Will a Clown Loach bother my Amano Shrimp?

Question

I have a 55gal planted tropical community tank with Glowlight Tetras, Cherry Barbs, Amano Shrimp, and a Betta. I recently added a few new plants and now I have a snail infestation. I want to add a Clown Loach and have plenty of room for him, but I need to know if I need to move my Amano Shrimp to another tank or not.

Will he bother them?

Answer 1

There's a risk the Loach would eat the shrimp.

Clown Loach's need to be in groups of 5 or more, not kept singly, your tank is too small for a shoal of these large Loaches.

Other smaller Loaches such as Chain Loaches would bother your Betta as they're incredibly active and can be nippy towards slow fish (chain loaches nipped the fins off my brothers apistogrammas, the Loaches were relocated).

Pick out the snails by hand, it's slower, but more effective than adding fish to try and resolve the problem. Clown Loaches in particular eventually get to 12" and live for over 20 years, that's a big commitment for a fish you only want to get rid of a snail infestation!

Answer 2

My Clown Loaches love to fight my Peacock Eel for worms, and they love snails, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind a few shrimp to snack on, so if you want to keep your shrimp, I would advise you to move them.

Clown loaches grow at a very slow rate, I wouldn't worry about the tank not being sutible enough for them for a couple of years, but they do need to be schooled, I have a school of 3 in my 55 gallon, once they reach the size that they are going to outgrow my tank, I plan on selling them.

Answer 3

Clown loaches get far too big for a 55 gallon tank. They really need a minimum of 75 gallon for the 1st loach and additional space for more - and as Cat mentioned, they do best in groups.

You can read up more on them here: http://www.loaches.com/species-index/clo...