Alex,
I'm glad for your sake (but not for the poor Clown Loaches), that you had
"luck" in keeping those fish alive for many years (as you mentioned). I
truly regret to have to tell you though, that while it does take a considerable
amount of time for a Clown Loach to reach 14", a 10+ year old Clown Loach
should still reach a considerable size. A 29 gallon tank is really way too
small for this fish to allow it to grow to its full potential; even for just
one of them.. I'm afraid you must have stunted them after all those years,
despite them living as long as they did, as just one of them should have at
least 50 gallons to itself, because of the size they will eventually reach --
or not very much less than that amount of water. Restricting any fish to
a container not large enough to permit its proper growth to full size
usually results in their being stunted, even if it may not appear so to the
hobbyist. You may have seen Dawn's post, in which she states that her Loach grew
2" in two months, although that may have been on another List. A 10 year
old Loach should be no smaller than at least 8" to 9" or more, and I'm being
conservative here. After all, this fish won't grow 1" in length per month,
as the longer it grows, it will be putting on height and girth too, which
all takes additioinal time as it grows., but a minimum 9" (or more) loach
after 10 years is not too much to expect. .
Ray </HTML>
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