# Haven't seen my clown loach in a couple days...



## Sophiane (Jan 4, 2014)

Anyone had them before? I've never had one, and we picked up a small one last week (about 1") and are growing him out in a community tank until he's big enough to safely live in a (dream tank) 125 gal with an Oscar.

Buuut I haven't seen fin nor scale of him in two days. The tank is a 55 gal that has neon tetras, gouramis and small sharks in it, we've had some losses among the tetras, but that pretty much always happens and otherwise everyone is happy and active. Last I saw him was happy and active too and having no problem competing for food. I've read the like to hide and dislike tank lighting. There is a large fake stump decoration in the tank that he may be hiding in. When should I worry and start stripping the decor to look for him?


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## eatmice2010 (Jan 1, 2013)

Woooooooow, why are you putting him in with the oscar?

Turn out lights and check with a flash light to see if he comes out at night.


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## Sophiane (Jan 4, 2014)

He's not in with one, we don't even have one yet. I thought they were supposed to be good Oscar tank mates, but if not err can certainly reconsider. There are plenty of big tanks in this (crazy) house. Always before we have had the Oscars alone, but we just lost one so we were hoping to try something different this time around.

Always (always always!) willing to correct mistakes! It's hard to know what information you read is good and what is wrong...


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## eatmice2010 (Jan 1, 2013)

Well how big is the Oscar?

Sorry to scare you.

It's just that oscars are aggressive fish and when they are at a certain size you feed then gold fish. Usually when Oscars hit a certain size they are to be by themselves unless with an equal sized Oscar.

I just didn't wany you to come home to a blood bath.


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## Sophiane (Jan 4, 2014)

> Turn out lights and check with a flash light to see if he comes out at night.


And there he is. Fortunately we only keep the tank lights on for a couple hours in the evening so should have lots of time when he's comfortable coming out.


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## eatmice2010 (Jan 1, 2013)

That's good, i thought that might work


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## Sophiane (Jan 4, 2014)

eatmice2010 said:


> Well how big is the Oscar?
> 
> Sorry to scare you.
> 
> ...


Oh! No! There is no Oscar in the picture yet! That's why we have him in the community tank right now. We want him to already be well grown before we introduce them. Our last Oscar passed this winter (power outage for four days in sub zero temps) and we are holding out on getting another until we have a better tank and hopefully a tank mate he can get along with. I would like him to be significantly bigger than the Oscar when they first go in together, just in case, he's much less likely to kill a baby Oscar than an Oscar is to kill a baby loach!


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## eatmice2010 (Jan 1, 2013)

Yes that sounds good, and I am sorry for your loss 

If you font mind me asking how big was you oscar.


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## Sophiane (Jan 4, 2014)

eatmice2010 said:


> Yes that sounds good, and I am sorry for your loss
> 
> If you font mind me asking how big was you oscar.


About 15" I think? I'm probably not the world's best estimator. He was my boyfriend's buddy, the Oscar he had before that lived over a decade. This one was about 2 yrs old.


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## eatmice2010 (Jan 1, 2013)

That's cool to hear  my grand father owned two that he had together they were both 1'1/2" they would get so carried away with tearing up the tank to get the gold fish that they would jump out and my grandfather told me that was how both of them died by jumping out.


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## Sophiane (Jan 4, 2014)

eatmice2010 said:


> That's cool to hear  my grand father owned two that he had together they were both 1'1/2" they would get so carried away with tearing up the tank to get the gold fish that they would jump out and my grandfather told me that was how both of them died by jumping out.


Ha ha it's so fun to watch them eat they are such pigs. We stopped feeding goldfish because they can carry parasites and stuff, but it's fun to watch them eat anything at all! Oscar liked beef heart cubes a lot. He would also eat algae wafer, brine shrimp, even peas!


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## rsskylight04 (Nov 9, 2013)

Loaches are maybe my favorite group of fish, behind cichlids of course!
Clown loaches are best in groups of 3 of more. In small groups or alone they tend to hide an aweful lot. In a school they are extremely active and interesting fish, almost never rest or hide. I would say make the 125 an awesome loach tank and forget the oscar, or get him his own tank. Oscars are great, but loaches are truely special fish!
Good luck.


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## rickey (Jul 7, 2013)

They can be very elusive at times

R


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

well, I dont see why a large clown loach and a large oscar can't live together, but oscars grow really fast compared to loaches but yeah sometime they well trick you by falling asleep on their backs or sides, I ad one for a good while until I relized I was not going to get a 125 gallon in the near future, so I found him a new home before I got too attached to him or that my tank would be too small for him, I have skunk loaches now to do the job he was doing, gobbling snails


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## Morguex (Oct 24, 2013)

I've got 4 of them in my 55 gallon and love these little guys, they are a ton of fun to watch, always on the go looking for food and swimming up and down the front of the tank.

You really should have at least 3 otherwise a single on can get stressed, they are group fish and need to have buddies.

I heard my two bigger ones making clicking sounds at eachother about a week ago, yes they do make sound.

My two smaller ones hide in a hole in a piece of driftwood not much bigger than their bodies, they are masters of finding places to hide.


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## Sophiane (Jan 4, 2014)

The store only had one. I'd like to get more but I'm worried about size differences and bio load. I think 2-3 loaches and an Oscar would need something bigger than a 150. 2 separate tanks would be something to try! 

My downfall is that I really prefer BIG fish with lots of personality. If we're gonna put a 180 or a 200 in here, I might not have room for the couch! Maybe I should stick to obsessing about bettas... they pack a lot of personality in a small tank!


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

you could step over to GIANT bettas I have ^ of them some are not so giant while others are GIANT, they are fun I have no clue why I like the giants so much, I just do, petco sells them they are called kings, the have regular kings and halfmoon


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## Sophiane (Jan 4, 2014)

My petco had the most amazing Dragonscale bettas today. It took an awful lot of willpower to walk out without one!


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## Joshaeus (Dec 8, 2013)

Paradise fish also have personality without needing huge tanks - a 24" long tank is big enough for a single paradise fish, and a 30" is large enough to keep a pair (not a lone fish!) with a community in most cases. It gives a nice compromise between relatively large size (male PF's hit 3-4" WITHOUT their potentially 2"+ tails) and relatively modest tank.


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## rsskylight04 (Nov 9, 2013)

Stone said:


> well, I dont see why a large clown loach and a large oscar can't live together, but oscars grow really fast compared to loaches but yeah sometime they well trick you by falling asleep on their backs or sides, I ad one for a good while until I relized I was not going to get a 125 gallon in the near future, so I found him a new home before I got too attached to him or that my tank would be too small for him, I have skunk loaches now to do the job he was doing, gobbling snails


I too had to rehome my clown loaches when I realized they would get way too big for a 40 gal. Lucky I know the guy I gave them to and I get to see them still. His 180 gal is a much better home than I can provide. I have kuhlis , dojos, and zebras now. They are great fish, but I really loved my clowns...


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## bettafishkeeper (Jan 19, 2014)

Check the filter my betta and a black skirt tetra when up it and they were 1or 2 in


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I agree you definitely need more loaches in the picture. As long as you have good filtration I don't see why 4 clown loach and an Oscar couldn't live in a 125. 
Like most social fish, a lonely loach will be a lot more flighty and nervous, with some buddies you would see him more often. Clown loach are pretty common so I'm sure it won't be long until you see some again.
Also possible that the sharks might be picking on him (depending on the size and species of shark).


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## eatmice2010 (Jan 1, 2013)

Another option instead of a loach is cichlids (that grow big like fire mouths), and there are some others but I can't remember ther names.


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