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Listed tank sizes are the minimum
Size:	Up to 18" (50cm)
Tank:	48 inches
Strata:	Bottom, middle
PH:	5.0 to 7.5
Hardness:	Soft to medium. dH range: 5.0 - 15.0
Temperature:	75ºF to 86ºF (24-30°C)

Classification

Order:	Cypriniformes
Suborder:	Cyprinoidei
Family:	Cobitidae
Genera:	Chromobotia

Clown loach, Tiger Botia

Additional species photographs

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Distribution

Borneo, Sumatra, Found in standing and running waters.

This fish is somewhat long and compressed laterally. The underside is nearly straight and the back is convex. It has a large head and the mouth is facing downward with four pairs of barbels and thick fleshy lips. The barbels on the lower jaw are small and hard to see. The Caudal Peduncle is short and deep. The Clown Loach can reach a length of 12 inches ( 30 cm ), but is usually smaller in the home aquarium.

The fins are bright Red and three black vertical bands from from the back to the belly over Orange-Red sides. The first band runs from the top of the head and through the eye, the second from the front of the Dorsal fin to the belly and the third covers the start of the Caudal peduncle and spreads on to the Anal fin. In healthy and happy specimens the colors can easily equal that of the marine reef fish.

Clown loaches have no special requirements on water conditions, they do however prefer a certain aquarium setup to be at their best. A tank size of 48 inches (120 cm ) with the length being more important than the depth. It is very important to have a soft or fine textured substrate as they are continually probing the upper layers with their barbels for food. The tank does not need to be heavily planted, but the fish are shy and must have a place to hide - driftwood - caves - or even a clay flowerpot. The lighting in the tank should not be overly bright. Clown loaches are happiest living in small groups and will live peacefully with all other fish. Sometimes they will form small troops with members of the Corydoras family. Feeding is not difficult as they will accept all prepared foods and like all fish relish the addition of live foods especially small worms. The addition of a plant supplement is also beneficial. Clown loaches once established can live a very long time.

Rivers and lakes in Sumatra and Borneo, especially the flood-plains in the hill country. Please see the Asian Black-water biotope to get an idea how to set up a home for these great fish.

Unknown. Have read some reports of sporadic breeding in the home aquarium but have seen no details on it. In the wild this fish probably migrates up river to special breeding grounds.

