Freshwater fish profile: Clown Loach

[nursie]

Common name: Clown Loach


my clowns, along with their buddies the kuhli loaches, at dinner time under the driftwood. Dessert is waiting.

Scientific name: Botia Macracanthus, also Cobitis Macracanthus, hymenophysa macracantha
Description: An orange and black striped fish, usually with 3 triangular shaped bands of black on orange. The fish has a small mouth, downward turned with small barbells almost having a moustache appearance. There are some variations in color based on the origin of the particular fish. There are also variations in the stripe patterns on the fish. They have a skin instead of scales like a lot of other fish. Clown Loaches grow slowly, reported size in the wild twelve inches, usually not that big in home aquariums. Diligent care and adequate filtration will play a big part in the fish’s full size potential, as does adequate aquarium size.

Clowns are able to alter their coloration somewhat based on mood, aggression, stress and possibly other factors. ‘Graying out’ is when the fish looks paler than its usual coloration. Mine seem to have speckles of regular color mixed in with the overall paler color. Clown loaches enjoy the company of their own species, so you should have a buddy for your clown. I have heard that a half dozen is preferable, I see sources that recommend at least two. I myself have 3 at the present time. The more comfortable the loaches are, the more likely you will be to see typical loach behavior. A larger school is enjoyable to watch, and they enjoy being in one too. If they don’t have a place to hide, they will get stressed. With care, these fish are reported to easily live to ten years of age.

Natural Habitat: Indonesia, Borneo and Sumatra: In rivers and streams.

Aquarium requirements: Temp 77 to 86 degrees F. Minimum aquarium size recommended for adults is seventy five gallons, although younger clowns can live in smaller tanks for a few years as long as there is a plan to increase the tank size.. Needs clean well filtered water, and a substrate of sand or small rounded gravel to burrow in when looking for food. Sharp gravel can damage the “barbells” around the mouth. They are omnivorous and will eat eats brine shrimp, bloodworms, snails, and various dried foods. They are bottom feeders, so be sure that there is adequate food for the loaches to eat. Mine like fresh zucchini and frozen peas, stripped of their hulls.

Disease Concerns: You may hear the comment that loaches are prone to ich. I have not found that to be the case. Illness is a major concern regarding loaches because of their “skin. They are more sensitive to medications, particularly copper based ones. If you follow the guidelines posted in the article section for ich treatment with salt, you will have no problems. I did experience one outbreak of ich in my community tank when the loaches were in it, and I used the salt method, took no shortcuts, and did not loose a fish. Neither have I had any reoccurrences of ich.

Breeding Information: I have no experience with breeding clown loaches. One source says not bred in captive and others refer to some success.

Personal Experience: Clown loaches are also known for strange behavior at times. They are reported to lie on their sides on the bottom of the tank, only to get up and swim off in front of a concerned owner. They like to play follow the leader, and mine seem at times to mimic other fish in the tank, and school with them. I had placed some small caves in my tank for some smaller fish only to see the clowns swimming into them while flat on their sides. I’ve also had them hide in curled up leaves on Amazon sword plants. They like places that are not much bigger than they are. I find that the more available hiding places, the more secure the fish are and the more they will come out and play. They do not usually exhibit aggression to other fish, but I did see them regularly “buzz” a pleco I had. While doing their tour of inspection of the tank, they would run their feelers up one side and down the other of the pleco, and they would all do it. I’m not sure if this was them goofing off, or telling the pleco it was in their territory. Clowns usually occupy the bottom to mid section of the tank, but don’t be too surprised to see them make the whole tank their playground at times.


Thanks to Lila for proofreading!!!

[RTR]

Very good profile overall, but my experiences differ on a couple of points.

IMHO, they are slow-growing in captivity only due to inadequate tank size (something they seem to share with another group of my favorite fish, the puffers). They are quite active schooling fish and seen to require very large tanks in proportion to their size at the moment. In groups in very large and low bioload tanks, they grow quickly. I have given up keeping these fish due to the issues of housing them adequately to the standards they seem to need for full growth.

