Clown Loach

[cane76]

it seems like the black markings on my 2 clowns is fading to a greyish white i have seen this at my lfs too what does it mean?are they ill?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

They could be stressed or ill, fading is more of a symptom than a desease- can you spot any other symptoms the clown loaches are displaying or odd behavior, what are your recent ammonia, nitrate and nitrite stats ?
Im no expert on clown loaches so i couldn't say for sure wether its normal behavior but i seriously doubt it is.

 

[cane76]

stats are all clear with nitrates at 30 and ph=7.5

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How long have the clown loaches been like this and how long have you had them?

 

[cane76]

ive had them about 6 months but recently i moved them from my small tank to my big tank do you think this could be why?
i only noticed the fading about 2 weeks ago

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Its posible but i would have thought they would have got over the stress of the move by now, have you added any meds to the tank or other things like salt recently? When was the last time you cleaned the substrate/gravel/sand in your tank?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

edit: oops, double post

 

[cane76]

no meds added only dechlorinater last sunday when i hoovered the sand and did 15% water change

 

[caliskier]

I have clowns and they have grayed out at different times. A move would cause this, and I have had my largest one gray for a week or so in the past. Two weeks seams excessive, I have never worried about anything more than salt, temp, and hidding places. The salt question is a good one, my whole tank did better when I added a little salt, just read the package it will tell you how much to add. Also make sure you have hidding places for the clowns, and the temp should be at least 75. I am too lazy to see how many clowns you had, but you should have at least three as they like to school.

 

[cane76]

i got 2 but im gettin 1 more tomorrow should i get one that is bigger than the 2 ive got or smaller?
in order to stop the chasing and bullying?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

no meds added only dechlorinater last sunday when i hoovered the sand and did 15% water change

hmm...I would just keep doing what you are doing as far as tank maintanence goes, im stumped as to why your clown loaches have remained grey for so long but its posible they have a desease of some sort coming on- i would personally just add some melafix to the tank to help aid their imune systems and see if this changes anything, keep doing those water changes and avoid adding anything else to the tank .
Keep us updated on your loaches even if their condition doesn't change, i will go look up some things on your loaches condition and see if i can pin point anything on them .

 

[cane76]

thx a lot m8

 

[caliskier]

i got 2 but im gettin 1 more tomorrow should i get one that is bigger than the 2 ive got or smaller?
in order to stop the chasing and bullying?

That is a good question, personally I would get a bigger one. Typically my clowns have not bullied each other. There might be a few little fights for suppremicy, but soon my clowns always followed the largest one around the tank, which when I am around is to the closest spot in the tank to me. Clowns are fun to have.

 

[cane76]

i was thinking a bigger one coz hopefully the other 2 will fall into line then its happy days

 

[mikev]

Moving seems to be stressful for clowns. After I moved mine to a larger tank, it took more than a month for them to get back to normal.

During that month I've seen excessive hiding, aggression (toward the smallest in the group and other fish), and *some* fading. And they reverted to "normal" very gradually.

If you moved yours a couple of weeks ago, you probably should not worry.

(Hmm...did not know that Clowns would survive high Ph...may this be an additional cause?)