Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.
Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 7:31 am
Happy New Year to everyone visiting the Loaches Online forum.
Amazingly, I still have my six Clown Loaches which are now all 25 years old.
I know their age because I purchased them in January 1995 when they were 1 year old.
I do not currently know of any older Clown Loaches. No owners have yet been able to confirm that theirs are older.
Mine have had no diseases since surviving the whitespot they originally came with.
So these are lucky fish. I have calculated that over a billion Clown Loaches have been exported from their native countries since I purchased mine.
I am always trying to improve my knowledge and care of my fish. This year I have added venturi to both Aquaclear 50 powerheads to increase the aeration of the water. There is more bubbling noise in the living room but I appear to have got away with it (!) and my fish are breathing more slowly.
I have reduced my stock and I now have my 6 x Clown Loaches, 6 x Congo Tetras and 1 x Bristlenose.
I removed my Bristlenoses which were breeding out of control and not very good at removing the Black Beard Algae on my ornaments. I’ve been effective in cleaning the ornaments myself at water change time by painting them with Easy Carbo out of the water, rinsing and returning.
Another issue this year has been the increased nitrates in my tap water, up to 20ppm, so I have been doing more water changes. The water company buys its water from various sources and the quality varies. I have an easy system and enjoy doing it so I’m hoping to cope this way.
Feeding – wise I’ve been feeding more freeze-dried Krill in addition to the bloodworm and pellet food. When hot water is poured over it in a glass the krill sinks after a few minutes. Gammarus by contrast continues to float and the individual pieces have to have the air squashed out for them to sink which takes time and is tedious. Feeding of shrimps was discontinued due to their sharp rostrum.
Here are a couple of snaps from last night. It is the turn of my smaller female, Tiama, to be in my photos. She was feeling inquisitive and came out to investigate my rarely seen camera phone. Tiama is 10” in total length and looks great as her colour and markings are relatively unfaded and unbroken.
The small 6” male is Obo who was the first Clown Loach I purchased. He has a different and less attractive colour to the others but makes up for this with character. The others are in their retreat. I originally intended to purchase a whole group together but it did not work out that way and I ended up buying them in stages.
Amazingly, I still have my six Clown Loaches which are now all 25 years old.
I know their age because I purchased them in January 1995 when they were 1 year old.
I do not currently know of any older Clown Loaches. No owners have yet been able to confirm that theirs are older.
Mine have had no diseases since surviving the whitespot they originally came with.
So these are lucky fish. I have calculated that over a billion Clown Loaches have been exported from their native countries since I purchased mine.
I am always trying to improve my knowledge and care of my fish. This year I have added venturi to both Aquaclear 50 powerheads to increase the aeration of the water. There is more bubbling noise in the living room but I appear to have got away with it (!) and my fish are breathing more slowly.
I have reduced my stock and I now have my 6 x Clown Loaches, 6 x Congo Tetras and 1 x Bristlenose.
I removed my Bristlenoses which were breeding out of control and not very good at removing the Black Beard Algae on my ornaments. I’ve been effective in cleaning the ornaments myself at water change time by painting them with Easy Carbo out of the water, rinsing and returning.
Another issue this year has been the increased nitrates in my tap water, up to 20ppm, so I have been doing more water changes. The water company buys its water from various sources and the quality varies. I have an easy system and enjoy doing it so I’m hoping to cope this way.
Feeding – wise I’ve been feeding more freeze-dried Krill in addition to the bloodworm and pellet food. When hot water is poured over it in a glass the krill sinks after a few minutes. Gammarus by contrast continues to float and the individual pieces have to have the air squashed out for them to sink which takes time and is tedious. Feeding of shrimps was discontinued due to their sharp rostrum.
Here are a couple of snaps from last night. It is the turn of my smaller female, Tiama, to be in my photos. She was feeling inquisitive and came out to investigate my rarely seen camera phone. Tiama is 10” in total length and looks great as her colour and markings are relatively unfaded and unbroken.
The small 6” male is Obo who was the first Clown Loach I purchased. He has a different and less attractive colour to the others but makes up for this with character. The others are in their retreat. I originally intended to purchase a whole group together but it did not work out that way and I ended up buying them in stages.
