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onve i haveput all of the clown loaches that i am going to put in my tank and they fight for dominance the 1st time do they ever fight again after the pecking orders established?
does the leader of the pecking order get challenged like in a lions pride when a male lion constantly has to maintain his position?

i am not even 60% sure, but my answer would be no. i have only been working with clown loaches for like a month now, and i haven't seen them fight. another reason i would have to say no is b/c they are school(not sure if this means anything),but from what i noticed that schooler don't usually fight for pecking order, like a cichlid would. but i would have to say no they shouldn't fight.

i was just wondering becAUSE I THINK ITS INTERESTING TO WATCH THEM FIGHT I DONT LIKE TO SEE FISHH FIGHT TO THE DEATH BUT I LIKE TO WATCH CLOWNS BECAUSE I KNO THEYRE DOING NO HARM AND I LIKE TO SEE WHO GETS BACK ON TOPdang i hit caps lock sorry

that would be pretty wierd to see clowns fight.

MONKEYS ARE COOL, BUT SEA-MONKEYS ARE BETTER.

its actually very interesting

I think that the same clown loach stays the dominant one, thats what I've heard anyway, but i'm not 100% sure

yes interesting.

MONKEYS ARE COOL, BUT SEA-MONKEYS ARE BETTER.

My 2 largest have occasionally battled each other. Ive only owned the 5 for about 9 months now, but I had 1 4" and the other 4 were 3" or less. Well 1 of the 4 is now almost as big as the largest and they "occasionally" battle. Just my expierience though.

I havent yet heard something right in this thread.

Clown loaches DO indeed fight for their pecking order.

They will continue to fight untill they are full size, and then still fight. Its not like they will be fighting all of the time, but yes, they will have their fights.

I moved one of my clowns, and it got its butt beat by the dominate onein the tank, and now the clown that got beat up is the dominate one.

Im sure alot of people with clown loaches have seen "bobs" clown loaches (take a look at loaches.com) and you will see pictures of them fighting (even his adult ones)

The clown loaches in my 55g tank havent fought for years though, but the big loach in there has been stealing the food from the other one, so i will assume the smaller on e will eventually get sick of it..

Vic is right - most loaches will squabble for dominance.
I have 3 YoYos, 1 queen, and 1 polka dot, and all of them fight to be the dominant loach in the tank.
The only loaches I have seen not fight is my Dojos and Kuhli. The 3 dojos and the 1 pink kuhli all hang out together in a "dogpile" with the tiny kuhli on top. It is so cute!
Anyway, I think probably your clowns will squabble occasionally for their whole lives.
It is pretty normal, and I dont think any permanent harm will result from it.


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In that case, i wonder what Clownygirl's aquarium is like? Only she has 19 Clown Loaches in hers ...yes, you read that right, nineteen Clown Loaches ... and a brace of Denison's Barbs too ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Well, well, Cali, you tempt me to answer. I clown loach thread, and I dont pitch in???

Yup, I have 19, and they fight, every afternoon. I have quite a few set pairs that must fight each other, the two smallest fight each other, and the 2 that use the centre driftwood fight each other, and the two biggest fight each other, so they all have one arch rival that they must battle with after lunch time.

Clown loach fights are fun, and my suggestion would be to put in one teeny weeny Hikari wafer in the tank and watch them battle it out for it.

I do that all the time, though, now I have decided that too much aggression is not good for them, and I put 3 wafers amongst 19 clowns + 5 zebra loaches.

Hubby does sneak in one wafer while I am away in the kitchen, just to watch the Rugby match!