I would endorse Fatheadminnow's thoughts first
If you have a properly cycled tank and your water stats are as you say okay then we need to look into the problem a little closer.
But first how are you testing your water? Test strips are notoriously inaccurate compared with chemical test kits of which would serve you much better, forgive me if you are using a chemical test kit already I just thought it worth pointing out.
Clown loaches you got to love those guys
But like all fish they need specific conditions to keep them correctly for example good filtration, size of tank, type of substrate, range of foods, hiding places I could go on and on however this link will give you an idea of how to look after and give you an insight into them it has served me well, this forum has quite a few experienced clown loach keepers and I have got a lot of good advise off them so you have come to the write place
http
/www.loaches.c...ia-macracanthus
It is worth pointing out that 3 Clown loaches is a small number considering they are a very social fish, that really do need there own kind for company, I am not saying that 3 is an undo able number just that it is not an ideal number. In my opinion 5 plus is a more favourable number in fact the more the merrier and the more stable they will be as a community.
Of course the number you keep depends on the size of your tank and the filtration system you have as well as the number size and species of your tanks stocking, please be mindful these fish do grow to be a fare size over time depending on how they are kept and they can live for a long time, check out the link
.
As mentioned before there are other things to take into account when keeping Clown loach and to getting the best out of them, they can be quite reclusive in small numbers or do not have enough hiding places.
A group of clown loach will establish a "pecking order" and there will be an Alpha Loach, most often a female, that will lead the group. At times, fights may break out and there is a phenomenon known as greying out that occurs sometimes when they are sorting this pecking order out the one greying out will obviously be the one that backed down or lost and the greying out usually only lasts as little as a 6 hours or as long as 36 hours sometimes, but this is in my experience and I have only been keeping clown loach for a year. As mentioned before there are plenty of more experienced keepers than myself here on TFF and they maybe able to advise you on there observations
From experience I can say that greying out is some what an unnerving thing to observe for the first time and can be easily construed as the fish being ill until you understand what is happening.
This may be the problem that you are observing but I would be inclined to eliminate all other options before coming to this conclusion as of course the loss of colour in a clown can also be an indication of sickness or that something is not wright, I do hope it is the case that they are just sorting things out.
Well I hope this helps a bit and I will watch this thread with interest to see how things turn out good luck
Regards onebto.
to TFF!
