Clown loach sleep all day & all night

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soulFish

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MFK Member
Jan 14, 2007
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Tampa, FL
Ok I had a single 7" Clown Loach that slept all day and all night even upside down hanging out of the eels PVC tube. Most people say to me "hey you got a dead fish in there" then I have to explain no it just likes to lay upside down and not move all day.

So Sat I found some large clowns and dropped $100 on 2 more 6"ers thinking hey they will school and I can actually see the fish.

Well I was wrong! now I just have 3 large clowns that lay upside down looking dead in my tank. Any ideas how I can get these fish to school and Maybe just maybe not look like a dead fish?

Gosh I sure feel stupid for getting more clowns, especially paying $50 a pop for large ones! :irked:
 
Give them some time but you could always take the tube out?
 
Clowns that lay upside down all day? This is unheard of and very unusual. Are you sure there is nothing wrong with them? How did you acclimate them? What do you feed them? Do they eat? What are your water parameters?
 
How big is the tank?

Any room for 3 or 4 more. They don't need to be 6"ers, but larger than the 1.5-2"ers usually fo sale. The bigger there numbers the better chance you have at them schooling and being active during the day.

Whats the tankmates?
 
mabey your lighting is too bright? CLs like subdued lighting.
 
Lup - I had one that was very anit-social. Low lighting with a pack of 12 loaches and he still liked to sleep all day!

Lazy bum! - lol
 
To get the shoaling behavior, you typically have to have a dozen or so. They like strength in numbers.
 
Do you have any snails in the tank? I added 4 CL's to my snail infested planted tank, and never saw them as they ate to a fill when the lights went out. During the day they would sleep in the driftwood. It was only after three months after all the snails were eaten that they started to come out during the day. Soon after, they acted "normal". Now they are zipping around the tank bothering my cichlids.
 
LMAO! Nice one, Jaguar and Jer. The snails must have told them to stop slacking off.:grinyes:
 
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