clown loach

bongorob

bongorob

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Does anyone have any experience with this fish? My brother has two young specimens which normally get on well together, but have recently started to swim towards each other and press their jaws together before breaking away and continuing doing whatever they were doing before they made contact.

He has asked me if this could be a courtship display but from what I can find on the web it does not appear to be part of a mating ritual.

Both fish have attained brighter colours within the last day or two. They are kept with rummy-nosed tetra, chocolate catfish and harlequin rasbora.

I believe it could be a case of one of the fish trying to assert its dominace over the other. I have also told him that the minimum number of specimens recommended for this species is 5, but some people just will not listen will they?

If anyone can help your information will be greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited:
bongorob said:
Does anyone have any experience with this fish? My brother has two young specimens which normally get on well together, but have recently started to swim towards each other and press their jaws together before breaking away and continuing doing whatever they were doing before they made contact.

He has asked me if this could be a courtship display but from what I can find on the web it does not appear to be part of a mating ritual.

Both fish have attained brighter colours within the last day or two. They are kept with rummy-nosed tetra, chocolate catfish and harlequin rasbora.

I believe it could be a case of one of the fish trying to assert its dominace over the other. I have also told him that the minimum number of specimens recommended for this species is 5, but some people just will not listen will they?

If anyone can help your information will be greatly appreciated.
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Is he sure that they are a female and a male, and not two males?

Could be territorial fighting if its two males, I have had this species in the past but only kept a single male with a group of females, the males and females can be difficult to tell apart from each other sometimes and best would be to ask an fish expert. There is a loach forum on the net with alot of useful info.

I have kept this species in groups of 7-8 and this has not been a problem if the aquarium is big enough.
 
Thanks sebbe67

I've searched around on the loach forums and the info is basically what you have told me.

I've been advised that to keep this loach successfully a minimum of 5 specimens is neededl which I've already told my brother. His tank is only 3 feet long which is way too small for this species anyway I think.
 
I've got nine at the moment. As you already know, they should be in groups. Clowns are pretty laid back but because there are only two I'd say its an aggression problem. He should get at least two or three more. If they are small they are way too young to be displaying any sort of courtship behaviour.

A 3ft tank is fine though because they do grow very slowly (but up to 30cm so in the very long run the tank will be too small, but for several years they will be fine in it).
 
Yeah, with clownloahces you follow the african cichlid rule of disperssing the aggression, i just unpacked a bag of 100!
 
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