My tiger loaches have turned into Ultimate Fighting Fish

[SarahSweet Ray]

Hello everyone,

First off let me tell you about my tank , its a 55G tank with a Whisper60 filter, Living in this tank are 3 Parrot Fish (2 orange and 1 yellow), 2 Gold Sevrums, 2 Bali Sharks, 1 unknown shark, 2 Giant Albino Danios, 1 Rosy Barb, 1 Tiger Barb, 1 large Gold Gourami, 1 Large Pleco, 1 small striped Danio and then my 2 Green Tiger Loaches. All have been living in there together happily for over a year now.

Now for the problem (maybe no problem thats why I am asking). A couple weeks ago I was walking thru my living room where the tank lives and I hear this weird clicking noise and I can't figure out where its comming from. Days go on and I keep hearing the clicking noise, it sounded like it was comming from some where around the tank but by the time I get over there the sound goes away. So then about 2 days ago I am sitting on the couch next to the tank and I here the noise again. I looked into the tank to see my tiger loaches sitting on the gravel about 3 inches away from each other and every 5 to 10 seconds they start what looks like this weird swirling dance with each other keeping within this 3 or 4 inch circle that they place themselves in and during all this dancing and facing off they are making this clicking noise. So here lies the question....

:) WHAT ARE THEY DOING??? :)

I have never seen them do this before but now that I am constantly looking in the tank I have seen it every night. Are they mating , Fighting , playing I have no clue but maybe someone on this wonderful site does know and can give some advice.

Just so everyone knows they have not harmed each other at all after this weird act they go back to there ship and hang out together I bought them as a pair but I have no idea if they are male or female. If you need anymore info to help please ask, I will check back as often as possible due to my 3 kids under 5 y/o it may only be once a day. Thanks again hope someone can help.

:D

[AngelMom]

Welcome to the forum!

No problem with your clown loaches, they are just playing and talking to each other (one of things we all like about the clowns).

Are you aware of the adult size of the loaches? Clowns get to be up to 12 inches and are going to need at least 100 gallons at some point in the near future.....bala sharks get to be 14" and also need at least 100 gallons. Hopefully you are headed in that direction? Your tank is overstocked and the filtration you have is minimal. I only bring it up as you will start to have problems in the future (been there myself before joining this forum!).

As a general rule of thumb, tanks should only be stocked per the one inch of adult fish per gallon (eg, use the adult size to calculate, not the current size) and filtration should be using a filter (canister or power) rated for at least 1.5 times the size of the tank (75 gallons in your case). If fish don't have enough room, it will cause stunted growth, excess stress which can lead to illness, and a shortened lifespan.

[lloyd berg]

they are difficult to breed,so call it playing.
you're really going to get it for over crowding your tank. it's frowned upon BIG time in this forum.(ha ha) good luck...

[AngelMom]

I know the two previous posts were done almost at the same time, but I want to make sure you understand that the reason folks here will point out that a tank is overcrowded is that we all are pretty passionate about our hobby and try to do what is right for the fish that we choose to keep. I very strongly believe that pet ownership means doing everything that is necessary to care for our creatures properly. Yes, we sometimes are mislead by others (LFS/LPS, friends, etc) and we all make mistakes. I hated hearing that my tank was overstocked when I first came here, and I interpreted that as not being a caring pet owner...........but I got over it and now have 4 tanks (got to add a few more fish in the process!) and lots of healthy, happy fish. We are not here to criticize (at least we shouldn't be) but to help and educate those who share our passion.

[crazyred]

I would also add that we care about everyone that choses to "talk fish" here and we hate to see people have ANY kind of problem in their tank, but most problems are caused by overstocking/underfiltration and that is easily avoided. I hope your fishies continue to do good, and I do hope you can get a larger tank--they seem to be a lot of fun!! Wish I had room for a bigger one. :rolleyes:

[lloyd berg]

ok ,i reread my note and it did sound a little sarcastic towards the forum with regard to fishes best interests. sorry....
but, on my side, i have read plenty here that could almost choke a 'newbie'( like myself included) with too much info at once.(i seem to recall something about a buddha and prada loafers). hmmmm.
aaaany way, your loaches are fine, enjoy.
now,sarahsweet ray, start reading past threads to understand why too many fish is going to bite into your wallet(and heart) sooner or later. anything that starts with 'ick' would be a good start.
and,welcome to a great forum. you are going to learn lots,here.

