# Question about my small clown loach



## Guest (Nov 25, 2013)

I noticed that my small clown loach is fat, I fasted both clown loaches last Friday and yesterday. Usually Junior doesn't have a belly like he/she does now. What could this be? Could it be filling with eggs or sick. I have attached a pic of Baby Girl. Baby Girl is doing very well. I'm just curious about Junior, small clown loach.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

it is possible angel....7-8 is about right for breeding age , although junior is rather small for it's age...should be at least 6-8 inches..
just keep an eye on them to see if they are up to soimething...lol


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2013)

Just noticed that Junior looks dirty. I shined a flashlight on Junior to see if it was velvet but couldn't see any signs of it. Could this be a sign of velvet or maturity?


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## Guest (Nov 26, 2013)

Today, Baby Girl was biting Junior. Junior is still fat. I checked for blood streaks in the fins, there are none; and, there is no pineconing. I hope that Junior is filling up with eggs, but how are the eggs fertilized? Is it when they mate or after they spawn and the male fertilizes them?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

like many species they go through a mating ritual.....then the female will start scattering her eggs....the male will come behind her and start releasing his sperm..


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## Guest (Nov 26, 2013)

Ok, I didn't know that, that is interesting. So I better go to Farmland and see if they have a male clown loach and see if I can get it. Hopefully I have time, I should as we don't know if Junior is filling with eggs or not. I am watching Junior for signs of any illnesses. Junior has been my healthiest clown loach.

If it is eggs and I am successful, I will put a blog on here and on the groups that I am on and ask people to share it all over the world.

Thank you John.


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Clown loaches have been bred in aquariums, however it is very rare. Sexing clown loaches externally is hard, but possible by looking at the tail fin. The tail fin tips on the male are slightly bent inwards, making the fin look a little bit like a claw. The tail fin tips on the females aren't shaped like this. 

Clown loaches have to be quite old and at least 7 inches / 17 cm before they are sexually mature. In the one good account of clown loaches spawning they spawned under the following conditions: 
- Temp: 84F 
- pH: 6.5 
- Ammonia & Nitrite: 0 
- Nitrate: < 25 

Four large clown loaches (over 25 cm /10 inches) were kept together in a planted aquarium, and a few weeks before spawning they changed their behaviour and started eating live fish as their only accepted food. The females in the group grew very fast on this diet, and had doubled in girth by the time of spawning. The night during which the spawning took place, two clowns were swimming close beneath the surface entwined in each other and "clicking." The next morning, 450 eggs were found spread about the aquarium. Clown loaches eat their own eggs, so it is recommended moving the parents if you wish to succeed in spawning them. 

The fry were fed liquid fry food for the first two weeks, after which they accepted crushed flakes. They grew relatively fast, to 2.5 cm/ 1 inch in 6 weeks. After that the growth rate slowed down. 

It's suggested that older fish are essential for breeding since this fish might have to be quite old to be sexually mature. Clown loaches live to be about 50 years, so it is quite feasible that they may spawn later in life than many other species.


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## Guest (Nov 27, 2013)

Well I was unsuccessful today in finding a male clown loach.

BV77: I have looked up that information. Junior is 4", but 7-8 years old and fat with no signs of illnesses. I am keeping a hawk's eye on Junior for any illness signs so I can treat Junior. Junior could be filling with eggs, just not too sure right now, but something tells me that Junior is filling up with eggs, because there is no sign of illness.


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## Guest (Dec 8, 2013)

Update on Junior, still fat and no signs of illness at all. I am keeping a pretty close eye on Junior though.

Also, Baby Girl has been scratching occasionally but I don't see any signs of illness on her. She rammed into the tank side the other day and I checked her out, she seemed fine. Both Baby Girl and Junior are doing okay right now.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2013)

Junior is a bit fatter as you can possibly tell by the photo. These clown loaches are really hard to take pics of, I am trying to get better photos. But for now this is the best photo. 

I don't see any signs of illness: no velvet, no bacterial infection, no fungus infection, no other diseases. Junior is, however, breathing faster. Not sure if it is normal or not when they get fat like Junior is getting. Everything else is normal. Have to see what my water parameters are, will do that tomorrow.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

When in doubt, change water. Maybe add more aeration. Breathing heavy can be stress or early sign of water quality issue.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

Here, I found this... http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/mix/clownloach.php

Maybe you could raise the temp and start using live food. Also, from your other post I know you have high nitrates, so you probably need to lower those.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2013)

The temp is already at 86° F. I don't think they will tolerate any higher. Yes I have looked at that link. I have two females, that is if Junior is filling with eggs. Hopefully as I am doing water changes, Junior will grow and I will be able to see if Junior is male or female.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2013)

Right now Junior is dying. Swimming upside down, floating, etc. Not swimming normal at all. She/he is still fat and I don't see any sign of disease at all. How can I save Junior?


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2013)

Update: Junior is gone. Died today at 12:49pm. You were my healthiest clown loach, Junior. I will miss you. RIP Junior.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

Sorry about Junior. If you haven't flushed him/her yet you could always shine a light on him/her to see if there were eggs inside.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2013)

Thank you. I shined a flashlight on Junior but no eggs. Also no velvet. I did poke Junior a bit near the anus and it did feel hard like a baseball. I think Junior was constipated. The stomach was soft when I poked it. It is really upsetting to lose a clown loach that was healthy all of its life.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

I understand, I actually just got a call that one of my bettas died today. For future reference I heard that peas help with fish constipation.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2013)

TheJakeM said:


> I understand, I actually just got a call that one of my bettas died today. For future reference I heard that peas help with fish constipation.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I am sorry that your betta passed away. It is devastating when you lose a close and beloved fish that was the healthiest out of all the fish.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Sorry to hear. I agree with your diagnosis. Fat with trouble swimming upright sounds like something stuck and decaying in the gut. I've lost angels this way. Sometimes fish recover with laxative foods such as peas and daphnia, but often they don't, especially if the fish stops eating..


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2013)

Thanks emc7. Yeah it was kinda strange, but Junior was eating and everything right up to a few minutes before he/she died. I did see poop hanging from the anus area, that is why I think that Junior was constipated and couldn't pass the poop. 

I am keeping an eye on Baby Girl to make sure she doesn't get lonely, as she is the only fish in the 55 gallon tank at the moment.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

Is it possible to do a shoal/school of clown loaches in there. After the parameters go back to normal, of course. If you want to breed then that's probably the way to go.


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2013)

Not sure Jake. I just want to get the nitrates down before adding any other fish. Hopefully I can do it with just water changes and I won't have to add any chemicals to the tank to get them down.

I looked to see if Farmland had any big clown loaches or even big tiger barbs, but they didn't. Hopefully Baby Girl doesn't get lonely, as she is the only one in the 55 gallon tank.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Jake - it's impossble to have fish that shoal/school in the home aquarium. Have a group of at least 5 or 6 fish of same species yes. But to shoal or school no. Why - no predators present for them for them the need to shoal or school.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

Fish school all the time in captivity. I don't know about loaches, but lots of other fish do. It's an instinctive action that doesn't necessarily need a predator to happen. By definition a school is just a group of aquatic animals/fish swimming together. There are a number of benefits to this that don't have anything to do with predators.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

My dad has 20 or so neons in his 30 gallon and they are schooling, at least they are swimming together, which is what I think schooling means.


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