Shy Zebra Loaches

[Dunkal]

I bought 5 zebra loaches about 5 weeks ago. They have been very shy and I hardly see them. There is only one or 2 I see out in the open and the rest just hide all day. I have bogwood and plants and a cave and odessa barbs and 2 pearl Gouramis in the tank. The tank is a Rio 125 litre. Is this normal behaviour for zebra loaches??

 

[loachman]

I bought 5 zebra loaches about 5 weeks ago. They have been very shy and I hardly see them. There is only one or 2 I see out in the open and the rest just hide all day. I have bogwood and plants and a cave and odessa barbs and 2 pearl Gouramis in the tank. The tank is a Rio 125 litre. Is this normal behaviour for zebra loaches??

They can be shy. Mine have dug out underneath a large piece of bogwood in the tank. Most of my loaches stay under it for most of the day, although they do venture out a fair amount.

 

[prmdc098]

my clown loach was fairly shy for a while but now comes out a lot
i know its not a zebra but might be a loach thing

 

[lordofthesea]

thats wierd! I have only three in with kribs, odessa's, gold barbs, a red finned shark and a big ancistrus and they're always in the open! try planting lots of bushy plants so they feel they can hide in a nearby place if they get scared also how big are they? if they're smaller than the other fish they may feel threatened....

 

[Dunkal]

4 are quite small and there is one big one who nips at the smaller ones. I havent seen one of the small ones for a week or so. The other fish arent too big, odessa barbs, siamese algaue eater and 2 moonlight gourami.