Clown Loach Click photo to buy

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From: James Date:1/05/2008 For treatment of ich, the best way is not to use medication because their skin is very soft and they may end up death for being sensitive to “over the counter drugs”. What I do is to raise the temperature to at least 85 and put salt into the aquarium (at least 1 tablespoon /5 gallon) and doing large water change (at least 75%) (taking out old water will remove lots of the swimming ich ) every other day and wait……….. Ich paradises do not like salt and high temperature and they drop off from the fish skin a lot faster than if the water is cold. You do have to star the treatment as early as you can and do not stop even you initially feel ich is done for good! From: Christy Date:1/24/2007 I Have kept these little guys for a few years now, and they are by far my favorite fish. Currently I have a "herd" of 7 with my largest being about 6 inches. For food, they do really well on O.S.I. shrimp pellets. They've grown really quick eating those, along with frozen blood worms and click away when they get fed. As far as ich goes, raise the temp!! Raise it to around 85-86 degrees, for at least a week, and they WILL get better. Raising the temp a little is far better than over medicating. Ich meds, the ONLY one I'll use on my loaches is Kordon's "rid ich" because it is safe for loaches. Using this combined with raising temp, ich doesn't stand a chance! It doesn't hurt to add a little aquarium salt to help their slime coat during recovery also. I also keep my tank at 81 degrees. All my fish thrive well at this temp and it keeps ich from returning as well. From: Dave Date:11/12/2006 I have four clown loaches which love to swim around together all day. They are not shy at all. Three of them are only a couple of inches long but one is over TWELVE INCHES long and very chunky. Its the biggest one I have ever seen. Be aware that when these fish reach a descent size they will definitely require a large tank. Mine are in 125 gallon tank and seem happy. From: William Date:8/11/2006 I too have found that clowns are susceptible to ick, as they get it much sooner than their tankmates. I have found that the best way to get rid of it is to simply raise the water temperature above 86 F for 10 days. This works by keeping the "ick" microorganisms from reproducing. Don't worry about the temperature hurting them (raise slowly of course). I can't afford a cooler and they have been at higher temperatures than 86 most of the summer. They even survived 100 F for a day or so during the last big heatwave here in CA. They are one of my favorite fish and you will see that they are not called clown loaches because of their stripes but because they are truly entertaining. From: John M. Date:6/23/2006 I have had 5 Clown Loaches for 5+ yrs now,all in the 5 inch range,I thought I should pass on some important info on ph preference. Keep the fish in a neutral to slight alkaline range they seem to do poorly in acid conditions (This is from first hand experience) it is harmful to their soft skin which would form a slimish coat & leave them lethargic,I gave them a dose of Coppersafe which cured them within 24 hrs,slowly raised ph,and I have never had the problem again they instantly flourished in their new water conditions. I recommend this fish highly with its beautiful colors & personality it is my all time favorite! Also I've never had a problem with Ick as some previous comments have mentioned, so don't let this scare you from purchasing these Beauties. From: Michael Sim Date:2/10/2006 Wonderful Fishes with very "Marine Fish" like colours indeed! I have more than 10 4" Loaches (still growing) in a 4 feet Tank (together with 3 Ornate Bichir & 1 Red Tail Golden Arowana) and they work wonderfully to pick up scraps of food that sink to the sand bed. Occasionally, surfacing and grabbing some food down... They are also known as "King of White Spots". But once they are accustomed & very settled in the aquarium while the water condition remains good, it is a breeze to keep them going healthy. A Bio-Filtered Aquarium with Black Water essence added to the water will do them more Good then harm. Works pretty much like the plant supplement. Mostly, ICK is developed as a result of abrupt changes to water temperature, such as changing of water to the Aquarium or when first introducing them into the Tank from the shop. It is thus important that the bags be placed in the tank until the temperature is even out (15 to 30 minutes) before releasing them. As for changing water, always allow the water to be aged for at least a day, add Anti-Chlorine solution and not allow more than 20% of the Aquarium water is replaced. Add the water slowly so as not to create a drastic temperature difference. In an unfortunate event when they do develop ICK, isolate them immediately into a separate Tank. I always have a standby 1 feet tank c/w aeration for nursing "sick" fish. Use Anti-Ich solution (Methylene Blue) according to recommended strength, add in a pinch of table salt and raise the temperature to between 26ºC & 28ºC. It should be cleared within 24 hours or about 3 days for serious cases. From: anonymous Date:11/16/2004 Definitely a MUST for any good, established aquarium, but are not for the beggining aquarist. They are the most personable little fish anywhere: they swim back and forth across the tank en mass at dinnertime to get my attention. They are, however, pigs: they will eat and eat... and eat. They generally aren't agressive killers, but I recently tried to put a pair of angelfish in their tank and they didn't like that at all: they decended on the poor angels like a pack of wolves. I had to put them (the angels) in my other tank. Clowns also like to establish dominance among themselves: they are always pushing and shoving each other to see who gets to eat first. They do however, give my black ghost knife a wide birth. ICK WARNING: I have lost many a clown loach to ick. Use treatment at half strength or weaker. From: Kev Date:3/16/2001 Clown loaches are really cool and interesting fish, they're my favorite. Yet, they can get scale diseases pretty easy (becuase they dont really have "true scales"). Well at least mine did. One of mine died from eye cloud and tail rott (becuase I didn't treat him on time), after that, the other one i had got the same thing. I tried triple sulfa a couple of times but it didn't work, so i decided to just let him die itstead of spending more money on medicine that i had spent on the fish, untill my grandfather (who used to have fish back in Cuba) told me to use methylene blue (which is alot cheaper than triple sulfa and other medicines. I put like 6 drops for my 10 gal. tank and it worked really good, the day after the first treatment, i could already see him getting better. Now he's fine and i bought him a partner so he wont be lonely. Now i'm buying a 29 gal. tank for them so they can grow bigger. From: Anthony Date:5/11/2001 I currently have five clown loaches in a 72 gallon tank. The biggest is about 6 inches and the smallest is about 4. They all get along fine and are very active. Last year two of them came down with Ick. I treated it was a product called Clout and it worked great. For anyone with Clown Loaches that get Ick I recomend using Clout. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COMMENTS

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