been frequent. There is also speculation that the Alpha (boss) loach can secret hormones into the water which inhibit the growth of the subordinates. These would be diluted with regular partial water changes. I have rehomed many clowns over the years and some were given to me at 3" total length and despite having been in my 1000 litre tank for many years now, they have never grown at all. This is likely to be because at some point in their lives they have been kept in a tank that was far too small for them and were permanently stunted. Other fish I have added at 3" (wild caught) have grown up to 6" or so during the same time period.

Hope this helps,

Emma
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Colin clown loach
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Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:39 pm
Location: Halifax, England

Post by Colin clown loach » Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:56 pm

Thank you for your reply Emma, it does clarify my course of action for looking after my loach. Please let me explain;

I bought 14 Clowns about a year, I was new to the hobby and didnt realise what I was doing. they went into a 5' 200liter tank.

I quickly realised what I had done regarding the potential size issue of clowns and upgraded to my 180gal about 6 months ago or so.

since then I keep buying solitary loaches from shops which people have bought back, well they look so stressed and I cant help myself, They black out quickly enough when I introduce them and soon start to enjoy life except one I call "stressed loach" poor fella, I bet I have had him 6 months now and he is always timid.

So, at the end of the day, with my stock and considering what you have said regarding possible stunted growth, I should be looking at a larger tank in a few years or so, nothing to get too stressed about and I aint going to stress and stunt my fish beyond what they already have in my current tank. Would that be fair to say?

Again, thank you Emma, I cant beleve I am chatting to you, I am in awe, I certanly have joined the right forum
180 gal
13 clown loach medium 2-4", 1 clown loach large 5" 10 clown loach small >2", 4 zebra loach >2", 1 gold nugget plec 3", Snowball plec 3", 1 hop catfish 3".

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Emma Turner
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Post by Emma Turner » Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:33 pm

Hi Colin,

No problem, glad to be of help. :D Your current tank will be good for some time yet. When choosing another, the footprint (length and width) will be more important than the height. However, when you have big adult clowns, the height does start to become an issue too, and if you can add a bit of extra height it is worth it. My tank is 26" high and when the XL clowns are out in the evenings, dancing for their food, they use the full height and I sometimes think they would like more (this will happen in the next few years).

You might already do this, but be sure to quarantine all new additions before adding them to your main tank so as not to put your older residents in danger. You can also use this time to deworm them.

Best wishes,

Emma
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bslindgren
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Post by bslindgren » Sat Dec 06, 2008 7:20 pm

Yeah, there seems to be quite a bit of individual variation. I have been one of the guilty parties in keeping my clowns in a tank that was too small for them (well at least my avatar one), largely due to ignorance before joining this excellent forum. Now they are in a 5 foot 110 gal tank (can't fit a 6 foot unfortunately) and even my original clown has started growing again (or at least it seems as if it has - it's now 4-4.5 inches. One of my three smaller clowns has also put on a burst of growth, and at about 3 inches is now much bigger than the two I got at the same time. I have had them for 1 1/2 years and they were no more than an inch when I got them (I was desperate after looking for clowns for 6 months). I'm sure that overall stocking impacts on them as well, as would stress levels etc. I bought a 4 inch clown when I set up my current tank, but it is extremely shy. Anyway, I hope they will hang around for a long time, and grow to a decent size. Emma's experience tells me I shouldn't hope for any 12 inchers any time soon (which would be a bit massive for my tank anyway I guess).

So Emma, under ideal conditions, how long would it take a clown loach to reach 8 and 12 inches, respectively? Any idea? What's the experience of all the good clown keepers out there?
Why does my aquarium always seem too small?

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Marcos Mataratzis
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Post by Marcos Mataratzis » Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:13 pm

Let me say something on Clown loach grow rate.
My two bigger Clowns are rehomed
Bigger is 8" and 13 years old.
2nd one is 6.5-7" and 8 years old.
My 3rd in size is just a bit smaller then 2nd one but it´s only 2.5 to 3 years of age (I got her 2.5" about 2 years ago). Like Emma said, good food, big footprint and water quality makes the diference. I´m quite sure this 3rd one will be alpha in a couple years. 8)

Marcos
Last edited by Marcos Mataratzis on Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
My 450L Loaches tank
31 clown, 5 morleti, 2 sidthimunki

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LeStat
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Post by LeStat » Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:45 am

I have 18 clowns in a 5x2x2 and feel that it is too small for the larger ones. I have 1@9", 1@7", 6@5", 3@4" & 7 between 2"&3", what size tank would you recommend I transfer these guys into?

I plan to order a bespoke tank in January and have a wall set aside that is 8' long, I was thinking an 8x2x2.5. Is 2' high enough? Can you recommend a good supplier?

Many thanks as always,
AD
250 Gallon, 8 Modesta, 2 Plec, 2 Catfish & a shoal of 17 Clown loach.

