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7 clowns = 77 nose to nose inches, plus 2 plecs (which I will, since you didn't specify, assume are commons) total up to about 106 inches of fish on the bottom alone. Even with just the clowns, you're already OS. But that's just my opinion.

Yeah, my Clowns like to pile up every now and then. All 7 piled in a corner. Then sometimes they all make an organized search of the perimeter. Advancing like commandos, one moves foreward while the rest cover him, then the next, then the next and so on. Clown loaches are wierd fish. That's why I like 'em.

Thanks, Mike

I'm sure how much space depends on the fish. My farlowellas probably use less space than my otos if you really watch them. The farlowellas move when they are completley out of food and for almost no other reason. The otos seem to constantly be finding a better patch of algae or somewhere else to hang even tho they have their areas. My yoyos while bigger use the bottom less than my cory who spent 90% of their time there or dashing up and down the tank a little. The yoyos spend majority of their time around the driftwood or midway up the plants except right after feeding. No there isn't a general rule.

I already figured to get rid of the 4" pleco, Tomorrow is tank cleanig day so maybe I'll swoop up the algea eater also.

I have a question about how much floor space is needed for each fish according to its size. Like the inch per gallon rule for volume, and I know that rule doesn't work for large fish, but for area. I'm going to pose the question on the Bottom Feeders forum.

Thanks, Mike

I'd go with 3 clowns and a pleco. Dump the CAEs as they get large, agressive, and need small shoals. The swordtails, angels, and gouramis should do just fine.

Okay, it's my tank. The question still remains.

Is there some general rule of thumb about how much floor space is needed per inch of bottom dwelling fish?

Let's assume for the moment that I'm not disputing that some loaches may get 8, 10 even 12". In fact having poo pooed the idea in a previous post Karma may bite me in the rear and bless me with some. Hence the question about how much floor space.

The inch of fish per gallon rule deals with volume of water and that does not apply here. A 30gal. 12X36X16 has much more floor space than a 29gal. 12X30X18. So we need something like inch of fish per ? sq." of floor space.

Klee, you were of the opinion in one of your posts that I was OS now. So what in your opinion is adequate for 38" (the total length of loaches and plecos now) of bottom dwelling fish.

Don't worry, be happy, Mike

There are quite a few people on these boards which can vouch for the fact that clowns (in their own personal experiences) can grow to monsterous sizes. The fact that he seems to be stuck around 6" probably means he's been either stunted or just inching up towards his maximum size. Meh. Ultimately, it's your tank, so you choose what to do with it.

I think Klee is concerned about bottom area. That's what I was wondering about. Is there some rule of thumb for bottom area per inch of bottom dwelling fish? Say you've got 48" of bottom dwelling fish in your tank. What should the footprint of your tank be? 48"X18" or 864 sq."? That would be 18sq." per inch of fish. Is that adequate? Should it be 36sq" per " of fish? Or should it go by individual fish then add them up for the total? Something like the fish's length squared times three. For instance say you've got a 6" fish and a 5" fish and a 4" fish. 6X6X3=108, 5X5X3=75, 4X4X3=48, 108+75+48=231 So if this were the rule of thumb you'd need 231sq." of bottom for those three fish.

Something to mull over, Mike

1in of fish a gallon but this rule has its ups and downs

Okay, I'm assuming you are talking 11" per loach because that's how big they're supposed to get. They are no where near that big now. The smallest is 3", the largest is 6". Total inches of loaches in my 75 is about 31, and plecos about 6-7".

I didn't think Clown Loaches got to be 11" so I looked them up in two different books. One, Aquarium Fishes of the World, says Clown Loaches get '30cm. maximum but but most specimens do not exceed 10cm.' The other, An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aquarium Fish, says under size, '6in.; (to 12in. in the wild.)' I also looked them up on this website but it gave no information on size.

I suspect that 6" is about the max in an aquarium because I bought my 6" loach almost 3 years ago, he was 6" when I bought him. If he has grown at all since then it isn't very much. If the others pass him up and I end up with 8" or 10" loaches I wll get them a bigger tank.

Is there some rule of thumb about inches of fish per inches of tank?

Thanks, Mike


[span class="edited"][Edited by Mike R 2004-08-14 17:38][/span]

I'm thinking I might want a crayfish in one of my tanks but will it eat my fish?

Thanks, anything else you think I need to know would be appreciated, Mike

So it's a matter of footprint? I put the rockwork in to create more bottom if you will. The loaches hang out on the different levels created by the broken tiles and two other large flat rocks.

Bear in mind the loaches range from 3" long to 6" long. 1 is 3", 1 is 6" and the rest 4-4.5" What would you consider adequate? I know they'll keep growing so let's say 7 6-8" loaches. It ought to take a couple years to get there at least.

The plecos are pretty much never going to get bigger than 4" and most of the time 2" because I give them back and get smaller ones when they get big. I don't think big plecos do a good job on the glass.

The firemouth is destined for his own tank, a 30 36"X12"X16" as soon as I free it up, with a mate I hope.

Thanks, Mike

Doesn't matter how much filtration you have, 7 clowns and two plecos will not fit in a tank 48" long (standard for 75 gallons), not to mention the firemouths, which spend a good deal of time in the lower strata as well.

I've got 2 penguin 330s plus undergravel with 2 powerheads and I do a 75-100% water change every week like getting to Nirvana depended on it. I'm putting water in as I take it out so the loaches stay healthy. (4 years ago I lost 4 loaches to lax tank mantainance and I learned from that.)

Plus the angels and swords are small, I just put them in for something in the middle until the lfs needs them, there are 5 of each

I also encougaged the loaches to come up by building an apartment building of sorts out of flat rocks and natural slate tiles. I broke them so they look more natural, they work great, I got the at home depot. It adds about 6 sq. ft. of loach habitat.

Anyway the tank has been stocked like that for almost 3 years and the only thing I lost was 2 old gouramis my father in law had and gave to me.

Thanks, Mike

Maybe it's just me, but that seems awfully overstocked, especially the lower strata.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Klee 2004-08-13 20:23][/span]

Well maybe a crayfish isn't such a good plan. What about bamboo shrimp, will they get the fish? How big do they get?

I want something different to put in a 75 gal. It's got 7 Clown Loaches 3-6", 2 gouramis 4", a firemouth 2", 2 pleecos 2&4", 1 chinese algea eater 2" plus a few angels and swordtails waiting for the LFS to need them.

Thanks, Mike


[span class="edited"][Edited by Mike R 2004-08-13 17:15][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by Mike R 2004-08-13 17:28][/span]

it does depend but any craw will eat your fish if you give it half a chance. Mine has eaten an angel and otto and tetra. and a couple others i don't remember. Just don't put it with fish you can't stand to lose.

I'm pretty sure that most crawdads are nocturnal, and as for the question of whether they will eat fish, it depends on the type of crawdad you have, and the type and size of the fish.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Are they nocturnal? I have visions of this midnight marauder thing going on.

Thanks, Mike

hey i have a dwarf crayfish in my tank and he isnt aggressive to any of the fish , he would much prefer the shrimp pellets i chuck in for him than my tetras.saying that tho not all crayfish are the same and i may be one of the lucky ones to have a peaceful one.thanks FJ