Pale clown loach has not colored up?

HI I have a problem with one of my loaches ,I have 3 in a 45 gallon(uk) community tank, the fish in question is about 4 inches and ive had him for about 6 months, he was pale when I got him but I thought with the right food he would color up ok but he has not I feed them frozen bloodworm, loach pellets, algae pellets, drayed flake and cucumber .He is a happy loach he is allways out playing with the others but he is the first to hide if my kids get to close to the tank ,so any advice would be very helpful cheers boff. ;D

 

He could just be a slightly different colour, and as for him hiding away, they do tend to be quite shy little fish. but just keep an eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels. if your other fish don't have any visible stress signs its probably not that. But I suggest you look at him very closely so see if he doesn't maybe have some sort of parasite or fungus, it can't hurt to be careful.

 

HI ive just tested for ammonia 0ppm nitrite 0ppm so that's ok On Saturday I treated the tank with a course of waterlife protozin which seems to cover a lot of fungal infections but I will keep an eye on him .I was wondering if he is pale because he is not top loach in the group I say this because I have red rainbows and one is brighter than the rest and somebody said that's because he is the dominate fish in the group so maybe it apples to clown loaches as well cheers boff.

 

ok so its not the chemical levels in your tank, if hes not visibly sick I wouldnt worry, but then again I'm not an expert with clown loaches. but keep an eye on him, and as for him being top loach, maybe, anything is possible in the fishy world. but I would wait for some of the other members comments and advice to see what they say about that. just as long as he is swimming strongly, and eating well, may well be like I said a colour difference.

 

Thanks Kerryve for your help cheers boff.

 

its a pleasure, I just hope you manage to find out why hes pale!

 

hI there boff.. I also have three clowns and I'm pretty sure that the clowns with the lighter stripes,almost a grey shade is the domminant fish in the group..when I got my first clown he had grey stripes until I added some more loaches...then his stripes changed to black and the larger clown in the group went grey,I done some checking up on various internet sites and most said that this was a sighn of the dominant fish...since then the pecking order has changed again in my tank with one of the smaller loaches outgrowing the dominant one,now his stripes have changed to a grey shade,and the once dominant loach back to black...I too was worried when it happened to me,I thought that he was dieing and depressed he stopped eating for a while,but I think it was just because he wasn't the domminant fish any more..but he is fine now..hope that this helps you out a little.. by the way you have great taste in fish my clowns keep me ammused for hours..awsome spiecies of fish,and the name suites it to a tee..good luck

 

hI again boff..if you look in the members tropical fish picture gallery I have a picture in there called the three stooges..its a picture of all three of my clowns if you look at that you can see that the clown in front is a totally different colour to the other two..maybe you can compare that to your own fish...the one in the picture is no longer the dominant fish by the way..but still perfectly healthy and not something to worry about...hope that this can maybe help put your mind at ease..clowns rule! ;D

 

HI David thanks for your replays ,after reading them and looking at your pictures they have put me at ease over my loach, he has the same gray colour bands so that's a relief .You are so right about they name, mine are crazy fish. I would love to get a big tank and just fill it with them .Have you tryed worms from the garden yet clean them and cut thin mine went crazy for them .Thanks again David Boff. ;D

 

Wow that's pretty cool that the dominant fish changes color! ;D

 

not a problem boff. ;D it feels good to help somone else after all the help I have received from other members..havent tried worms from the garden but they seem to love frozen blood worms too...as do all my other fish so its pretty hectic at feeding time,its like a feeding frenzy...my red tail black shark is the only one who doesn't eat them..but he isn't eating anything at the momment...anyway glad I could help ;D

 

HI boff, I'm so glad that you managed to find someone who knew about your pale loach, you must have been quite worried, nice to discover that is something as simple as dominance! hope that they put your mind at ease!

 

Yes clown loaches are one of the few who have paler colors for the dominant fish. It's called "greying out". One of the most wonderful places to get information about loaches of any kind is loaches online . Here is their url Loaches Online Forum - Index page
Now I have to ask... you do know your clowns will eventually get to be 12 inches... right? They usually grow very fast the first year and then slow down but they still need lots of room to be social and still have places for privacy as well.
Heres a picture of one of my clowns

 

HI thanks for the loach forum ,it looks great loads of good information cheers .When you say they grow to 12 inches will they actually get that big in a tank, I thought that they only grow to that size in the wild and 8 inches in a tank. I hope they don't get that big or I will have to get a bigger tank mines 220l .Your loach in the picture looks big, wot size is he and how many more in his tank cheers boff.

 

I have 2 clowns in a 75G with other occupants and they will eventually need a bigger tank. Yes they get 12 inches or bigger in the aquarium and they live a long time if given proper care. One of the people on a forum I frequent has a Clown Loach he has had for 21 yrs. We need to take these things into consideration when buying them and stores need to get better about telling people how to take care of them
Here are several Clown Loaches to enjoy


Some of them are huge. Enjoy!!!
Carol

 

I forgot to say Mine are 6inches and 5 inches from snout to where the tail starts(caudal peduncle)
carol

 

your clowns are HUGE  carol.how long have you had them?? have you got names for your loaches..

 

I've had them almost three years.They grew really fast the first year and have now slowed down a little. Their giving me time to get a bgger tank
Yes their names are Boss Hogg named after Boss Hogg on the old Dukes of Hazard TV show. Boss was grossly fat and always eating. Describes my clown to a "T"
The other kind of has a gross name. His name is Dirty Butt because he has just a smudge of black.... Well you can guess where :-[ and no I didn't name him They are really characters. They usually do better with three or more because their such social creatures and that's what I bought but one died. I took it back to the store, got another and it died so I decided they were fated to be a couple and they have done just fine. I'm rambing again, must be my day to do that
Carol

 

HI Carol ,after looking at the pictures that you poasted I can see how big they can grow .When I got mine my LFS said they would be 8 inches and take a long time to get that big ,I now think it is out of order that they don't tell you the full truth just to get a sell  ???,I will be having words with them about it ,just think of all those clowns in small tanks and the owners have no idear how big they will get ,sorry to get on a soap box about it ,cheers for every bodys help boff.

 

That's ok I fall off the same soap box on a regular basis
Carol