Moving Khuli's

[ShinySideUp]

I have (five?) kuhli loaches in my big tank and I never see them unless I move the tank furniture around. I can never be sure they are getting enough food because as soon as I put any in, the clown's come a-runnin' and that's that. I expect they sneak out under cover of darkness but that's not much of a life for them and a bit pointless for me. I am thinking of moving them to my smaller tank which is much more heavily planted and doesn't have big fish in it; just Phantom tetras's and five young Zebra loaches. My smaller tank is a 120litre Juwel Lido and although well-planted it has 2-3mm gravel in it as opposed to the sand in the larger tank.

In summary:

Big tank: Sand substrate, lot's of room, not many plants, large tankmates.
Smaller tank: Fine gravel, less room, many plants, much smaller tankmates.

If I move the Kuhli's will they be better or worse off and am I more likely to see them?

 

[Crossfire]

Instead of stressing them with a move, why not improve their lives in the big tank?
Kuhlis are shy when there are few of them, and when hiding spaces are limited. The more places they have to hide, the more they will be out.
Try adding some cave systems from rocks, some PVC pipes decorated with sand or gravel or both (i attached pelia to mine) They also like hiding out under almond leaves. Driftwood is excellent too.
It might also be bright lights causing problems. Big leafed plants or floating plants to block out the light will help.
And try to up your numbers, they love company

 

[Crossfire]

Just got an idea.
Take big stones, and silicon glue them together, leaving spaces open big enough for the kuhlis to come in, but too small for the clowns.
Make it circular, and for added flair, add some moss or pelia, or other attachable plants.
To lure the kuhlis in, take a baby bird feeding syringe (available at most chain pet stores) , use it to suck up some thawed frozen bloodworms, and shoot the worms right into the middle of the rock formation. Should lure the kuhlis in. Doing it at night might help too

 

[snazy]

How big are the clown loaches?
Like crossfire says it may not be the fish they are afraid of, just not enough hiding places around the swimming area and they feel like targets.
My clown loaches are not exactly the bullying type at all except for feeding time but I've found out that if I give them the small 1mm wafers type food it's peace and quiet during feeding and they no longer act like a bunch of criminals towards my other bottom feeders. Before they used to create havoc when stealing bigger wafers and running away around the tank like mad nutters trying to hide them, stressing everyone in the process.
Probably the tank is too bare as well and they won't come out.