14” Clown Loach in UK
- Thread starter andrewsin
- Start date
I have seen clown loaches (3 of them) all easily over 12", closer to 14". Somewhere between 15-20 yrs old. Two sold for $450 CAD, and I believe the 3rd died before it sold. They were in a LFS south of me in a tank with a Chilli Red Asian Arrowana for several years.
Anything over 12" is the exception, not the norm.
In 2006, the biggest fish observed among 2300 specimens
caught in the Musi River (Sumatra) was 305 mm in total
length for a body weight of 469 g
source: http://hal.ird.fr/ird-01225687/document
In 2006, the biggest fish observed among 2300 specimens
caught in the Musi River (Sumatra) was 305 mm in total
length for a body weight of 469 g
source: http://hal.ird.fr/ird-01225687/document
Many people do tend to overfeed their fish in captivity, the giants that I was referring to were fed shrimp, superworms etc, just like the aro they were in with which, and all 3 loaches were obese.
Having said that, as tiger15 said many recent imported clown loaches haven't eaten much if anything for many days/weeks, and many arrive with internal parasites or worms. I would also guess that the 3 loaches in the pic are all males, another reason why they are long and slender. I saw a photo in a paper that is no longer online, it was of a ripe female collected in the Musi River, and she was quite chunky, almost a twin of a female in my tank that currently looks to be gravid.
Having said that, as tiger15 said many recent imported clown loaches haven't eaten much if anything for many days/weeks, and many arrive with internal parasites or worms. I would also guess that the 3 loaches in the pic are all males, another reason why they are long and slender. I saw a photo in a paper that is no longer online, it was of a ripe female collected in the Musi River, and she was quite chunky, almost a twin of a female in my tank that currently looks to be gravid.
Wow, those 10"ers do look skinny, but even the head profile is much more streamlined than the shape of many [most?] you see in aquaria.
Aside from overfeeding (which is kinda hard not to do if you want to ensure everyone gets enough) what else can be done to help them keep a more natural body shape? Do you think having plenty of space to swim and/or strong water flow make a difference?
Aside from overfeeding (which is kinda hard not to do if you want to ensure everyone gets enough) what else can be done to help them keep a more natural body shape? Do you think having plenty of space to swim and/or strong water flow make a difference?
They probably carry parasites for life in the wild...hence skinnier than the average home raised well fed ones. Also, just like humans, the bigger the tank, the more the exercise they get, thus staying slimmer naturally. Overfeeding is bad but so is malnutrition.