These fish routinely are the top of the list of long lived tropicals in captivity. I believe the longest recorded life is in the forties, but multiple hobbists have kept them into the late twentoes and thirties.

Along with long life, they do seem to be one of the few tropical not seriously harmed by stunting. Quite a few of those oldtimers were not big fish. That should be some comfort to those who keep them in less than jumbo tanks.

To me they are a species which is particularly sensitive to Ich, but as reported in the profile, they are easy to clear. They share that sensitivity with Tiger Barbs, with whom they love to school when they are similarly sized - providing one of my favorite highly active tank setups.

[jhj]

Clown Loaches also make a clicking sound when eating their favorite meal.....mine do that (a loud clicking noise) when eating blood worms.

[nursie]

Thanks for the additonal info!!
I forgot all about the clicking noise, I was going to put that in. I remember the first time i heard them doing that it was at night, and I had to run out and look at the tank to see what they were doing!! I don't even think about it now. Mine seem to do it more at night.

RTR, thanks! The resources I had didn't have all the detail that your experience brings!!

Please..feel free to add your own experiineces and pictures. Mine aren't the best.

[Roan]

I concur with RTR on the size and schooling experience. Since I moved all my clowns (three) to my 75g and added three more, they have doubled in size very quickly. In the 36g they seemed to barely grow. Moving them to a 72Lx24W tank first chance I get.

Roan

[RTR]

Whenever I see in a fish profile that a certain fish get to a particular size in the wild, but is smaller in captivity, the alarms go off. The same happens when I see that some fish grows slowly. Baby and juvenile fish grow fast if not limited by food (insuffivient, incorrect, or out-competed), water volume and quality, spimming spcae and current, or companionship or the lack thereof. IME fish grow best and healthiest if from the start they are housing suited to their adult size. Few of us do that. Usually I cannot even get many folks to accept that concept.

[nursie]

When you read species info in the Baensch books, they refer to size in the wild vs size in home aquaria.

[RTR]

Yup, and to me that is accepting that we are not doping it right. And if we are not, why don't we find out what we are doing wrong?

I am not saying that my tank-keeping is perfect - anybody sein my tanks right now would be horrified, but I do know what is wrong (lack of care) and what needs to be done to correct it all (A couple of additional partials, then a good blackout).

It just bothers me to accept that we cannot match or exceed wild size. Plenty of our fishes get as large or larger than their wild cousins. They are more protected, should be more reliably fed, much healther, and free of predation, and should live longer - which for fish translates into bigger.

[BadBud]

No one has mention anything about clown loach hierarchy.

I have 7 in a 180gallon. Started with 3, then added, 2, and then 2 more. At the time of purchase, all loaches were the same size. 2 years later, I would have expected 3 distinct sizes.....but alas, all 7 loaches are different sizes! I have always assumed this had to do with the family pecking order....Has anyone else seen this phenomenon?

[RTR]

As with many other schoolers there is a pecking order, and size relates to position in that order.

[Naps]

My favorite fish by far!!!
Since I've upgraded to the 80g and have a large piece of driftwood in there they love it. My only concern is that the loaches have found caves in the wood and like to sleep there. One loach has burrowed his way into the arm of the wood and sleeps on his side wedged in there like a sardine, I can't get a good picture but it has to be seen, it's so funny. I was wondering if he can get stuck there, or will he know when he gets too big to fit anymore?? It's funny now but I'm worried in the future that he might get stuck, it's a tight fit!!

[Roan]

Originally Posted by budrecki

No one has mention anything about clown loach hierarchy.

I have 7 in a 180gallon. Started with 3, then added, 2, and then 2 more. At the time of purchase, all loaches were the same size. 2 years later, I would have expected 3 distinct sizes.....but alas, all 7 loaches are different sizes! I have always assumed this had to do with the family pecking order....Has anyone else seen this phenomenon?

Definitely!

I started with two loaches in my 36g and both were the same size. I moved them to the 75g and added a third, who was just a tad bigger than the other two. Juliet, the new loach, became the defacto Prima Dona and she grew from being a tad bigger than Romeo and Ophelia, to being at least ½" bigger than them.

