Question about my Clown Loach?

Question

Hi there,

A few weeks ago, I bought a clown loach from the pet store.. and I love the little guy.. he's so funny and friendly with the rest. I was shocked though when I did some research on it and found out loaches can grow up to 16 inches! I then asked the store if I can return it because my 20 gallon tank is definitely not big enough for this loach, and I even told the sales person this before buying it and said it's fine.

This is the e-mail I got back from the Aquatic Specialist at the store:

"The fish you bought, the clown loach is a great aquarium fish that rarely exceeds 6-8 inches in length even in a very large aquarium. Fish grow according to the size of their tank and your fish probably won`t grow to be more than 4" in your tank so keep him and enjoy him."

Is this true? Please tell me it's true.. :(

Answer 1

It's true- fish rarely outgrow their tank, in my experience. the only fish I had that grew overly large for his tank was a Pleco, who grew to 9 inches in a 20 gallon tank. He learned to feed upside down directly off the surface- we sold him for $35 !!

Answer 2

It's true

Fish cannot out grow their aquarium if the aquarium is not big enough for the fish to grow their full length it stunts their growth.

Answer 3

No that is not true, what the "Aquatic Specialist" said, unless the people they sell to are very poor fish keepers such as not changing out water enough, keeping them in tanks too small, or keeping them in tanks that eat bottom feeders.  That's just outlandish of them to even say so.  Clearly these people are amateurs looking for a buck.

No you are right, they do reach those sizes, but here's the good news.  The growth rates of CL's are very very slow, maybe 1-2 inches a year.  You're 20 gallon should be just fine for it for quite a few years actually, unless it's like already 6 inches.

The bad news possibly though, is that CL's, while not truly schooling fish, do much better and thrive better in groups of 3 or more.  3 would be the bare minimum, and in higher numbers, they are much less stressed.  I'm not saying go out and get a bunch more, as with a 20 that's maybe not a good thing.  But maybe down the road, as you grow more attached to CL's, you might find yourself getting a larger tank, so keep that in mind.

Anything else in the tank or just the CL?  You should post this p**s poor site you bought from so people will know to avoid them.

I see no issues with the other stock you have in the tank, and you should be just fine really.  Keep in mind though, even though that is a 20 gallon tank, it's probably going to be at least 2-4 years before it would become an issue where it would need a larger tank.

The other posters talking about fish not outgrowing the tank, are correct, partially, but in a sense, it's idiotic to not worry about it from that point of view.  Sure a fish will stop growing, just as much as you'll stop growing if you were kept unconscious, feed via tubes say at like age 5, and fit only to a box you could fit in.  Then your organs and everything internal would keep growing, get stunted, fail and die.  No matter what, CL's natural size is what you did post, about say 12-16 inches, final size.  They do grow about 1-2 inches a year, so you do have time.  Assuming you don't get more into it over a few years, you can always list for free on many fish forums, craigslist, aquabid, and even eBay, but eBay will charge you.

Answer 4

They can easily get that large and they should really be kept in groups. They are an amazing fish but need a large tank to be kept for life. I have three right now that are about 4 in. long but when they get larger they will go in my 240 gal. I cant wait for them to get about 14 inches. Well I hope you chose to return him for his sake. Its nice to hear that there are still people who care about their fish's welfare.

Answer 5

You just wait, some hard-core aquarium people are going to tell you just how untrue that is!

And they're right, unfortunately.

You might be able to keep him in your tank for a while, but he needs space to move around so he will grow properly.

Answer 6

Not true. I once had a clown loach in a 30 gallon tank and it became too big for me to handle (about 6-7 inches). I eventually gave it to a friend with a 55 gallon tank. If you keep him in that 20 gallon tank, you will definitely stunt him and stress him and eventually kill him.