clown loach strange behaviour

I

iamsquatty

AC Members
Sep 4, 2006
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huntsville, AL
i just noticed yesterday my clown loach (which we've had for about a year or just less), has been not very active and been looking like he is breathing very quickly, more so than the other fish. none of the other fish in the tank are doing this, only him. is there any kind of disease that could cause this?

i checked my water paremeters this morning, ammoinia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-5. its a 55 gallon aquarium, he used to be in a 20 but we uprgaded just a little over a month ago. hes got a few places to hide, and we bought him a new friend to hang around with today (thinking that might have been the problem), so do you all have any suggestions?
 
It is a bad idea to keep clown loaches in a group of 2. When there are just two clown loaches in the tank the submissive clown loach does not have any relief from the attacks of the dominant one. Please add another clown loach soon...trust me you will see the difference.
 
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ok, but any suggestions about why my oldest one is acting the way i described? he was acting like this yesterday before i bought the new one, so i dont think it has anything to do with that. is this a usual behavior for them?
 
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I think he might be upset because of the other clown loach. Age and size do not always determine the dominent loach. Whatch them when they are together. See which one is the darker one...that is the dominent one. The dominent loach usually turns real dark to let the other one know that it is the boss. If the other one has become the dominent clown loach in the tank he may have taken the older clown loach's favorite hiding spot and refuse to share it. In pairs the dominent clown loach only has one other clown to establish a pecking order with and will continue to do so. Adding another loach spreads out the aggression.
 
he was acting this way before i got the other loach. he is still acting the same way, i thought getting him a friend would help him out, but he is still doing the same thing he did before i bought the new one....
 
that might be the problem, when we brought him over when we upgraded, we added a big ship decoration (with a hollow inside), and some driftwood with overhangs, but he hasnt been using them. do you think that could be stressing him out and make him act like that? if so, we can figure out some other hiding places to create.
 
ok we'll try something like that. is there any type of disease, sickness, or condition (besides stress) that could cause him to act like this though? just out of curiousity.
 
It is most likely the shock of being in the new tank. Clown loaches do not like change at all. How big are they? The last time I moved mine they hid for almost 2 weeks without eating. If your water parameters are normal and the clown loach continues to eat, then it can be very hard to tell if they are sick. By the way what, and how often do you feed? Also keep an eye out for ich. Clown loaches can get ich very easily.
 
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