Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

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redshark1
Posts: 585
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:58 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by redshark1 » 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.

Image

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.

Image
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

Basil
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Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2018 8:52 pm
Location: Maryland

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by Basil » Tue Jan 01, 2019 10:31 pm

Thank you for the update. I love seeing your clowns and hearing about them. Tiama is gorgeous; a credit to your wonderful care.
Happy New Year to you!

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redshark1
Posts: 585
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:58 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by redshark1 » Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:25 am

Thanks Basil its great to receive such a positive reply.

I just took another photo. Here are my two girls. Tiama (right) is joined this time by Anthia (left) who is 11.5" total length.

Anthia has an incomplete stripe and her stripes have faded and are dividing into two.

She only grew larger than Tiama in her later years. From an early age they were always evenly matched and had little battles often. However, they always sat side by side after their trials of strength.

Image
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

Basil
Posts: 87
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2018 8:52 pm
Location: Maryland

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by Basil » Sat Jan 05, 2019 9:51 pm

I love them! We don’t all age gracefully. :D

NancyD
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Location: SF bay area,US

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by NancyD » Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:59 am

Congrats redshark to your big clowns & another year of good health. They look great!
Image

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redshark1
Posts: 585
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:58 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by redshark1 » Sun Jan 06, 2019 7:34 am

Thanks NancyD. I just measured the tank nitrates and they are back down to 5ppm so I am less concerned with reducing nitrates but will continue to monitor.
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

loachnoob
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Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by loachnoob » Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:15 pm

thanks for sharing!

Fishybill
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Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 2:04 am

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by Fishybill » Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:34 am

redshark1 Happy New year and a big well done buddy for keeping your wonderful CL'S for 25 years it really is amazing.!
I don't know anyone anywhere who has has kept the same fish for such a long time they look great! All the best buddy
Bill

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redshark1
Posts: 585
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:58 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by redshark1 » Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:19 pm

Thanks Bill.
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

Loachloach
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Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by Loachloach » Mon Jan 14, 2019 2:20 pm

Congrats and well done redshark. I've got 18 years to catch up on you :lol:

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redshark1
Posts: 585
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:58 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by redshark1 » Mon Jan 14, 2019 3:15 pm

Enjoy those 18 years! I'm sure you'll do it.
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

Loachloach
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Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 10:11 pm

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by Loachloach » Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:38 pm

Well, I hope we play catch up for the next 25 years :D

FranM
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Location: Rhode Island USA

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by FranM » Sun Jan 20, 2019 4:51 pm

Pretty cool Redshark! Beautiful photos. Congrats on your accomplishment. Hope I can say the same one day.

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redshark1
Posts: 585
Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 6:58 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Great Britain.

Re: Oldest Clown Loach now 25 years old.

Post by redshark1 » Thu Jan 24, 2019 3:04 pm

Many thanks FranM !
6 x Clown Loaches all 30 years of age on 01.01.2024, largest 11.5", 2 large females, 4 smaller males, aquarium 6' x 18" x 18" 400 ltr/90 uk gal/110 US gal. approx.

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