Suddenly shy / nocturnal clown loach

[Richard]

Good morning all,

I have 2 clown loaches in a 260 litre community tank. I bought 3 - 18 months ago, but I lost one to skinny disease

The remaining 2 have always seemed very happy, playing in the bubbles and current, and always jousting to get to the food first.

About 4 months ago they suddenly disappeared, and they only now come out when the lights go off. I have recently tried altering the current in the tank, and also the lighting levels, but to no avail...

Is this just a mood swing, and that's life, or does anyone know a way I can coax them back to daily life?

In terms of hiding places, nothing changed - but I'm going to add more to see if that has any effect. I know that 2 of these guys is not an ideal number, but now I think that rather than add more to the tank, I should let them go to a larger familly - if they don't start showing themselves!

Any help would be appreciated!

Many thanks

Richard

[Marcos Mataratzis]

Hi Richard,

You didn´t mention the ammount of light in your tank. Anyway, Loaches do prefer low ligh places. Maybe you could provide them more hidding places and/or dimish the lights.

[Richard]

Hi Marcos,

There are 4 'normal' tubes in there at the moment - each between 30 and 40w. Again, these have always been present since the loaches have been in the tank.

I have been running a single tube for a week to see if there is any difference.

I'll put in some more hiding places this weekend, and see what happens.

Thanks

Richard

[Keith Wolcott]

You say that nothing has changed in terms of hiding places. That could be the problem. I think loaches get bored and need changes to keep them interested and active. I move my wood around just a bit here and there periodically and the loaches immediately check out the differences. This alters some of their hiding places and some of their swimming routes and I imagine that it helps keep their life more interesting.

[borneo24]

may be they need more friends.

[Richard]

Thanks all,

I did come to the conclusion that they needed more friends - if a tank move around doesn't solve the problem, then I think I'll let them move onto a more suitable home, and expand the small fish community.

I will completely re-arrange the tank this weekend, and see how they get on next week.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Richard

[Keith Wolcott]

Keep in mind that if you rearrange everything, it could be so different that they will hide until they get used to the new surroundings, whereas if you just change a few things they won't have to adjust so much, but they may be curious about the changes.

[onebto]

I am with Keith on this one when he said

"You say that nothing has changed in terms of hiding places. That could be the problem."

I find the same moving just a few bits about every now and again gets an amazing change in the activity of my clown loaches.

I really get the feeling they love to explore and check out the new stuff

[PASoracco]

may be they need more friends.

agreed. shuffle the decor around, and round out their school to 5 or so; they'll definitely get more playful with buddies.

[Richard]

Well, over the weekend I moved around one end of the tank, and created some more hiding holes. I left the end that the Loaches live in alone. On top of that I've added some more plants - a couple of broad leaf plants, and one to provide cover from the lights (if they punch holes in them, there'll be trouble!)

I'm reluctant to add any more loaches to the tank, as I don't think it'll be fair on them when they get larger - I think the best thing for them would be to let them move onto a new home if they still don't seem happy - on the plus side, i could put some shrimp in the tank then!

Thanks for the thoughts - i'll let you know if anything happens.

Richard

[millsn]

Hi Richard, any news on this one I seem to have a similar problem. The one commonality is lack of friends

[Richard]

Hi,

No - no solution as of yet. We've moved the tank around, a bit at a time, and changed the lighting. Added more plants. Changed their food...

Left a week or so between each change.

As soon as the lights go out, they're out, and happy - eating everything thay can get hold of. It's just during the day that we can't get them out.

I think thr best thing for them is to find them some more company - in someone else's tank.

Shame, as I'd love them to be back to their old ways!

I hope you have more luck with yours.

Richard

[millsn]

I reckon my next step is to find them more friends but in my tank! Hopefully this time round they'll not come with an illness (which is what happened last time)

[OneWay]

I found out 3 things with my clowns. These may or may not apply to your situation. Firstly, adding more loaches is a must then here are my observations.

1. They love current and adding some of that sure does help them play out in the open. Not sure you can add any to your tank, but it is another option.

2. They seem to become more nocturnal as they get older. My larger loaches seem to be most active from 4am - 2pm. After that point they are sleeping and come out briefly or for food

3. Spastic, quick darting, dither fish can actually freak them out and make them hide more often... a buddy and I finally removed +20 giant danios from my tank and the changes in behavior of all my loaches was dramatic.

All 6 species are out more and the turf wars are in full swing

[Richard]

DANIOS...

They're on my list of things to try and remove. 6 were added to the tak about a month before the Clowns dissapeared.

Into the Q tank tonight.

I'll let you know.