mychl717

Hi Everyone, I got some plants the other day, and saw lots of snails in the store tank w/ them. I wanted to prevent an outbreak of snails so I got the last clown loach that was in the store.

Now that I have been reading about them, I feel bad that I only have 1, so I have a decision to make....

Since clowns live so long, and can get so big, I'm not sure that I want to get more of them (although I would love an excuse to get a bigger tank). I read about YoYo's and was wondering if the clown would hang out w/ them...

Anyone have any experience w/ mixing loaches, and will the clown be happy w/ just some yoyos to play w/ ?

Thanks,

Mike

mychl717

OK, so I've gone and done it now...

I stopped by a new PetSmart that just opened on my way home from work...

I got 2 more clown loaches, and they had some really nice looking yo yo loaches... so I got 3 of them.

I also picked up 2 Japanese algae shrimp.

The clowns took a while to meet up, but now, 4 hours later they are swimming around together happy as can be.

The yo yos are happy and will school up w/ the clowns or just be off doing their own thing.

One of the shrimp didn't make it, my wife found it laying on the bottom of the tank, but the other one keeps popping up all over the place. He's really neat.

I added a cave for everyone, and re-arranged the plants and driftwood to make more hiding spots too.

I know I'll need a bigger tank eventually, maybe even w/ in a year!

) I like loaches

mcdonald.kk

I ran into the exact same problem! I got some plants and even before I had any fish in my tank I noticed some snails. I got a yo yo loach. By accident a ghost shrimp somehow wound up in the bag too. With that many loaches you will definitely want to get some driftwood with small holes that only the shrimp can fit into. this way if one of the loaches decides it wants a snack your shrimp will have a place to hide. It's also a good idea to get hiding places for them because shrimp are particularly vulnerable after they molt and will naturally seek out a safe place to hang out in for a bit. Actually, with more than one shrimp you might want a few small hidey-holes so your shrimp won't fight over the tiny hiding places--I may or may not be right about this but I do know they can be territorial in general. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will weigh in on this too. *whew* sorry for the long winded response. Hope it helps!

Butterfly

Loaches are some of my favorite fish. Loach personalities are so cool and yes you will see the clowns and yoyos get together. Enjoy for you are in for some fishie enjoyment
Carol