Clown always buried in sand

[Toad]

I have had 5 clown loaches for years and I thought I knew about their behaviour but owing to a faulty thermostat while on holiday I lost all my fish, including the clowns. I restocked with 5 new small clowns about a month ago and noticed after the second or third day that only 4 were showing themselves but not very often. I was advised to restock with some other fish and sure enough the clowns now appear regularly but only 4 still. I decided to let them to settle for a few weeks and then started searching for the fifth one thinking I might find a body. It transpires that it is kept a prisoner, buried in the sand under a large pot, all I can see is a tail sticking out, moving occasionally. If i dig him out he is back there within a few hours, the largest of the five is very dominant but all four now seem quite happy. I assume the only thing I can do is to get rid of the dominant one but that means stressing all of them trying to catch him. Any ideas?

[loachlover77]

Right now your clown loach is hiding probably because he/she is not used to the environment that he/she is in at the moment. I would just give him/her time to adjust to the environment. Keep everything the same, do water changes on the same day each week, etc. Your clown loach that is hiding will come out of hiding, it just takes time for them to get use to the environment that they are in. Also make sure that he/she is eating, that may mean that you may have to fish him/her out of his/her hiding place each time you feed your fish.

[ClownLoachSharky]

maybe add some caves or other decor. Your Clown might be escaping from the dominant clown and cant find a spot so buried himself.

[surgeon]

maybe add some caves or other decor. Your Clown might be escaping from the dominant clown and cant find a spot so buried himself.

Probably this. If you add a cave though you will probably need to add 2 as the dominant one will take up residence in the one he wants.

[chefkeith]

Sounds normal to me. Once a clown finds a favorite spot, it's difficult to evict them. If a clown loach finds a nice and cozy hiding spot, they might stay there out of fear of losing that hiding spot. Best thing you can do is add a bunch more caves, pipes, shelters, so that there isn't any competition for hiding spots. Just try to make them as comfortable as possible. If you don't want the loach to hide under the pot, you may need to remove the pot and replace it with something else.

[ClownLoachSharky]

perhaps some pvc pipes stacked on to of eachother would be good

[felixxx]

As above, the tigter the better it seems. One of mine is fond of a dead end hole in a rock, only just large enough to accommodate it!

[ClownLoachSharky]

Yea, one of my rostratas went missing and i was like, oh no so i lifted a piece of driftwood firm on the substrate besides a gap slightly smaller than him and there he was looking disturbed

[Toad]

Thanks for your comments, all very helpful. There are quite a few other hiding places, but I think I will put some sort of tubes in the tank as well. I also have a lot of driftwood and some real plants. Quite worried about him eating, should I put the pot he always hides under directly on the glass base of the tank so he has to find somewhere else?

[ClownLoachSharky]

he may just be eating when your not watching. Like i hardly ever see my gourami eat but it has big poops so i guess it eats.

[Toad]

Thanks for your advice folks, had all five out several times over christmas, all eating well, even the one that was hiding. He is still a bit shy but it is so nice to see them all together at last. The shy one still buries himself in the sand under the pot so I assume he is more comfortable doing that.

[loachlover77]

Yep that is exactly what he is, comfortable hiding right now. He will come out more as he feels more comfortable to do so. Just make sure that he is eating and such.

[Toad]

Hi, Thanks for all your advice, good to listen to experience, they are now out most of the time looking for food etc. I have noticed that the very shy one is a four stripe clown and according to google they are fairly rare. I am so pleased with my new tank now, all the clowns, rosy barbs and white cloud mountain minnows are very active and getting on well with each other.

[loachlover77]

Pictures please!

I would love to see a four striped clown loach.

[ClownLoachSharky]

there were heaps of 4 stripes in with malawis at a shop and i tought they were demented.