Clown Loach -missing....

**Dennis Peacock** · 09-07-2012, 10:45 PM

I was cleaning my 55 G. tank today for it's weekly water change. Today, I can't seem to find my 2 Clown Loach fish that were in there just last night. Do they jump out of tanks? I do have a cat in my home, but she is too old to even get near the top of the tank, and besides, the top is covered except for the very back 2 inches.

Whacha think? Where'd my fish go?

Thanks,
Dennis

**Cory Catfish** · 09-07-2012, 11:10 PM

It either died and got eaten overnight, or leapt out of the tank and dried out.

Maybe you just can't find it, they hide in driftwood and in the darnest places where you would never think they would hide.

Also, they get very big so it would probably be better to get a 75-100 gallon in the future.

**Lady Hobbs** · 09-07-2012, 11:26 PM

Loaches crawl into anything. Any decorations in the tank? You have to be very careful with loaches as they will crawl into things and can't get back out and it's best to only keep driftwood or rocks in the tank and no fake stuff.

**fishluvr** · 09-08-2012, 02:51 AM

LOL i'm sorry i'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at the fact that i remember posting this exact same thread when I got my first Clown Loaches. They are HUGE HIDERS trust me, they will squeeze their little bodies into the smallest of crevices.

In my case, I, Like you, noticed one was missing, and looked everywhere, i thought there is no way it could have been eaten in one nights time. But i gave up, i couldn't find it, several days went on, and i began to notice the outflow of my HOB filter was low. I took the filter apart to inspect it and clean it, and while pulling the two intake tubes apart out came flying my clown loach through the air, and the poor thing plopped on the floor. YEP he crawled up the intake tube and was stuck in there. He survived for a couple of months but then passed on.

So check everything, every decoration every possable hiding spot, he is probably in one of them.

On a side note, Its also a good example of why there should be a strainer on the intake tubes of ALL hob's lol

**homemadepopcorn** · 09-08-2012, 02:54 AM

If you have any kind of decorations or caves they're probably in there. The fact that two are missing at the same time points more to the fact of hiding than random death or disappearance.

Also, they should really be re-homed into a larger tank depending on how big they are now.

**Dennis Peacock** · 09-08-2012, 02:26 PM

They are about 1.5" long. I've had them for a couple of weeks now. I do have a couple of pieces of drift wood in the tank and a couple of live plants. My intakes are covered so they can't be there. Maybe they will show up soon. We'll see.

**Lady Hobbs** · 09-08-2012, 02:46 PM

Tread moved to the loach forum.

**Dennis Peacock** · 09-08-2012, 03:04 PM

OK....found them both..!!!!

They were up inside a hollow rock decoration that I had in there that had a 1/2" diameter hole in the bottom-back of it. I guess they went in the hole and couldn't come back out for some reason. I have now removed the decoration and replaced it with a new decoration that they can hide under and have a place they can call their own.

Thank you for your wisdom.!!!

**Lady Hobbs** · 09-08-2012, 03:52 PM

Good job! I paid $30 for one of those fake tree stump decorations. Horrible thing! My loaches would crawl into it and not get back out and I had to break it to pieces with a hammer to get them out of it.

Since apparently I was no smarter, I bought a big castle. Also expensive and my fish would get into it and couldn't get out. I had to rip a gourami in half to get him out of there. Another decoration smashed. PVC pipe is cheaper and works better.

**Snunners** · 09-19-2012, 05:09 AM

I have a clown loach who loves hiding this this fake tree stump and I often worry he's going to get stuck in there one day. He has grown considerably in size over the last 7 months or so (about 3" now). I'll be sure to remove that immediately.

I inherited the fish from an ex and didn't know much about the fish. I just did some research (http://www.loaches.com/species-index...-macracanthus)... is this thing really going to get to 16"? If that's the case, I'm going to need to find him a new home. I've only got a 29g tank..

Helped eradicate a snail problem for me though!