Clown Loach Inside Log

[TheOrangeJobber]

I have 2 clown loach about 1 and a half inches long and they both insist on laying on their sides/upside down in a small crack in a piece of driftwood log....they are both alive, and I've seen them occasionally swim out for a short time, but the thing is that whenever I feed the rest of the fish they are always inside the log and never get any of the food....i'm starting to get worried that they will die or get stuck or something.

 

[Kizz]

My CLown Loaches are forever hiding either in a crack in the wood or under the filter box . I've discovered if i feed just before lights out and use some sinking pellet's or some algae wafer turn tank lights off but keep room lights on ...You'll soon see them out feeding

 

[Curiosity101]

They probably are getting food, they may just be getting the leftovers. How much and what are you feeding the fish?

What fish are they in with?

Only way to avoid them getting stuck in the log / ornament is to remove it.

And the general questions (just to be nosey)

What size tank is it
What are your water stats

IF they aren't eating. Which is unlikely. Answers to the above questions could explain why.

 

[TheOrangeJobber]

1 red dwarf gourami
5 neon tetra
6 black widow tetra
3 or 4 amano shrimp (i've only seen 3 around recently 1 is M.I.A and they are hard to spot because they like to hide!)
and 2 clown loach

I saw one of them have a bite of a sinking pellet yesterday.

 

[Curiosity101]

What size tank is it?

What are you water stats?
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH

And what exactly are you feeding the tank with.

Specifically as in what pellets, what flakes etc etc.
And roughly how many?

 

[TheOrangeJobber]

you're gonna shout at me cos its only a 12gallon tank but I inherrited the 2 clown loach off someone who didn't want them anymore and I'm saving to buy a bigger tank

water stats are all 0, appart from amonia which is very low but not at 0 (cant remember what it was exactly because I tested yesterday) umm cant recall the PH put it was fine...somewhere in the middle 6.8 or something

Oh and I'm feeding the whole tank a pinch of flakes in the morning and evening and then about 6 pellets through the day

 

[Curiosity101]

I'm not going to shout. There is no reason for me to 'shout'

But that's a ridiculous number of fish to keep in a 12 gallon (by the way when did you upgrade from the 10gal?)
Especially when your last death was exactly 2 weeks ago.
Wilder told you to wait at least a month to make sure all the whitespot parasite had gone

You have clearly ignored this advice.

Your tank is not fully cycled in the first place.
Around 90% of the time whitespot is caused by fish being exposed to ammonia and nitrite.
Therefore your actions (more than likely) directly caused the whitespot outbreak.
At the time people were forgiving as you may well have been given bad advice from local pet shops etc.

However since then you have gone against all of the good sensible advice from members on here.
I wouldn't be surprised if your fish have another outbreak of whitespot as it may well still be in the tank.
I would also not be surprised if you had more losses.

Whether you 'saved' the clown loach or not. You should have returned them to a fish shop or re-homed them privately straight away.
It's unfair to keep them in unsuitable conditions for any length of time if you have another choice. Which you do.

You can always buy more clown loach ONCE you have your upgrade.
But keeping the ones you currently have will affect their health and more than likely stunt their growth considering how many fish are in the tank at the moment.

 

[TheOrangeJobber]

ok I'll take them to the fish shop to see if they'll look after them until i get a bigger tank

 

[Curiosity101]

That's a great idea.