Loaches more and more shy

[avee]

3 yrs I go I got a school of 20 clown loaches,they were tiny babies. Now they have grown a lot and seem happy (I feed them shrimps every once in a while). The tank is 500 liters and they have several hiding places under logs. At the beginning they were very playful all day long and went to bed at night but now they are hiding most of the time - I only see them early in the morning. And they are sleeping most of the night too. They just pile up in the cave and come out for feeding. The lights are not bright, we don't have any plants because they eat them all, the tank is opened from all sides, other tank-mates don't harass them. Perhaps they get more "lazy" when they get bigger? But I'd like to see them around more. The huge tank is quite empty without them:)

[DainBramage1991]

Is there a school of dither fish in with them? Loaches look to the other denizens of the tank to determine whether or not it is safe to come out of hiding. If there are other, active fish around, the loaches are more likely to be active as well.

I have Australian Rainbowfish and White Skirt Tetras in with my clowns, and they are active all day long.

The dithers will also make your tank seem less empty, as they will tend to occupy the middle depth of the tank.

[redshark1]

That's a shame that you don't see your fishies. I feed mine during the day and they are more enthusiastic. I hope you are able to improve things.

[I C Mud]

I don't want to believe the fish get lazier as they get bigger. I have angels and Acei yellow tails in the tank with several various sized clown loaches. If you have any experience with the Acei's you will know they are prolific breeders, dropping between 70-100 babies at a time monthly.(I have 4 females and 2 males; beautiful active fish) The clown loaches in my tank spend their days investigating every corner, crack and crevice of the tank in hopes of scoring a supplemental meal. They even hang off the filters and stream pump. Sometimes I forget to strip the Acei's and all their searching is rewarded. I am rewarded daily by silly antics and lots of action. Dither fish are wonderful!

[bookpage]

Since I moved my clown loaches (and other loaches) from their 125 into the new 240, they have been hiding. All the other fish are out and about, but not the clowns. They come out when the blue moon lights are on and when all lights are off.

In the 125 they were always swimming out in the open. It's only been about a month, so I'm hoping they get settled soon. Clowns are funny fish in more ways than one. LOL

[chefkeith]

Try feeding them smaller quantities, 3 or 4 times a day. A raw vegetable such as zucchini, a protein like chopped up shrimp, and some staple foods like Omega One Veggie Rounds, Sinking Kelp Pellets, Floating Cichlid Pellets, ect. You may need to dim the lighting for surface feedings. Just don't let gorge themselves on one meal.

[avee]

ok, thank you, it's good to know that the loaches don't become lazier over time:) I don't have any dither fish - I used to have bosemani rainbow fish but the heater failure killed them (luckily it didn't affect the loaches). Now I have golden heros severums in addition to loaches but perhaps I'll consider some new rainbows or tiger barbs or something. And I will also add some more driftwood and perhaps even fake plants because the tank can be too empty and perhaps this is intimidating for the loaches. They destroy all real plants except for java moss but the powerheads make it difficult to attache the java moss to something and it keeps floating around.