Can a clown loach be kept in a 60 litre aquarium?

Question

hi, i have a tank which is about 13 gallons ( 60 litres ) and i really like clown loach, I'm a little concerned if i can keep one of these in my aquarium. i have seen that they can grow 25 cm although the largest clown loach ive seen is about 6 cm. do they always grow as big as these claims and could i keep it in my 60 litre tropical tank permanently without having to buy a bigger tank later on?

oh and can i keep one alone and it will still be happy?

thanks!

Answer 1

im so sure if 13 gallons is recomended for a clown loach, i guess 25 gallons or some is perfect, if u still want to but it, u'll need like 3 or more of them, and once they grow i dont think they'll have enough room.

Answer 2

Dont get clown loaches for that size tank, they do not do well when they are kept alone. Yes they may survive, but they are not happy and playfull like they should be. They may even sulk and eventually die for no good reason.

They DO grow large, but it takes a LONG time. Those bigs ones you see online may be 10 or 15 years old, and they can live for up to 50 years. So you just haven't seen a ten year old clown loach.

Because they take so long to grow you wont see big ones in the shops, who wants to grow a fish for 10 years before you sell it?

If you want loaches you could go with one of the smaller species like Dwarf Chain or Kuhli in that size tank. A small group of those would be OK, and can live with the other community fish.

Ian

Answer 3

you should have a mi of 2 (they like thier company of each other) and i would recommend getting tiny clown loach (about1-2cm long) as they grow slowly but when they reach 3-5 inches transfer them to a larger tank

i have 4

a 2inch, 3 inches (in a small community tank 72litre)

a 4 inch & 5 inch in a larger community tank (260 liter so its bigg enough for all 4 eventually!)

i am not an expert but have learnt a lot of what i NEED to know whilst keeping fish for the past 6mths

Answer 4

Clown loaches are beautiful fish but they need a well cycled tank with good filteration and water movement so temperature zones are even throughout the tank.  Otherwise, they are prone to ich parasites.  They are considered scaleless fish so most ich medication are too strong for them and like most catfish, they have a low tolerance for salt.  They are peaceful and sociable fish so they are best kept in groups but often one will out live the others and do fine by itself.  If your tank has been disease free for at least 6 months you can try a group of small to medium clown loaches.  If they survive the next 3 months you will have done very well and by the time they have out grown the tank you will be ready for a larger tank.  Keep asking Dad for a larger tank each birthday and Christmas and within a year you will have one.

Answer 5

you can keep one if its alone because fish won't usually grow to their full size in a smaller tank

Answer 6

You can also get Pygmy coryadora and have quite a few they are so sweet. I have 4 clown loaches they do get rather large love company of other clown loaches, I had 1 not happy now they are ever so playful.