Strange Behavior-clown Loaches

[thefishycouple]

Hello. I am really worried about my two clown loaches. They have always been a little shy, but never seem upset or hide. However,for the last 2-3 days they have been pushing themsleves deep inside a piece of drift wood i have. They dont come out all day. I dont know if they have been eating or not. i saw one venture out for a few minuets yesterday but thats it. here are my water stats; PH 6.8, no ammonia, no nitrates or nitrites, and hard water(about 200 ppm). I recently chnaged my filter fomr teh penguin biowheel to an eheim canister filter. Its a planted aquarium, no irregular stats. other fish seem to be fine. Could the filter be affecting them? also, it has been cold here for the last two days and the temp has been fluctuating. Its normally 78-80 now its at 73 because of teh cold weather (which should be gone by tomm.) could the temp be upsetting them? i ask because the temp has gone from 78 to 74 then up to 78 again and now is at 73, and even when the temp went back to its reg. temp they did not come out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[thefishycouple]

BTW: The new Eheim filter I got came from a salt-water tank. I soaked everything in bleach then throughly rinsed it with water. Then I let the filter run in the bath for approximately 8 hours. It was installed four days ago. Yesterday my Cory fish died without any apperent reasons. Does that have anything to do with the filter, the temperature change, or the behavior of the Loaches?

 

[black angel]

With bleaching the media you have killed any bacteria colony that may have been present so your tank will cycle again, so it may have been better to start the media again from new.
Keep an eye on your water stats for a while.

Do you not have a heater in the tank? fluctuating temperatures arent good for tropical fish that are sensitive. It can bring on bacterial diseases and you should have a heater stat in the tank set at around 80f i believe.
The fish are probably lethargic due to the cold, so hopefully when you sort that then the fish should be more active.

 

[thefishycouple]

I don't know if it matters, but before turning the filter on I took my two filter pads from my other filter, rinsed them off and put them in the new filter.
The temperature have only fluctuated for these past 3 days, it has never done so for the past year since I've had the fish tank.

 

[black angel]

Its good youa dded the media from the old filter as this will help seed the new one, but you will need to keep an eye on the levels of ammonia and nitrite for around 3 weeks.

If you have a heater, then check to make sure it isnt broken.

 

[thefishycouple]

So do you think the temperature is the reason why the Loaches are acting like that?

I don't have a heater and will be checking my levels daily.

PS: I just took the piece of wood out of the tank making them come out of it (one seemed stuck in there, but he was fine), and after setting it back in they ran right back inside.

 

[crazie.eddie]

If you have substrate in the tank, then you don't have to worry to much about losing benificial bacteria, since most of it will be on the substrate as well as the filter.

Clown loaches like to hide and often like to fit into tight places, so this is normal. Just make sure it's not too tight that it will have a hard time getting out.

 

[thefishycouple]

Clown loaches like to hide and often like to fit into tight places, so this is normal. Just make sure it's not too tight that it will have a hard time getting out.

That's what I heard. And I've definetily seen them doing this before, (squeezing between amazon leafs, in this case) but what worries me is that I haven't seen them eating lately. I've even tried tdropping some food on top of them, but they won't even bother.
BTW: Is frozen shrimp okay for the Loaches? The Neons and Puffer won't eat anything else.
Thanks

 

[Gilby77]

Clown loaches like to hide and often like to fit into tight places, so this is normal. Just make sure it's not too tight that it will have a hard time getting out.

That's what I heard. And I've definetily seen them doing this before, (squeezing between amazon leafs, in this case) but what worries me is that I haven't seen them eating lately. I've even tried tdropping some food on top of them, but they won't even bother.
BTW: Is frozen shrimp okay for the Loaches? The Neons and Puffer won't eat anything else.
Thanks

Try bloodworms, my clown loaches absolutely love bloodworms, we give them the frozen type and also 'live' bloodworms too... it may help a little. Their behaviour can be a little strange, they often worry my hubby when he comes home and finds them lying on their side!

 

[thefishycouple]

Sure, I'll be glad to give it a try.
I just don't see it working since they won't even come out for ANYTHING.

 

[stargirly1208]

BTW: The new Eheim filter I got came from a salt-water tank. I soaked everything in bleach then throughly rinsed it with water. Then I let the filter run in the bath for approximately 8 hours. It was installed four days ago. Yesterday my Cory fish died without any apperent reasons. Does that have anything to do with the filter, the temperature change, or the behavior of the Loaches?

eep! if there's any salt left on the filter it will burn the clown loaches skin because they do not tolerate salt very well!!!! i would also keep an eye on your nitrates and nitrites because if there's a spike, it will kill you're fish. you can buy some meds to take it down if you need to. but if none of this is the problem, could be that the clowns are only a pair. clown loaches like to be in groups of 3 or more. mine never came out until i got three of them, and i added a fourth and they're so happy i just hope no salt is going in there!

 

[newtotropical]

You should fit a heater to keep water temp stable..............

 

[diet]

when my heater failed on my tank i did not click on it had broke for 2 days i just thought it was on the wrong setting.
I lost 2 of my 3 clown loaches.

the only thing i can put it down to is the cold water.

Daniel

 

[thefishycouple]

Temperature is back to its usual 77+'s. It's been like that for the past two days. I don’t really think I'll need a heater, but if anything happens again, I'll be sure to get one.

I've been watching my water stats. Lately and there's been no changes whatsoever. Everything seems fine.

The salt is the only thing the worries me. Is there a way I can measure the salt in my water? What's the safe level? I've done two 75% water changes in the past two weeks to make sure any salt would go away.

. but if none of this is the problem, could be that the clowns are only a pair. clown loaches like to be in groups of 3 or more. mine never came out until i got three of them, and i added a fourth and they're so happy i just hope no salt is going in there!

I think I'll stop by the store over the weekend and pick up some blood worms, some medicine (salt measurer or whatever) and another Clown Loach. They're awesome anyways.