Clown Loaches Are They Magicians?

[zoopkamol]

ok heres my situation....
180gal tank with few pices of driftwood, few under sand caves(pvc pipes), giant pirate ship, few plants...
 
have 5 clown loaches all about 3-4" long...
only ever seen 3 out at any given time so i thought lets find all make sure they all ok
 
removed all caves ...1 pops out
take  ship out and examine all cavitities none in there
move all driftwood and still nothing (1 that came out of cave is gone now too)
substrate is sand ...would they bury themselves?
i love the idea of having clowns but i also like seeing my fish too....damn magicians
 
i am positive that i checked all hiding spots and cant find any now .....
read they hide and appear outta nowhere but where is this no where
any ideas or is this just clowns normal thing....

 

[DerpPH]

That is normal... they love to hide in places you dont expect!

 

[Neo8223]

When I first started up, I never saw mine. Then I went to clean out the internal filter only to find that they chewed through the suction caps and made their way into the inner wall of the filter. They need hiding places otherwise they get stressed and die. 
 
So its normal