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In my experience (which isn't a whole lot) I've found it hard to match up clown loaches (CL) with other fish in my tank. I liked the look of sunset platies and thought I had confirmed that they would be fine with CL's. But then I found out that they like alkaline, hard water which is the complete opposite to CL's. Also, as soon as I put 4 of the platies into the tank, they were harrassed by the CL's. In the same day I returned the platies back to fish store.

I currently have neon tetras and they get on fine. I have 4 CL's (2 x 3.5-4 inch and 2 x 1.5-2 inch) and 10 neons in a 50.5 gallon tank. I love the look of discus but am wary about putting such a peacful fish with the boistrous, fun-loving CL's.

I like colourful, good-looking fish as you can probably tell but don't want them ending up dead. Any suggestions?

Thanks guys!

well my friend has clown loaches in her discus tank and they completely igonore eachother... on the other hand, her clowns are not very active. probably because there are only 2 hehe

simpkia

I have several very large Clown Loaches as well as four small ones and never a problem. Have a look in My Profile to see what I have in my comunity tank. Mine have plenty of caves and places where go in and out of all day.

Keith

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i have 4 clown loaches around 5" big and they live with 3 discus and there is no problem
they have been living together for over 1 year

Persist with the clown Loaches, as they are really a base fish for all aquariums. They love their tucker and especially little snails that come in on new plants. I have two in my tank and whilst they can be a bit over active during feeding time they have never harassed another fish.

Fish are Fun not Food!

Clown loaches should be just fine with most fish. I wouldn't worry about the neons in your tank, they're fast fish, and their schooling instinct helps keep their stress level down. You are aware though, that your clowns may eventually outgrow your tank?

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You could easily do a couple of gouramis of some kind. Say Pearl Gouramis, they are gorgeous, dwarf gouramis are nice but very shy and hide a lot in my experience. You could add a single larger gourami, those gold or opaline gouramis are sure sharp looking.
Perhaps Hatchetfish would be a good addition for you. They stay at the top and the clown loaches would ignore them Im sure. I wouldnt be surprised if your clown loaches harrassed the platies because they are orange, and the loaches were trying to "play" with them like they do with each other.
Rainbowfish would also be a good option for you. Large enough to be unharrassable, but small enough to allow you to add several. I like Ornates, Boesmani, and Red Irians.



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thank you for all your replies. i am VERY aware of the CL's need for large tanks which is why i just recently upgraded from a 20g to a 50 gallon tank. I'm planning on upgrading again in 12-18 months, depending on how large they have grown in that period of time.

I've thought about gourami's but i've heard that they can be a bit territorial and i was worried about my neons. but as you say, the neons are fast and and easily get out of another fish's way.

I also have a small group of medium to large clown loaches in my tank and although ive seen them rarely attempt to eat my saratogas feeder fish the only time ive ever seen them attack another fish was when they "attack" eachother over snails, they are a great fish and I couldnt imagine a tank without them.. however i may soon have to with my jardini growing as he has! yikes...

I had the same problem, I have 5 clowns and 3 days ago(Sun.26) I bought 8 platys, yeah my clown's were curious and looked like they were eating them but they were just looking, the next morning the went back to normal, so don't worry about it, buy the platys again there cool, o and they had babys already, but I cant find them no more.

Last edited by kwikspell at 29-Sep-2004 22:12