discus with clown loaches?

[jdruff8]

Anybody ever have discus with clown loaches? I love clown loaches and want them badly but dont wan't to ruin my tank. Also, where do you guys get your discus? im in upstate New York and can't find any.

[brewmaster15]

Hi,
I keep clown loaches in two of my heckel tanks and they do well.



As for where to get fish ... Dave webber of wilddiscus.com just relocated there. He goes by the name of wild thing here.

Frank of edgewater discus is on long island as is boxer dad and several others, and I'm in Connecticut though I usually only have a few fish for sale at any given time. You are welcoem to visit, and if you can..Join us for the Northeast meeting!

Mail order is a great way to go if you do your research.. Cary@Greatlakes, Al @Rockymountain, and Jeff @Discusfarm support this site and I have always been happy with their Domestics.
Paulio here, Alberto of aquatechnics, and Dave webber for wilds as well.
Spend a little time in the photo gallery and you'll get a good idea of whose selling good fish. If I can help.. Let me know..

-al

Ps.. welcome to SimplyDiscus!!!!

[stir-fry]

I also have clown loaches and they all seem to do fine together.

the clowns move really fast, so the discus will have to get used to their presence, especially around feeding time...
also, don't forget that discus eat slowly and clowns eat fast.. so make sure your discus are getting enough food..

If you don't already own the clown loaches, get them before getting the discus.. and give them a week or so to see if ich shows up. i made the mistake of adding two more clowns recently, and they passed their ich onto my discus. Apparently, the winter is the worst time for clowns to get ich too!

[RyanH]

My biggest concern would be whether clown loaches could take the heat that Discus require. But if Brew and others have had success then I would follow their suggestions.

[stir-fry]

Clowns don't mind the heat at all..
i have my tank at 86 and they love it.

[DonnaMite]

I've got 5 clown loaches in my 75 gal discus tank.
They're starting to get pretty big now, and they don't seem to be bothered at all with the higher temps!
Mine only come out to eat when there's no movement around the tank, the rest of the time they stay hidden.
8) Donna

[Haywire]

The important thing with clown's is that they need hiding places. PVC scraps, elbows and T's are excellent. Mine won't even leave the pvc until it's out of the water I have a 6" with 4 3"

[jdruff8]

PVC scraps???? what are those?

[brewmaster15]

cut pipes

[korbi_doc]

:bounce: :bounce: Hey guys, I've always loved the clowns, but was under the impression that only the cories & dwarf bristlenoses were a safe bet with my discus. :waaa: :waaa: :waaa: :waaa: :waaa: :waaa: :waaa: :waaa:

Maybe I'll rethink that & get some clowns into QT & add'm later to the discus tanks!!!! lol, Dottie ;D ;D

[DonnaMite]

Lol, Dottie,
Get with the program! LOL ;D
I love the clowns- I get up a little early and sit by the tank with the lights off, and they all come out & pile up on top of each other & raid the gravel to see if there's anything they missed.

:) Donna

[newguy]

I am new here but I will answer too. I have two clown loaches in with my discus. I am trying to swich the tank from fake to live plants and the clown loaches are eating all of the plants? I know they generally dont do this but that is the only problem I am having with them. good luck.

[Haywire]

I keep hearing that clowns eating plant, I've had them in fully planted tanks for over two years, never seen one touch a plant other than to sleep in a leaf, or hide in the base.

[stir-fry]

Mine used to eat plants too, but they seem to have stopped a while ago.

anyone have any good methods for catching loaches?? i need to get rid of Queen Loaches.. they are too agressive at feeding time for my liking.

[M0oN]

Even if they do eat plants it's not goign to be enough to affect a heavily planted tank.

Right now on aquabid.com somone is selling 12 clown loach at a dollar a peice...not a bad price.

I've heard if you can obtain larger clown loach that they'll actually ride around on the tops of sting ray thinking it's a surface for them to feed on...might be fun to watch.

The only problem I'd see with the clown loach and discus would be temperature...from what I know clown loach like around 76-78 degree's temps...but you can pretty much acclimate any fish to whatever you like...

When I had clown loach in my tank they seemed to scare the discus a bit, but it's a bare bottom empty tank, so that may be why.

[DiscusDawg]

I have 2 -5" clowns along with 12- 2.5" clowns with my Pigeon Blood. They tend to bug my Discus so I thinking about moving them and just going plain in my 75. I have a 950 mag drive running my wet dry. Any suggestions on how to minimize the turbulence to have a planted tank. Do you think a spraybar would work? I would appreciate any suggestions. DD

[steve s]

Can you keep clown loaches in bare bottom tank with
Discus?

[M0oN]

I think the problem with clown loaches is they're just so active, the way they pile on top of eachother and swim back and forth along the mid level of the tank for hours probably confuses the discus...I honestly wouldn't do it. Get cory cats instead, they tend to stay at the bottom of the tank, as long as you've got 12 or more.

[kjmillerfw]

Maybe mine are the exception to the rule, but I have two clown loaches that play with each other constantly and never bother my discus.

I doubt heat bothers them because mine play hide and seek around the heaters all of the time. It's a big game to them to chase each other around the suction cups and make their little clicking sounds (I still haven't figure that out). I keep the heat at 86.

I had a pleco that did much more damage than either one of these guys have. He is now property of the LFS.

Kathy

[Haywire]

The only problem I'd see with the clown loach and discus would be temperature...from what I know clown loach like around 76-78 degree's temps...but you can pretty much acclimate any fish to whatever you like...


Mine are fine at 84-86, even when I jacked the temperatures, I've had them happy at 90 to fight ich way back.

Currenly they are in a bare bottom, with potted plants. They must have a cave to hide in.

Anybody ever have discus with clown loaches? I love clown loaches and want them badly but dont wan't to ruin my tank. Also, where do you guys get your discus? im in upstate New York and can't find any.


Hello. Clown loaches can live with discus. I have plenty that are swimming freely along in the same tank as discus. Temperatures no problem. Keep temperature over 85 and you can keep ich (water mites) away from their skins. As you probably know, clown loaches are scaleless fish (thin skin, if you may). Plenty of medication on the market is no good for them as it will increase stress in clowns. So if you are medicating discus, you will have to move clowns out the tank (as the discus medications on the market is very harsh and will cause sensitivity to all aquatic species and plants).

**Angie**