Anybody here keep a weather loach with newts ?

[Abrahm]

While this is a fish with temperature requirements that are somewhat similar to newts I still would not house them together. Weather loaches get large, 8 inches or more, and for smaller newts they may pose a danger as most fish are quite opportunistic. It may also be stressful to the newts to have something so large in the tank with them, especially when the loach is active. Something aggressive like a paddle-tail may attack the loach and injure the fish.

So no, I would not keep a weather loach with my newts.

 

[natz]

hi i have 2 rather large paddle tail newts and two small fire belly newts in a big big tank and i also have two clown louch in the tank!! the clown louchs and newts stay out of each others way!
the clowns have learnt to wait there turn to feed!! i think it would be fine to keep them together as long as the tank is big!!!!!

 

[freves]

>>>>hi i have 2 rather large paddle tail newts and two small fire belly newts in a big big tank and i also have two clown louch in the tank!! the clown louchs and newts stay out of each others way!
the clowns <<<<


Trouble brewing. Checkout http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml

It is really not fair to any of those animals to mix them like that. Everything may seem fine at the moment from your perspective however there is most likely quite a bit of stress going on in your tank.
Chip

 

[Abrahm]

hi i have 2 rather large paddle tail newts and two small fire belly newts in a big big tank and i also have two clown louch in the tank!! the clown louchs and newts stay out of each others way!
the clowns have learnt to wait there turn to feed!! i think it would be fine to keep them together as long as the tank is big!!!!!

This is a serious disaster waiting to happen. Paddle-tail newts are very aggressive and them being kept with the much more docile fire belly newts is going to mean the smaller newt will eventually come to harm. I would recommend separating the two species.

Clown loaches are another problem as they get too large for most aquaria. They can reach a length of 13 inches pretty easily and are best kept in groups. This means that very large aquaria are needed to keep these fish appropriately. A fish that large could also quite easily decide to snack on tiny fire belly newts or even larger paddle-tails.

 

[grunsven]

And the weather loach, I doubt that is a good idea.
Although I do not know which species you mean (Misgurnus fossilis??)

 

[Otterwoman]

I have clown loach in with my paddletail, and they ignore each other.

 

[natz]

we had a snail problem and thats why we got the clown louches, this was adviced by the pet shop!
as it is much safer than using cemicals in the tank!
the clown louch are fine in the tank with my newts and are scared f the newts!!

 

[freves]

You really have to be very careful about advice given from the petshop. I cannot comment on what they are like in England however in the US much of the petstore advice cannot be trusted. There are some good shops out there, but the majority are chain stores that often hire people that have no real experience with much of what they are selling. This is true even with privately owned businesses. While I am not suggesting that they are all like this, the bottom line is that petstores are in business to make money(sales) and much of the time any advice given will be with this motivating factor. As far as the clown loach is concerned, besides what Abraham has already mentioned you also have to keep in mind the temperature differences when mixing newts and tropical fish. Checkout http://www.loaches.com/species-index/clown-loach-chromobotia-macracanthus . Again, these are large, schooling fish that are really not suited for most home aquariums in general, much less mixing them with animals that need cooler temperatures to survive. You mentioned snails. Unless you are going for a naturalistic look with an emphasis on flawless appearing live plants then the snails are not much of a concern.
Chip

 

[grunsven]

Even good petshops often have little knowledge about newts.

About snail problems. Snails are rarely a problem, presence of snails is something else than a problem. When there are very many snails you're probably overfeeding. The snails eat left overs, and left overs should be scarce. Snails are doing you a favour in this case as they prevent a ammonia peak.

 

[Mark]

the clown louch are fine in the tank with my newts and are scared f the newts!!

Fine... but scared... hmmm. Living in fear isn't fine.

Pet shops in the UK are no better than the US. They tend to lump caudates into the aquatics section (normally tropical) and know little about their husbandry. I'm not saying this is true of all shops - I've just never come across one that does.

 

[will_j]

aren't clown loach tropical species? for that reason alone they shouldn't be kept with newts!