# Awesome Big Al's Moment (Rare)



## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

As most people know, big al's doesnt provide us with our fondest moments but today, it was quite a good day for me. Clown Loaches (2") were $2.99 each instead of 7.99 at big al's scarb. My uncle and I arrived before the store opened and cleaned them out of clown loaches  . There were a little more than 20, I took the 8 I needed and he took the rest, there were other people who came in a few minutes later and was waiting to get served behind me and then I saw they wrote clown loach on their clipboard. They glanced into the loach-less tank after I was done lol. Feel kinda bad but as they say, the early bird gets the worm


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Rofl, 

My advice for anyone reading this:
When you go to Big Al's, know what you want beforehand and ask the sales associate to pick the stuff out for you and then tell them to fill it out, you should also know where it is before it really does help. If they tell you to fill it out, just say you have some hand problem and ask to speak to their manager.


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

I saw that odd sheets of paper, but I thought it was for people who were going to buy so many stuff that can't memorize it.


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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

I don't think what happened was very rare. I have often went to BA's for a special on some fish only to find out someone was there earlier and bought up all the stock. I have recently seen a limit of numbers of what you can buy that is on sale which I think is a great idea.

This eliminates those that are selfish and buy up all the stock.

May I ask what you are going to do with 8 clown loaches? I mean they do get to be a foot long and require a huge tank.


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

it's not really "rare," you can just check on their website to see what their specials are at each location.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I have a 90 gallon up and running, if they seem to be too crowded I will rehome them, not gonna even have to think about that in a while. Takes forever to get to anywhere near max size anyways


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Fish_Man said:


> it's not really "rare," you can just check on their website to see what their specials are at each location.


I mean it is "rare" because I had a pretty good experience there, I usually come out empty handed cuz of bad quality, price, combination of the two, or employees giving laughable information.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

I hope you quarantined those fish if they are from Al's lol! You will definitely need a larger tank for them though either way.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

All my fish are being quarantined, they are all in their first week in my new setup. Had a few other fish that I got for free to keep my tank cycled but I will be watching them quite closely. Only thing I am worried about atm is ICH, but I find malawis easier to treat for ICH since they live in warmer waters and IME they tolerated 90F for 4 days then lowered to 88F for an additional 6 days, not saying all species can tolerate that, but I can say that yellow labs, red zebras, and perlmutts can, and if they can, can assume that some other species living alongside should be able to cope with it as well.


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## Fish_Man (Apr 9, 2010)

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> I mean it is "rare" because I had a pretty good experience there, I usually come out empty handed cuz of bad quality, price, combination of the two, or employees giving laughable information.


Ah! That is good, glad you had a good experience at Al's.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Philip.Chan.92 said:


> I mean it is "rare" because I had a pretty good experience there, I usually come out empty handed cuz of bad quality, price, combination of the two, or employees giving laughable information.


You should put some pics up. xD


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Clown loach don't neccessarily need a big tank to grow, as long as it's at least 4' in length. They do need a tank with a good current so they can stretch their muscles and grow propertly.
Also, a school of 8 is good for clown loach. Less than 4 and there will be depression issue with them.

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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

I guess I better increase my Trio's size.

Anybody got a 4-5" Clown Loach for sale, at a NON-INSANE price? ;-)

W


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

Why not get smaller ones? 4-5" are expensive.


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

KhuliLoachFan said:


> I guess I better increase my Trio's size.
> 
> Anybody got a 4-5" Clown Loach for sale, at a NON-INSANE price? ;-)
> 
> W


hey Warren,

Gucci has some for sale....I don't think quite that big but they should still be ok at 3 - 4"

Wil


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

Tbird said:


> hey Warren,
> 
> Gucci has some for sale....I don't think quite that big but they should still be ok at 3 - 4"
> 
> Wil


Yeah Derek has some very nice quality clowns and they're healthy too.
Here is his thread:
http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14676








--
Paul


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## ambchang (Apr 8, 2010)

Just so you know, I got a few guppies from Big Al's around Rutherford and 400, and one of them was infected. Ended up killing all my livebearers (2 male guppies, 3 female guppies, 3 guppy fry, and 2 halfbeaks).

It was devastating.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

My clown loaches are still a bit skinny, not as skinny as the day I got them but atleast some of them are eating more. They are getting HBH veggie flakes and NLS cichlid 1mm sinking pellets. Gonna try cucumbers tonight. I want to set up a 10 gallon cherry shrimp breeding tank and use them as feeders


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

*Clown loach from the distant past*

4, 5 and 6" @ Newmarket Big Als @ $29.99 each (don't have them anymore)



Can't beat my price!!!  They were trade in...


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

They are nice and fat, what do you feed them, how many times a day, day or night feeding? I can't throw in blood worms because if my mbuna somehow start eating it, they may very well get bloat. NLS cichlid, hbh veggie flakes and cucumber good for them?


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

You've got clowns in with your Mbuna? I wouldn't do that. Of course the purists keep Clowns at higher than community temperatures, so I suppose I should be chided too, for that. But I think Clowns do best if they are the biggest thing in the tank and don't have to compete with large fish, or cichlids, or any aggressive-feeding mid-water or upper-water zone fish for their food. 

My clowns are not as fat as those though, they look trim and healthy and have good color. I wouldn't worry if your fish aren't that fat, as long as they color up and don't spend all their time "grayed out" by stress.


W


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## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

I've kept clown loach before with yellow labs and then moved them to angels' tank, their color looks better when they're fed meaty food like shrimp pellets and bloodworms. They're originated from indonesia and are carnivores. vegetable foods should just be a small part of their diet. Clown loach probably do better with angels than mbunas.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

My mbunas are super small right now, most of them are 1" biggest one at about 1.5", clown loaches are 2"+ right now.


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## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

another idea is to house them with irian jaya rainbow fish, sort of like indonesian biotope. color contrast should be amazing too...red, yellow and black


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