AquaMom

I bought two juvenile clown loaches last Sunday, a week ago. They were small, about and inch and a half, 2 inches. They have been highly active and entertaining and really didn't hide as much as I thought from what I've read about them. Yesterday I did my tank's weekly 20% water change and gravel cleaning and when I was finished I did not see them. It's a 120 gallon tank so I figured all the cleaning made them hide. I didn't think much of it. This morning they did not come out to eat, which is unusual, they have always come out for food. Hours went by and no sign of them. I finally got concerned and took everything in my tank out and moved the tank thinking they may had jumped when I had the glass lids off last night cleaning but I didn't find them. I know I didn't suck them up with my hose, it's too small.

I took every ornament and plant out the tank. I have 12 neons, 8 platies, 3 mollies, 4 cories, 6 danios and 4 red eye tetras but no clown loaches. I even took a flashlight and looked up inside of ornaments that were larger to see if they burrowed inside of them and nothing.

Do they burrow in gravel or inside of things (although I did swish a net through the gravel)? I don't have any other fish that could have harmed them and if they did die I have found 0 remains of them. Is there something I am not thinking of?

Mike19

hmm, do you have a hood on your tank any gaps? also did you check the filter is the suction hole covered/netted ?

agabr123

do you have any cats?

mathas

They don't burrow through gravel to my knowledge, but most loaches do squeeze themselves into just about any opening they can.

From loaches.com:

AquaMom

Found them. Unfortunately they are dead. They burrowed inside of an ornament that I had taken out of the tank, the only one that did not go into a bucket of water : (

agabr123

aw im sorry about your clown loaches!

AlyeskaGirl

Ahhhhh I'm sorry to hear that!

Mike19

sorry to hear,

Mike

Jenna

I am sorry to hear about your loss. I had the same problem when my loaches were about 2 inches. My fish mysteriously disappeared for a week. I looked everywhere, than I saw a red tail inside of one of the small decoration shells. I had to pull my fish from the shell buy its tail (literally), because there was no other way to save the fish because it got stuck deep inside of the shell.

matt6765

so sad

Butterfly

Sorry to hear about your Clowns. They will squeeze into the smallest place they can find.
Carol