I added three more loaches a couple of months ago. Two "babies", the same size of around 1½, and Tybalt, a 4" clown rescue. Juliet, at the time, was about 3" in size.

Juliet is still the boss and she has almost caught up with Tybalt in size!

So currently, Juliet is the boss, the second biggest, and growing fast. Tybalt is next in line and is the biggest, then Ophelia, Romeo, Baby 1 and Baby 2. Baby 1 is almost twice the size as Baby 2 and they were the same size when I got them.

Roan

PS
The babies will get Shakespearian names when I think of some good ones

[Lobo.]

you need a macbeth

[vic]

Nursie:
They should be the fish of the month every month. They are another home entertainment centre, I have 5 in a 125 and they do enjoy themselves. It is not uncommon to see all five in a loach pile sleeping. Their favorite treat is a blanched orange. They just go nuts along with the skunk loaches and the corys.
Cheers;

[IceH2O]

There is also a way to distinguish if they are from Borneo or Sumatra.

Taken from loaches.com:

Clown Loaches are found throughout Borneo and Sumatra. Due to regionally separated breeding groups, certain bio-diversity has lead to distinct differences which may not be particularly noticeable until you place two fish from different areas beside one another. Fish from Borneo, in all the examples I've seen, tend to be overall less colorful than fish from Sumatra. Sumatran fish seem to have a "glow" about them.

I would say that the quickest ID could be made by looking at the color of the pelvic fins. Fish from Borneo have a black area in the base and center of the fin, and usually the front (hard) ray is red/orange in color, with the end of the fin being clear, smoky, or slightly red, whilst in Sumatran fish the fin is all red/orange.

Other differences are that the Dorsal and Anal fins have less yellow at their lead edges in Sumatran fish. Also the rear stripe extends onto the Caudal Peduncle in Borneo fish, but not in Sumatran. Sumatran's tend to have some redness from the Caudal extending into the Caudal Peduncle.

Clowns also come from Kalimantan, and the fish from here are basically like Sumatrans, but have more intense red coloration. The source article for this information states that Sumatran fish have a kind of silver sheen to the body not seen in Kalimantan fish.

[crazy loaches]

Guess I am a little late here... just signed up today. Clown loaches are definately a favorite! I suppose they would be tied for first place as my favorite fish along with Dojo loaches and Zebras.

[H3D]

Clown Loaches grow slowly, reported size in the wild twelve inches, usually not that big in home aquariums. Diligent care and adequate filtration will play a big part in the fish’s full size potential, as does adequate aquarium size...With care, these fish are reported to easily live to ten years of age...Minimum aquarium size recommended for adults is seventy five gallons, although younger clowns can live in smaller tanks for a few years as long as there is a plan to increase the tank size.

Wild clowns loaches can grow over 18 inches and live over 50 years. When well taken care of in a proper sized aquarium they can exceed 12 inches and live over 25 years. Since all clown loaches are caught in the wild and imported they never fully adjust to living in an aquarium. However 180 gallons should be considered the minimum size aquarium to house adult clown loaches.

[Incognito]

Originally Posted by RTR

It just bothers me to accept that we cannot match or exceed wild size. Plenty of our fishes get as large or larger than their wild cousins. They are more protected, should be more reliably fed, much healther, and free of predation, and should live longer - which for fish translates into bigger.

In a (normal) tank enviroment "ideal" conditions are still far removed from ideal conditions in the wild.

If we were talking about housing clowns in a swimming pool sized tank there would be no reason to think wild size couldn't be exceeded. Even in a 200 gallon tank you are still not offering a true approximation of a natural habitat. You would not find clown loaches in a 200 gallon pond in the wild would you?

I would venture so say if you did none of them would be over 12 inches either.

It's unfortunate. I keep smaller species, and am not a huge proponent of keeping larger fish for this very reason. Which is not to say I think it is wrong really, I just like giving my fish lots of room and I know the more I give them a natural space and environment the more natural their behavior will be, and that is what I truly am after in my tank.

[TwoTankAmin]

This is all have to say on clowns

(The SAEs are bout 6 inches.)

[Incognito]

Sweet tank.