Clown loach survey 2009

This question had the following answering options:

1. dry food (e.g. flakes, tablets)
2. live food (e.g. blood worms, snails, small crabs)
3. greenstuff (e.g. salad leaves)
4. other

More than one answer could be ticked.

The majority of participants uses dry food for their clown loaches, but other options have also been ticked: 60 % chose live food and 30 % greenstuff.

The result shows that over 60 % of survey participants have only one or up to three clown loaches in their tanks. So, a species appropriate keeping does not take place. 

At least 27% of all answers imply a group of four to six animals. This amount is a beginning, but still not optimal.

The result on this question is even more stunning than the one before.

25% of participants keep their clown loaches in a tank that has up to 120 litres. 51% have them in between 120 and 300 litres which is too small for clown loaches, too.

Not even 20% of participants can offer a tank of 300 - 500 litres to their clown loaches and only 6 % have a tank larger than 500 litres.

According to my assumption, clown loaches often are sold as anti snail fish and no appropriate consulting takes place in petshops. Every owner who finally understands that his way of keeping clown loaches is curelty to animals, doesn't always have the chance to change to a larger tank.

The following answers were available. More than one item could be chosen.

1. Tetra (e.g. neons, tetra of rio)
2. Barbels and barred danio (e.g. sumatra barbe, white cloud mountain minnow)
3. Loaches, flying fox (e.g. red-tailed (black) shark, orange-finned-loach)
4. Rainbow fish (e.g. medaka, sand smelt)
5. Live bearing (e.g. platy, guppy, molly)
6. Cichlids (e.g. cichlids, moorii)
7. Catfish (e.g. pictus catfish, cory)
8. Killifish (e.g. Gardner's killi)
9. Anabantoidei (e.g. blue gourami)
10. other