Clown Loaches Being Clowns!

[nudenurd]

Hi all,

I went and got 4 new clown loaches on Saturday as the one that was in my tank was lonely. The new clowns are a bit older and bigger than the original and seem to outcast him a bit. I guess time will change that.

My question is, why do these fish constantly swim up and down one corner of the tank (normally the rear right corner, opposite the powerhead and heater). It's almost as if they're playing - sometimes the lot of them swim up and down in the corner.
Right now, only one's doing it and the rest are hiding in a hollow log.
Is this behaviour normal? Is there something they want/need?

I'm feeding my fish a few different varietys of flakes, but I never see the clowns going for them. Do they scavenge food from in the gravel or something like that? I've got a bag of sinking carnivourous pellets, will they go for that?

Thanks in advance

 

[xJake]

Every clown I've bought has swam up and down the glass the first few days they were in the tank. It's a sign of stress. Also, 4 clowns is a lot to add at one time and your tank may be going through a mini-cycle. What are your water stats (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, temp)? They should stop once they settle into the tank and get used to the conditions. Mine still swim up and down the glass in the front whenever I come near the tank. Clown loaches are indeed scavengers and will eat leftover flake; however, they will definitely go for the carnivore pellets along with the occasional algae wafer and they LOVE bloodworms and tubifex worms. Also, how big is the tank? as clowns need a minimum of a 6ft tank when fully grown.

 

[sic0198]

I have 2 of these. One swims circles around my bala shark literally. I watched him do it and I said, that'd get aggreevationg after awhile.