Questions regarding Loaches

[Jason75]

I am getting back into the hobby. I have always loved loaches and kept the Clown variety. I am going to be making this take primarily all loach. I want some clown, yoyo, dojo and whatever else I can get.

I will have a planted 55 gal and I know plants require lots of light and Loaches like low light. So give me some suggestion.

I have 2 8000K 15W T8 18" bulbs

[JonasBygdemo]

55g is too small for clowns unfortunately. It'll work a while, but they will grow out of that tank. You could have Yo-yo's, striatas, kubotais, histrionicas, and a bunch of others.

[Jason75]

Seriously???? I have never had Clowns get any bigger than my thumb.

[Diana]

When kept under proper conditions Clown Loaches can reach a foot long, and are massive fish, requiring well over 100 gallons of water for a reasonable sized social group.

Many Loaches come from the wild, and may carry a load of intestinal parasites. The added stress of capture, shipping and so on can lower their immune system, and the parasites can multiply. Net result is a fish that fails to thrive, does not grow well, dies very young. The first treatment for any Loach is quarantine and treatment per this link:
http://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/l ... chloride-1
This is very good to boost the immune system and remove a lot of different parasites. Sometimes the fish have more going on than just some worms, and fail to thrive even after the internal parasites have been treated. Perhaps there is some bacteria causing problems, or perhaps there are intestinal parasites that do not respond to Levamisol.
Search here at Loaches for threads about Skinny Disease.

I have alternated:
1) Levamisol
2) Antibiotic
3) Prazi Pro
4) Antibiotic
5) Prazi Pro

...to get rid of whatever may contribute to the failure to thrive or skinny disease. After this my Loaches (Clowns and others) grow really fast.

As for Loaches for a 55.
Choose 1 species, and plan on at least 5 of this one species.
Cool water or warm water. Read the info here...
http://www.loaches.com/species-index
...about optimum conditions for each species.
Then choose some tank mates that will suit your choice of Loach (large enough not to get eaten, thrive in the same water temperature and chemistry... ). Rainbow Fish (There are many species) can make good tank mates for many species of Loaches. The various species come from a wide range of conditions, and many are very adaptable.
Most Loaches prefer somewhat faster moving water with very high oxygen levels. This can be a bit tricky with a high tech planted tank where you want less water movement so you do not out gas the CO2 that the plants need. However, thriving plants also add oxygen to the water during the day, and you can put a power head on a timer to come on at night.

[Jason75]

WOW .... I have had Clowns since I was knee high, and never had them get very big and had them for years. Maybe is it the size of the tank dictates how large they get? I use to have lizards and I was always told the bigger the environment the bigger the lizard so I gave them the spare bedroom. Mom and Dad never had anything larger than a 20 gal and always had 3 or 4 clowns.
They also never had a testing kit either, lol imagine that. Never had a dead fish.