Fighting Loaches

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:24 am

Hi guys,

Just have a question about my clown loaches. I have 2 loaches in a 30 gallon tank. For the last year they have been very peaceful but lately have started fighting each other and some of the other fish in the tank. While they’re fighting their colors change. They are normally a nice bright orange and black but when fighting their black gets dull and their orange becomes shaded. This fighting is now on a daily bases and the only change I made to the tank was to and an air wand. I set up another tank thinking that as they got bigger the tank may have become crowded and plan to move some of the other fish over to the new tank. Does anyone think this could be the problem and do you have any other suggestions?

I included a link to a short movie showing one of their scuffles if anyone wants to check it out. You might want to turn your sound down because I forgot my digital camera also records sound when recording a movie. Sorry!

http://media.putfile.com/000_0240MOV

Any help would be appreciated.
Jim

Emma Turner · Post by **Emma Turner** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:18 am

Hi Jim,

Sorry I can't seem to view the video.

What you are seeing is no doubt the usual 'greying out' behaviour which happens when loaches enter into disputes. You really need more than two Clown Loaches to help spread the brunt of any 'arguments'. But in order for you to add more Clowns for your current two, you will need to upgrade to a bigger tank, really at least 4ft long. They are incredibly social creatures and I would suggest a minimum of five.

You may find teh following link useful: http://www.loaches.com/markings.html

Emma

Wendie · Post by **Wendie** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:46 pm

That's a daily event in my tank with the smaller clowns trying to establish the boss.

Heard a really loud clicking the other day and looked up to find the two large Yo Yo's in the other tank locked together in a clicking frenzy.

Barracuda518 · Post by **Barracuda518** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:50 pm

I have seen my YoYo's doing that all the time. I think its just playful chasing most of the time. I havent seen that out of the clowns yet. The biggest one is a bit bigger then the other 6 and they havent decided to challenge him yet.

Mark in Vancouver · Post by **Mark in Vancouver** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:58 pm

The colour change is certainly normal, as is the territorial scuffling. But there are two key points - your tank is too small and you should add at least one more loach.

For some reason, in pairs, the dynamic among many loaches can get really violent - to the point that you're feeling sorry for the submissive one. Keeping them in odd numbers, where they can be social but also stake their claims, is much better for the fish in the long run.

And it may be that this behaviour has developed over the last year as the loaches "grow out of" the available tank space. Clown loaches get big and should be kept in a minimum 75 gallon tank once they're about 2 inches long. So at least be prepared to face that challenge down the line.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 9:42 am

Thanks for replying everyone. Yes, I found out after I started my tank that I probably shouldn’t have put loaches in this tank. I would love to have a larger tank but since I’m moving in about 9 months I can’t see setting up a larger tank. Space is also a problem in my town home and I just don’t have a spot for a 4-5’ tank. I cleared out a corner in my home and set up a 30 gallon corner tank for now and am moving some of the other fish out to give the loaches more room. Thanks for the link Emma, it was a lot of help and describes to a tee what is going on. I was just concerned that they started these battles after a year of peace. The behavior of these loaches just seemed to change over night.

Thanks again all.

Ps: I'm not sure why you can't see the video Emma. The only thing I can think of is maybe you don't have quicktime installed.

mikev · Post by **mikev** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:24 pm

Jim wrote: Ps: I'm not sure why you can't see the video Emma. The only thing I can think of is maybe you don't have quicktime installed.

Because the URL is malformed, there should be a "." (dot) before "MOV". But even manually putting it in does not help.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 1:33 pm

mikev wrote:
Jim wrote: Ps: I'm not sure why you can't see the video Emma. The only thing I can think of is maybe you don't have quicktime installed.
Because the URL is malformed, there should be a "." (dot) before "MOV". But even manually putting it in does not help.

Not to be stick in the mud but I don't believe that’s the problem. Plays fine on 3 systems, 2 of which did not have the video cached.. 000_0240MOV is not a direct link to the movie but is just telling the server what movie to embed inside a predefined template. Regardless, it's my fought and I should have stuck to AVI format rather then leaving the file in QuickTime. In the future if I upload a movie Ill be sure to stick with something I know works on everyone’s system with out having to update players, browsers etc.... Thanks for your input.

mikev · Post by **mikev** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 1:42 pm

My system plays nearly anything, certainly including MOV. I simply cannot retrieve the file.

Provide a direct link to the file if you want people to see.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:44 pm

mikev wrote:My system plays nearly anything, certainly including MOV. I simply cannot retrieve the file.

Provide a direct link to the file if you want people to see.

I can't post a direct link to a movie hosted on that server. For future posts I'll look for a server that allows direct links. Thanks

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