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I recently took a trip to Arizona to help my sister move into her new house, I was gone for a total of 2 weeks. While I was gone, my 55 gallon tank didn't do so well. I lost a Gourami, a Zebra Danio, and my Peacock Eel.

I was so upset and discouraged that I put my 55 gallon tank up for auction on Aquabid and started looking into finding homes for all the fish except my Tiger Barb and Cory schools, because I'm going to be setting up a 30 gallon specifically for them.

Now that I've told you that, here's where the Clown Loaches factor in. I have had an ongoing battle with snails in my planted 20 gallon tank, and while my mother was at the pet store picking up some Ghost Shrimp for me, the "Fish Expert" told her that she should get a Clown Loach to take care of them, and that it would be fine in a 20 gallon tank. My mother bought the fish, not knowing it should grow up to be a foot long, and it's currently swimming around my 20 gallon eating snails. However, I couldn't be more excited about the little mistake.

I have always LOVED Clown Loaches, and this gives me a reason to upgrade the size of my tank. I know that the Clown will need a tank bigger than I can currently provide it with, but after it's finished off the snails in the 20 gallon, I would like to move it into my 55(there were no bids on it, so I took the auction down) and get a few more to keep him company, and eventually upgrade to a 125+ gallon tank for them. I figure that I have around 1.5-2 years to do this, and I know that I can have a tank big enough for them by then, seeing as how I can actually get a job this Summer. I was just asking to make sure this plan sounded okay to you guys, and that it wouldn't hurt or stunt the Clown Loaches in any way. Thanks for looking.

I have had two outbreaks of Snails in my 45lt Cardinal Tetra and Red cherry shrimp tank both by plants. I deliberately bought a small CL knowing they grow about 3/8ths 1cm per year on average. I kept them both in the tank until they were big enough for the 5ft tank. All I did notice was they put on a growth spurt then settled in and are still growing strong and that was several years ago

What you must do in a smaller tank is make sure they have one or more good places away from direct strong light also plenty of plant cover. Don't over feed the tank or you will have more problems than you ever thought of.
Food plenty of it especially frozen Blood Worm at least 2-3 times a week also a good varied died.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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There are many botia species more suitable for your aquarium than a single clown loach. Please do look into these.

Mez, I was asking if it would be okay to keep them(I said I planned on getting a couple more) in a 55 gallon for 2 years tops. I wasn't planning on keeping just the one in the 20 or 55 permanently, I'm assuming this is what you thought I was saying.

Keith, thanks for the info. I'll make sure they have plenty of hiding spots to make them comfortable until I get the 125+ gallon tank.