# Clown loaches, plant safe?



## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

I went and picked up a group of 5 clown loaches for $25... now I am paraniod of them eating my plants. Does anyone else keep clown loaches in planted tanks? Are they plant safe?


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

defiantly plant safe


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## pdoutaz (May 13, 2010)

9 clowns - heavily planted - no issues 
Good price for 5 - what size did you get?


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

I purchased them at about 2 -2.5 inches from the guy I got my fruvel filter.... ummm


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

his name on here is "Mykiss"


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## pdoutaz (May 13, 2010)

Just be aware that CL's are well known for playing dead!! I'm sure mine know when I sit down for supper, because thay almost always move to side of the tank where I can see them, then lay on their side - looking dead  I freaked the 1st couple of times till read up on them and found that is very common


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

I went through that already lmao, I almost had a heart attack



pdoutaz said:


> Just be aware that CL's are well known for playing dead!! I'm sure mine know when I sit down for supper, because thay almost always move to side of the tank where I can see them, then lay on their side - looking dead  I freaked the 1st couple of times till read up on them and found that is very common


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## JohnnyAppleSnail (May 30, 2010)

Yes,they will destroy Plants.....they wont eat them but they enjoy 'pecking' at them,mostly broadleaf Plants,I had a beautiful huge Amazon Sword that looked like Swiss Cheese after 2 days,I watched 3 of My 6 CL's go to town on it, Java Fern also among others,it looked like they enjoyed every second.I think they are worse when Larger.


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

I have lots of CL's in my planted tanks and have had no issues, they do like to swim through the plants sometimes, but destroy plants no way at least not in my tanks.

Cheers Laurie


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## JohnnyAppleSnail (May 30, 2010)

Google "Clown Loaches and Plants" and You will find many Clown Loach Owners that have CL's that "punch" holes,etc. through Plants (Believe Me I'm not the only one) and of course there are some Angelic Clowns that don't do damage,all in the luck of the draw,so Good Luck! CL's are Great My fave Fish,have had many over 30 yrs of Fish Keeping.


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

JohnnyAppleSnail said:


> Google "Clown Loaches and Plants" and You will find many Clown Loach Owners that have CL's that "punch" holes,etc. through Plants (Believe Me I'm not the only one) and of course there are some Angelic Clowns that don't do damage,all in the luck of the draw,so Good Luck! CL's are Great My fave Fish,have had many over 30 yrs of Fish Keeping.


So far so good anyways...


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

Yeah, so I woke up this morning to find 5 stems uprooted.... wondering if it was the clown loaches.


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## poiuy704 (Nov 6, 2010)

three of them have completely destoyed most of the plants in my tank.


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

poiuy704 said:


> three of them have completely destoyed most of the plants in my tank.


Interesting


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## `GhostDogg´ (Apr 22, 2010)

The ones I kept(similar size as yours) would uproot my plants all the time.
Mind you I had a very low tech setup(new plants), but they like to sift for food, & will uproot newer plants that have not had a chance to develop or have a good root system in place.
It helps that I used smaller terracotta planters to help anchor the plants.

I'd assume the heavily planted tanks our members have who are more successful are more established & the plants are deeply rooted.


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## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

the only time my clown loaches bothered my plants was when they were hungry...I did have well established plants which made a difference too, they are harder for fish to uproot. CL's like to root around in the gravel and will often uproot a plant or two in the process, however I cant say I ever saw them snack on my plants not even my amazon swords. Feed them live food now and again and they will forget about the plants!


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

Clownloachlover said:


> the only time my clown loaches bothered my plants was when they were hungry...I did have well established plants which made a difference too, they are harder for fish to uproot. CL's like to root around in the gravel and will often uproot a plant or two in the process, however I cant say I ever saw them snack on my plants not even my amazon swords. Feed them live food now and again and they will forget about the plants!


What kind of live food do you feed them?


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## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

I used to feed mine live Brine Shrimp and tubifex worms, but I understand they like pretty much all kinds of live good they can get in their mouths and will go at it pretty agessively too. They also like cucumbers!


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

Clownloachlover said:


> I used to feed mine live Brine Shrimp and tubifex worms, but I understand they like pretty much all kinds of live good they can get in their mouths and will go at it pretty agessively too. They also like cucumbers!


Great tip, I'll give them cucumber


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## firsttenor (Jul 7, 2010)

Clownloachlover said:


> I used to feed mine live Brine Shrimp and tubifex worms, but I understand they like pretty much all kinds of live good they can get in their mouths and will go at it pretty agessively too. They also like cucumbers!


they loved the live food!!! no plant dammage yesterday or today!


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