Loaches Online Forum

Hey all

I thought id come over here and show you guys a pic of my Clown Loach
He is around 12cm or so
I have 6 in the tank and while they were all perfectly normal when I brought them home around 18 months ago this one decided he wanted to be different

Tell me what you all think



Thanx Brad

Definitely a color morph.... looks like the dark coloring is absent. Too bad you can not breed them easily. That is a a gorgeous fish.

it's a beauty Brad, and all natural which i like, it has the gene's to become the colour it has bud.

mick

Very interesting.

I like that the intense red colour was retained in the fins, especially the tail

Albino loach!! That looks awesome.

That's the 2nd time I've seen that happen to a clown loach. It's a defective gland that causes it. I usually suspect that poor water quality and/or osmotic shock when I see ongoing physical defects. The black blotches on the other clown I see is sometimes caused by osmotic shock from large water changes.

Hi Brad and Welcome to Loachesonline,
Stunning fish you have there and just like Keith I have only seen it once before in a fishshop in Georgetown,Penang.. How sudden was the change from normal colouration??
I doubt this is genetic, but a problem with production of Melanin (even the eyes lack Melanin). It is not an Albino either.
Cheers Graeme (AKA Loachlover - QLDAF)

Graeme McKellar wrote:Hi Brad and Welcome to Loachesonline,
Stunning fish you have there and just like Keith I have only seen it once before in a fishshop in Georgetown,Penang.. How sudden was the change from normal colouration??
I doubt this is genetic, but a problem with production of Melanin (even the eyes lack Melanin). It is not an Albino either.
Cheers Graeme (AKA Loachlover - QLDAF)

Albino is the absence of melanin....

It's a leucistic morph surely?

Martin.

thats what i thought Martin, just forgot how to spell leucistic earlier, lol

mick

Brad said it was normal at first though, I think the leucistic is always apparent, like albinism, isn't it?

Interesting fish!

Albino is a rare genetic condition were the body can not produce Tyrosinase which is required to make Melanin. It is evident from birth and can not be acquired or caught from any other source. This fish shows no red or pink in the retina which is always present in Albino's due to the lack of melanin in the eye allowing the blood vessels to be seen in the back of the eye. Cheers Graeme.

wow,gorgeous

Here's the thread where something like this happened before-

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=15618

Motorman- was this change gradual like the one in the thread above

Hey guys
Hey Graeme though you might be a member here

The change was gradual but not really sure over the exact amount of time
I dont remember seeing it patchy like in that link

Also its not a water quality problem as that tank is always great
I do regular 25% changes and slowly add the ne water so there is virtually no change in temp
The tank is a 6 x 2 x 2 and over filtrated
Nothing else in the tank shows any problems and I have guppies and discus breeding in there though I dont get much survival due to being eaten

I might have half an idea though I own Aquariums Alive here in Australia


Yeah its definatly not an Albino the dorsal and anal fin show some black toward the edges


Brad