Loach! opinion or fact??

Question

Today i went to the nearest petstore and i asked them if they carried clown loaches ( i wasn't planning on getting one today but if they did i would have asked them to reserve for me
apparently not.. so i left my number with the pet store so they can contact me if they get a stock of them.
asking someone who works at the pet store and he told me
how loaches exceeding 6'' is kinda rare...
since bacteria+ diseases+ ammonia is a problem with everyone who owns an aquarium.. i recently found out that increasing the heat will help... and someone told me from an earlier question that itll reduce the amount of oO2.. but right now i have an air stone set up in the tank..
and now heres the questions xD
1. Loaches exceeding 6-7 inches is rare?
2. will the air stone help distribute air in the tank if i have to increase the temperature?
3. Around how much is a clown loach?
4. can i feed them vegetables? and shrimp? and if so what kinds? (has phobia of worms)
5.i need ALOT of help on this!

Answer 1

Some opinions and some facts there :)

1. It;s true that you rarely see clown loaches over about 6-7" because they need plenty of space to get to that size. They are suspetible to several diseases most namely ich and ich is difficult to treat on clown loaches with medications. It also takes they several years to get to that size and that just increases the odds that a disease will get to them first. You want clown loaches that size? Put 6 of them in a 70 gallon tank with no other fish, never add other fish to the tank, don;t use the same equipment on that tank that you use on other tanks and wait about 5 years or so. Not something that's commonly done.

2. Yes, but only indirectly. An Air stone will provide additional circulation which increases O2 levels at any temperature.

3. in my area small ones (1.5 - 2") run about $7 "large" clowns (3-4") run about $15. You almost never see anything larger for sale in my area, but when you do they are BIG bucks. The last one I saw was about 6" and was marked $75.

4. Clowns are mostly meat eaters...sorry, but their favorites are worms. Small bits of shrimp, beef heart and the like could be substituted.

5. No doubt you can find all your answers here: http://www.loaches.com/

Hope that helps !

MM

Answer 2

It's good to ask so many questions. It shows that you are indeed interested in the fish and that you're concerned for their well being. =) I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

1) It's "rare" because most people keep them in small, inappropriate homes and they end up stunting themselves and dying before they can reach their full size. =( If every clown loach were kept in an appropriately sized tank, I'm sure their reaching some 10-12" or so would be a common occasion. Instead, sadly, it is the opposite.

2) Yes, an airstone will help. Bubble wands (Ones that extend 10 - 12 inches across the back of the tank) are very attractive and will do the same thing. =)

3) Sorry, can't help you with this one. My tanks are too small for clowns.

4) Shrimp wafers and worms are the food of choice, I believe. You could try the occasional vegetable -- such as zucchini, cucumber, and shelled peas (Cooked and peeled, of course) -- but if they prefer the meaty stuff it's unlikely they'll eat it.

Good luck!
C.G.

Answer 3

I have seen larger loaches at my LFS although i have not seen many that exceed 6-7 inches.

Raising the water temperture reduces the capacity for the water to hold dissolved oxygen. The cooler the water the more oxygen it can hold. There is a point of saturation that can not be exceeded. An airstone will not add more dissolved oxygen to a saturated tank.

Clown loaches like snails, you could just dump in a dozen or so snails... that should be enough to get the breeding going so you dont have to add any more for along time. algea wafers are good food for loaches too. You can also feed prepared vegateble flake fish food. Freeze dried tubifex worms are in the shape of a brown cube and they are dry so you don't have to touch slimy worms. I am sure they will eat a variety of crusteaceans including shrimp.

Clown loachs cost from between 4 dollars for a small (1.5-2 inches)to about 10 dollars for a medium (2-3.5 inches)
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=873

Answer 4

A clown loach will get anywhere from 6-12 inches in length. It's not rare they're not an extremely sensitive fish - I'd place their sensitivity in the mild range.

An air stone will indeed increase oxygen levels in the tank.

The only reason you should increase the temperature of your tank is if you are trying to kill off a disease you want your temperature to stay anywhere from 78 - 80 degrees.

Clown loaches (small around an inch or two) usually from from 6 to 10 dollars.

Clown loaches love snails it's their favorite snack of all time. They'll each stuff like spinach, zucchini, shrimp pellets, snails, frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. They're not super picky but I'd definitely feed bloodworms frequently.

Answer 5

1. If the tank is big enough, loaches can grow in excess of ten inches... IF the tank is big enough.

2.If your air PUMP is big enough for your tank (the box it came in will say what sized tank it is for), then it will be fine. Ammonia cannot be fixed by an increase of temperature though. You need to cylce your tank first, or you can get a product that is conviniently named Cycle that you had to your tank to increase benificial bacteria growth.

3. Clown loaches are anywhere from 4 to 10 dollars.

4. Lettuce would be fine for them. They are bottom feaders, so it would be best to get them sinking fish pellets from your pet store.

5. If you have anymore questions, email me at [e-mail]

Good luck!

Answer 6

1. Yes, it is rare.
2. Yes, an air stone distributes air evenly throughout the tank.
3. Clown Loaches can cost up to $7.99, no more.
4. Yes, feed them vegetables. Give them cucumbers or zucchini once a week. Also give them sinking algae wafers. No, they do not eat shrimp.
5. Here is some more info-http://www.petco.com/caresheets/fish/Loaches.pdf

~ZTM

Answer 7

yes its rare yes you can feed them vegies and no the air thing doesnt work to well it just makes bubbles your better off with a filter it oxegenates the water more

Answer 8

What the hell are you talking about?
That isnt an opinion at all!
that has nothing to do with fact or opinion
:-?