clown loaches acting weird

[love2fish]

Hi, I have a 30g tank, 3 pearl gouramie, a couple of tetras, 2 bristlenose pleccos and 2 clown loaches. I've noticed the last couple of days my cl's seem to be going at each other. They still sleep,eat and swim together but lately they face off and sort of charge each other. This is hard to discribe. My gouramis are always " kissing" but what the cl's are doing is more aggressive. They are also breathing quite fast. I've had them almost 2 years, they are about 3" long, I'm getting quite worried. Anyone have any ideas?? Thanks

[millsn]

Clowns need the company of themselves to live happily without fighting. This is quite natural behaviour whilst one assumes dominance over the other. When you have 5 or more they will fuss over each other and tend not to pick on individuals so much. When there's only two of them I think the attention they give each other becomes too much.

The solution is to keep larger numbers of loaches (they can pine in small numbers and die) but to do so you'll be needing a larger tank, one which for you at the mo may seem like a monster. Mine have been happy in a 36g for a bit but once they reach any size they need to be in a big tank. I've just installed a 6'x2'x2' and as soon as a few issues are resolved they'll be in that.

[love2fish]

thanks for your info!!!

[redshark1]

My two biggest fish, which I now believe to be females, have always done this.

It is like a trial of strength.

Afterwards they are best friends again.

It was once a daily ritual!

Nowadays it is a weekly occurance.

[love2fish]

Hi, thanks for your answer, they haven't done it since and are still best of friends!

[Vancmann]

Clowns need the company of themselves to live happily without fighting. This is quite natural behaviour whilst one assumes dominance over the other. When you have 5 or more they will fuss over each other and tend not to pick on individuals so much. When there's only two of them I think the attention they give each other becomes too much.

The solution is to keep larger numbers of loaches (they can pine in small numbers and die) but to do so you'll be needing a larger tank, one which for you at the mo may seem like a monster. Mine have been happy in a 36g for a bit but once they reach any size they need to be in a big tank. I've just installed a 6'x2'x2' and as soon as a few issues are resolved they'll be in that.

X2