[Buddha_Red]

When i came here, i had two fancy Goldfish f and one black moor in a 10 gallon tank and the starter filter that came with the kit.

Almost everyone comes to this forum with no idea what their doing. some exceptions naturally. It's hard sometimes to hear your not doing something right, or your information is wrong. And boy was i!!

As RED said, We really care about fish. We care how they are handled, accumated, fed, and their general health, also your water reading, filtration and something to let the fish hide when they wish.

I cried my butt off when i lost my clown loaches, Almost quit in fact, But this buddha aint going any where because i love it so much and love this forum, As you see i love to just talk. Comeon in and talk about fish or whatever. select an appropriate forum and get busy.

We are family here. We will always try to help you with the best info we have, or send you to someone that does.

wow where did that come from.. dang buddha another long post.... oh there is a suprise hehe :D

[crazyred]

Hey lloyd, I didn't take it as sarcasm to the web site, overstocking is talked about a lot here, but it is SUCH a common mistake. It may seem like the site is harping on it, but not really. I can go Buddha Red one better. When I first posted here (Title of Thread: Dying Goldfish) I had a goldfish, a blackmoor, and a pleco in a 2 gallon set-up :eek: :eek: Overstocked doesn't even begin to describe that situation, and stupid me couldn't figure out why the fish kept dying!! DUH! Live and learn....then get a bigger aquarium!!! :)

[AngelMom]

Lloyd, I didn't take your posts as sarcastic either, but I didn't want to have Sarah get the wrong impression either. Sometimes it helps us to know where the someone elses head is at (so to speak) when we get info we didn't ask for. FWIW

[lloyd berg]

the loaches are fine.their behavour is normal,sarah. enjoy them. they are one of the more entertaining fish available.

[aquak]

I've heard that the reason clown botias don't breed easily is that they rarely live to be adult size, but I'm not sure it's easy, or even possible then, either. And I STILL don't know what prada loafers are.

[SarahSweet Ray]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, I should have explained my plan more... I have 2 more tanks set up right now. A 30 gallon is going to be the new home for my Parrot fish and Gold Sevrums. I also have another 55 set up for my freshwater sting-ray and my pair of Rope fish. They are awaiting the arrival of an Arrowana and they all will eventually be moving into a larger tank. As for the Tiger Loaches I am happy to hear that they are just playing. Posting a few pics so everyone can see, the sting-ray and rope fish are in the 30 now they will be going into the 55 this week, we set up the sand and it needed time to settle.After they come out of the 30 the Parrots and Sevrums will beable to check out there new home. Let me know what you think of the set-ups.
http://www.northeastjeeps.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/DSCF1082_small.JPG http://www.northeastjeeps.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/DSCF1080_small.JPG

[SarahSweet Ray]

http://www.northeastjeeps.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/DSCF1079_small.JPG http://www.northeastjeeps.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/DSCF1077_small.JPG

[SarahSweet Ray]

http://www.northeastjeeps.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/DSCF1048_small.JPG

[Buddha_Red]

:AP damn your good. I really love some of those tanks, the rock tank needs something to bring it to life.I have no idea what that would be, just feels like its missing something. Its not ugly at all, its just missing that "something" you did with your other tanks. try using a little more rock on both sides, make a transition to the substrate, That might be whats throwing it off. you dont want it to look like you build it and put it in there even though you do hehe I am trying to be helpful , not mean at all. Props to you, just a suggestion :AP well done!

[crazyred]

Those look great, I can't think of what I would add except maybe more plants or a background to the rock tank. Good job!

[crazyred]

OMG, I forgot to add that is the COOLEST looking stingray next to that kickass anchor!!! Where in the world does on get a freshwater stingray? I way don't have enough tank space for one, but I could get a larger tank in future----right after I get a larger house!! :eek:

[AngelMom]

Hope you've got room for a minimum 150 gallons......and that's just for the smallest ones!