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bslindgren
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Post by bslindgren » Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:35 am

That sounds like it would be quite a sight! Can you post pictures? Any input on growth rate?
Why does my aquarium always seem too small?

Loachloach
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Re: Clown Loach Growth Rate

Post by Loachloach » Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:14 pm

I know it is an old thread, but just wondering about the dimensions of a clown loach tank except for holding a good volume of water.
I've only had mine for a lot less than a year but when these guys play, they love the height of the tank. Mine is extra high, over 65cm(25.6 inches) tall and my small clowns(the biggest 4") utilize the whole tank height when in play mode and not the lenght. I haven't seen them racing the tank lenght except for when spooked and running to hide but going up and down constantly seems to be the favourite. Like all bottom feeders and especially their potential adult size I understand they need a lot of footprint, but having a large tank not tall enough seems to be a big disadvantage to these guys that isn't mentioned anywhere.
So if you have a loach over 10" or even less size, I don't see how would this be possible for it to comfortably play in a 2f tall tank, no matter how long it is.

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Marcos Mataratzis
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Re: Clown Loach Growth Rate

Post by Marcos Mataratzis » Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:35 pm

Loachloach wrote:I've only had mine for a lot less than a year but when these guys play, they love the height of the tank. Mine is extra high, over 65cm(25.6 inches) tall and my small clowns(the biggest 4") utilize the whole tank height when in play mode and not the lenght. I haven't seen them racing the tank lenght except for when spooked and running to hide but going up and down constantly seems to be the favourite.
In some cases, this going up and down is not really a fun playing but difficulty on adapt to the water parameters or any other isue. :roll:

My actual tank is 2.5m x 70cm x 50cm, 50cm high. As told before, footprint is the most important thing for Clown loaches, because they spend most part of their time digging the gravel for food.
My 450L Loaches tank
31 clown, 5 morleti, 2 sidthimunki

Loachloach
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Re: Clown Loach Growth Rate

Post by Loachloach » Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:47 pm

Do you mean that them playing in a group up and down the tank glass is a stressed behaviour? The water parameters are spot on. I haven't had ammonia and nitrIte over 0 since setup of this tank a year ago and the tank suffers from very low nitrAtes(0-5ppm) so had to dose up for the plants but it barely measures 10ppm any time I tested. TDS is about 270-280 ppm varying and slightly higher than my tap water. Ph has always been 7.4ppm and the tank gets 50% weekly water change. It's got quite a high flow between filters and powerhead(17 times the water volume an hour)
They do dig the sand for food but they love the racing thing along the glass at night and mornings. They also sift through sand same as corys, throwing out the sifted sand via their gills so I thought gravel is a no, no for them.
A poor picture of them:

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Marcos Mataratzis
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Re: Clown Loach Growth Rate

Post by Marcos Mataratzis » Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:07 pm

Marcos Mataratzis wrote:In some cases, this going up and down is not really a fun playing but difficulty on adapt to the water parameters or any other isue.
Looks like your parameters are ok, except for pH 7.4, but that is not a big deal as Clown Loaches can do fine in that pH.
My 450L Loaches tank
31 clown, 5 morleti, 2 sidthimunki

Loachloach
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Re: Clown Loach Growth Rate

Post by Loachloach » Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:37 pm

I do have a problem making them come out when the lights are on(besides at feeding time when they don't care or when the corys are spawning they follow for cory eggs.) The tank lights are quite bright unfortunately, it's a planted tank, but they've come a long way recently with the addition of some bold group of platies that the clowns started immitating and getting my floating plants to finally grow as they used to get damaged by the highish surface movement. And they do get scared of me, so not very friendly loaches, but when the lights are off, night and mornings up till lunch they are very active.
When they play, some of them would even swim up amongst the group upside down with their belly up and they would go in circles up and down from top to bottom, following each other. They look like they enjoy themselves doing it.

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Marcos Mataratzis
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Re: Clown Loach Growth Rate

Post by Marcos Mataratzis » Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:18 am

Loachloach wrote:The tank lights are quite bright unfortunately, it's a planted tank.
Clown loaches do not like much lights at all. That can be the answer to their behavior. Besides, they use to eat the plants or even unroot them just for fun. I would not have Clown loaches on a planted tank, especially if there is CO2 injection.
My 450L Loaches tank
31 clown, 5 morleti, 2 sidthimunki

Loachloach
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Re: Clown Loach Growth Rate

Post by Loachloach » Sat Dec 22, 2012 12:33 pm

I know. In the beginning they destroyed almost all soft leaved plants. But since I started feeding them a lot of algae wafers and vegetables along with the other protein food 50/50, they surprisingly stopped. They haven't touched the plants in 3-4 months and they all grew back. I am using liquid carbon.

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