Animal-World > Freshwater Fish > Freshwater Loaches > Clown Loach

Clown LoachTiger Loach

Family: Cobitidae

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Chromobotia macracanthusPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy Marisa Monaco

     A very popular fish, the Clown Loach is one of the most beautifully colored and patterned of all the freshwater fish!

     With a bright orangish to reddish body, three broad jet black vertical bars with one passing through the eye, and a bright to deep red coloring on the front fins and tail, the Clown Loach is an extremely striking fish. They are most colorful when they are young however, and tend to become a bit less brilliant as a larger fish.

    The word macracanthus stands for 'big spine and as this name suggests they have a pre orbital spine that is quite large, making an effective defensive weapon. They have four barbels and have been known to make audible clicking sounds.

     For the most part they are a shy bottom dweller, but unlike many loaches the Clown Loach is active during the day. Once they are secure in their environment they can even become quite tame. They like the company of their own species and can also be kept with other fish. They are fairly easy to keep, but are prone to ich.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Care and feeding:      Since they are omnivorous, the Clown Loach or Tiger Loach will generally eat all kinds of live foods, flakes, and algae. They like tablets and frozen foods as well. To keep a good balance give them a high quality flake food everyday. Feed brine shrimp (either live or frozen) as a treat. They also like mosquito larvae, tubifex, daphnia, and vegetable foods such as algae wafers.
     This fish prefers a fairly large aquarium (30 gallons or so) with plants and places for retreat such as rocks, caves, and roots. Also use subdued lighting. They do best in soft, slightly acidic water with frequent water changes of about 10% a week. Because they are burrowers, the substrate needs to be a fine gravel or sand that does not have sharp edges. Be sure to provide hardy plants with the roots protected and have decorations firmly placed on the glass bottom so they don't fall over. Plastic tubes also make safe and excellent hiding places.

Distribution:      The Clown Loach or Tiger Loach are found in Southeast Asia; from Borneo, Sumatra, and Indonesia. They are found in either running or standing waters in their natural habitat.

Size - Weight:      These fish get up to 12 inches (30 cm) in the wild though they haven't been known to reach that length in the home aquarium. Captive species are seldom longer than 6.5" (16 cm), with about 8" (20 cm) being the maximum.

Social Behaviors:      A good community fish, they will tolerate other tank mates as well as enjoy other members of their own species. Lively and fun to watch.

Sexual Differences:      Males are thinner.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:      These fish are mostly bottom dwellers, but will occasionally swim in the middle of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:      Hardness: to 5 ° dH
     Ph: 6.0-6.5
     Temp: 77-86 ° F (25-30 ° C)

Breeding/Reproduction:      The Clown Loach or Tiger Loach has rarely been bred in the home aquarium. There are only a couple of reports of success, with the most recent being in the fall of 2007 by Colin Dunlop from Carluke, Scotland. In an article from the publication Practical Fishkeeping, there are photographs of the spawn but he said that most of the eggs were infertile, and no fry have yet been reported. It is thought that they need a large aquarium with lots of hiding places, along with their being satisfied with their aquarium conditions.
     They have been spawned commercially with the aid of hormones on fish farm in the Czech Republic, and farmed fish are available from both there and from Asia.

Availability:      The Clown Loach or Tiger Loach is readily available and is very popular.

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Latest Comments
I love these guys!! The local aquarium had four of them, I didn't want to split them up so I bought all 4. It didn't take them too long to get comfortable in my tank; they hid for the first 30 minutes or so, but now they're all out swimming the full length of the tank. Chuong 2009-12-23
We have recently bought a clown loach - despite being told at the shop they can be shy and reclusive, ours is one of the liveliest fish in the aquarium! He is always out and about, we only have one at the moment but he seems happy enough on his own, and gets along well with all the others, especially the small corys. Would like another, they are beautifully marked. Amy 2009-08-04
I recently just purchased two clown loaches. The store I purchased them from the owner has been dealing with fish for years. Any way he told me I could put them in my tank with my Semi Agressive Cichlids as he has three or four in a large 110 gallon display tank in in his store with all agressive and semi agressive cichlids. On only my secound day one is very reclusive almost seems sick. I have a 75 gallon tank, temperature between 79 and 80, plenty of hiding places, and small to medium cichlids. The other one seems to be getting along ok so far, do you think this is a good idea to keep in this tank or does the other loach just need adjustment time. The tank has been established before but I just started it back again up about a month ago, because I did a tear down to move it to different room. The water quality is good with high PH. john 2009-03-13
I only have one clown loach left of a party of five when they were little. He's about six inches...easy. My Oscar's size won't allow me to introduce any new fish at this time; I really would like to have more loaches. They ARE very colorful. That playing dead thing is weird to say the least. Miquel 2009-03-07
I have a clown loach in a tank with a tiger loach and a senegal bichir and a red tail shark and 2 mollies and a pleco and a raphael catfish Anonymous 2009-01-05
Some of the coolest comments:
I have two clown loaches, various tetras and one red-tailed shark (the largest among these fish) in a 55 gallon tank. The clowns are funny. They spent months trying to evict the red-tailed shark from his home (a fake tree stump) until I felt sorry for the shark and purchased a larger one for him so the clowns could have his old home (a half of a cocanut shell). Have been creating new stone structures in the tank because both the shark and the clowns like hiding places and are now getting much bigger than I thought they would get when I purchased them. Probably need to get a larger tank soon. I have so much fun watching these intelligent and entertaining clowns loaches, and their bond with each other and interaction with other fish, that I gave up watching T.V. Mirjana in Colorado mirjana 2010-01-24
Tiger loaches are any loach with the Syncrossus genus. Calling a Clown "Tiger" is an insult to their peaceful, playful nature. Read the comments and description about the Berdmores Loach to find out what Tiger loaches are like, whereas Clowns will be playful even when they're 8+ inches long and 30+ years old. Also, putting Clowns into a 30 gallon tank (which is actually a small tank, not a 'fairly large' tank) will probably begin to stunt its growth after a couple years, causing stress and lower quality of life, they are recommended by actual loach experts to never be bought unless you are able to put them in a 180 gallon tank once they hit a certain length. They are very fast swimmers and require a lot of room for zipping around the tank playfully. Also, don't be alarmed if you find them piled up, squished inside a small hole. They like to do that, and part of why they got their name... they act like clowns. Anonymous 2009-07-17
Comments Dr Jungle REALLY Likes to Hear!
Thank you for your pictures and information. I recently bought a Tiger loach but the name they used at the pet store I couldn't recall. I searched until I found your site and realized what I bought. My husband thought it was the same as our red tailed shark because they are quite similiar. Now we know exactly. r 2005-09-25

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