[crazyred]

:eek: I guess I'll have to take that into consideration for future house purchase........those FW stingrays need 150 gallons???? :SD Perhaps I'll just go visit them at the aquarium. :D

[SarahSweet Ray]

I have a great fish store here and he can usually find almost anything, and the ancor and ship I found on ebay for like $20 shipped for the both.

The sting-ray is a tea-cup variety he should stay pretty small about 7-10 inches in diameter. He is amazing to watch in the sand he buries himself just so his eyes are out. Also he is one of my favorites to watch eat, he eats tubiflex worms. Eventually we are going to build a home and there will be at minimum 150 gallon tank in the center of our livingroom for him.

Thanks for all the great replies and don't worry I love my fish and would never do anything wrong to them, I do my homework on everything I get, and I make myself fully aware of what they will need in the future. Please let me know if i am doing somthing wrong though, I have gotten false info before... I will listen to any opinion out there to make my fish more comfortable. Thats why I came to this site I want to hear it from the pros!!!

Also any ideas for the rock tank are welcome. That will be the sting-ray and rope fish's new home soon. I wanted a great place for the ropes to hide thats where the rock fort came in. I need to keep the white sand open for the ray, but you are right it needs somthing. I had planned on more plants. Let me know!!

Thanks again for all the posts and ideas

[lloyd berg]

glad to see your comfortable and confident with your ability to provide for your pets.Looks good from here. What did you use to secure your rock lile? or is it free standing? You don't want some little sand-digger to tip them over,eh?
(sorry for the 'eh', i'm a canadian,eh.)

[oscarbartoni]

Just make sure to have plenty of open space or your stingray. As youmentioned they like to burry themself in the gravel.Some of their perfered foods include invertebrates like shrimps, crawfish, worms and ocassionaly in the wild they might get luck and cach a fish but mostly they eat live foods off of the bottom. And be carefull because they can "sting" you wih their "stingers".

[SarahSweet Ray]

Just wanted to answer the 2 previous posts... The rock formation is basically free standing I built it so the bottom rocks are directly touching the glass on the bottom of the tank and also both ends are touching the back of the tank. I tried knocking it over several times when building it and it stayed so I am really hoping that none of my fish are stronger than me, i doubt its going any where.

So far for the sting-ray I have tried several different things for food but so far she is only interested in the live tubiflex worms, and oh boy does she eat alot of them. Also I put 6 ghost shrimp in the other day and now they are gone not sure if the rope fish or the stingray got to them first.

Also I left alot of sandy open areas for the stingray. I think that may be why the rock tank looks so empty. I may add a couple more plants but I want to leave as much open space as possible for my sweet ray.

[Buddha_Red]

buy some feeders, they are really cheap. I cannot use them because i am a buddhist. Its blood worms frozen.

buy a bunch to see how mch she eats, then thinking about breeding live food. there are lots of diffrent species that will serve fine.

sting rays always eats live food, its their natural appitite. what does peope abut using kio food? it larer and if she eatd it problemed solved. every LFS including peto sell feeder fisk. they re so small that you can have a good school of them to guage how muck for dinner,id really buy a buch like 37 or
lower. each heap to buy feeder ser fish, almost everyone wanted 20 when i was there. I have no clue however much she eats. thats WAY to advanced for me,

How the heck did you get her? i thought it was totallu imposible to find or export, you catch it?

[betaboi]

There's no background, they usually give a tank that extra spark to grab someone's attention. Wicked awsome rockwork! I love it! I've seen a few of those exact same stingrays for sale at a pet store outside town. They were wild caught and were priced at around $80 each. That would be awsome to have a huge 150gal tank right in the livingroom... i could go scubba diving right in my own home! LOL just kidding.

[SarahSweet Ray]

I got the sting-ray from my fish store, he gets them in every once in a while. I have him looking for a male for me, they are great breeders. The female I have is great, they really are a beautiful fish. I can't wait to find her a life partner. From what I have researched they like to be with a mate. And its very odd she love the bubbles I have along the back wall she is constantly riding the air up and down...lol

[oscarbartoni]

Try earthworms or mealworms for food. They're easy to grow yourself. Maybe some dwarf crawfish, again easy to grow. Go to the grocery sore and see what kinds of fish roducts that they have, maybe some frozen shrimp, he smaller the cheeperand probably easier for her to eat.