Loaches Online Forum

Hello All,
This is my second post after acquiring my 6 clown loaches which after a brush with white spot are doing fine and growing in confidence, however i have noticed a couple of things which appear unusual to me, but probably not that unusual to the veterans of this forum.
The first is that there appeares to be a bit of a macho bust up kicking off occasionally and the Loaches involved go a ghostly version of themselves e.g. they look like they have been bleached, however once they get what ever it is out of their system the colouration returns as it was before. Is this normal?

The second interesting point I have noticed is that when they are eating there is quite a pronounced popping sound which is even louder when they partake in the cucumber that I drop in the tank once a week (a piece 3/16 x 2 inch diameter, is this sufficient?). Is this normal and if i mimick this sound by tapping the glass gently on the front of the tank below the substrate level the Loaches race out of the hiding holes beneath the bogwood and cluster around where my finger nail is tapping. I must admit that this is quite endearing behaviour to see my buddies race out, but is this detremental to their over all well being and I will stop if it is because I don't want to do anything to upset the little gang?

Thanks in advance for all gratefully received responses.

yes thats normal for them to click at their favourite foods and gray out which is going pale

Yes that is normal, it is called graying out. They do this when they are establishing pecking order. Usually the female will be the alpha of the group.

The noise you are hearing is called "clicking" they do this when they are happy and when they are fed their favorite food.

Happy loaches. How big are your loaches? I feed lots of foods, so that everyone can pick and choose what they want.

My two big females gray out and "fight" occasionally but are always back on friendly terms straight afterwards.

When hand feeding I notice the popping sound is synonymous with a strong sucktion. I think the sound is produced due to cavitation - the production of a shock wave.

ClownLoachSharky wrote:yes thats normal for them to click at their favourite foods and gray out which is going pale

Thanks ClownLoach Sharky, i guess clicking = happy loaches

redshark1 wrote:My two big females gray out and "fight" occasionally but are always back on friendly terms straight afterwards.

When hand feeding I notice the popping sound is synonymous with a strong sucktion. I think the sound is produced due to cavitation - the production of a shock wave.

Thanks redshark. I'm thinking of introducing 3 or 4 khulis at some point in the future, but do you think they will end up in my external filter?

starsplitter7 wrote:Happy loaches. How big are your loaches? I feed lots of foods, so that everyone can pick and choose what they want.

Thanks starsplitter7. They are between 2 and 3 cm and growing fast.

yendor wrote:

redshark1 wrote:My two big females gray out and "fight" occasionally but are always back on friendly terms straight afterwards.

When hand feeding I notice the popping sound is synonymous with a strong sucktion. I think the sound is produced due to cavitation - the production of a shock wave.

Thanks redshark. I'm thinking of introducing 3 or 4 khulis at some point in the future, but do you think they will end up in my external filter?

they will end up in your filter unless you put a sponge on the intake

Luckily I have never had my Kuhlies in the filter, because they stay close tot he sand or under decore. Covering the filte ris a good safety measure. My fish that end up in the filter are my eels and catfish. Had them live in there comfortably for several months when I was new to fish keeping and didn't know they would go into the filter.

I wouldn't bang on the glass though. They're 'coming out' because you're scaring them or because they hear you coming and associate that with food arriving

Clown loaches don't come towards you when they are scared, they swim away and hide when they are scared. If you are doing it lightly mimicking the sound they make then they are coming to that sound. But I wouldn't do it too much.

Baby Girl, my biggest clown loach, comes towards me when I approach the tank, she is curious about what I am doing.

ah , I missed the detail "and cluster around where my finger nail is tapping"