New 1-inch clowns

[Ippo456]

I just bought 2 more clown loaches today & they're each 1-inch long.
One of them is dancing around the tank (a good sign ) & the other doesn't seem to be doing well.
I went to this LPS a couple of days ago & saw 3 loaches.
Today, I only saw 2.
I asked the salesperson what happened to other one & she doesn't know.
*hint: make it a habit to visit the LPS a few days later to see if the same fish is still doing ok*
In the LPS, one was always the active one, whereas the other was quiet & hides.
The quiet one still stays quiet when I brought him home.
He hardly swims around, sometimes staying near the surface with his body almost vertical , doesn't eat ..
I'm real worried.
At times, he's so still that I thought he was dead
I had to stroke him to make sure he's alright!

Also .. when I look at both of them under the light, their body seems to be almost transluscent & I can see their bones
Is this normal?
Is the quiet clown just acclimating?

[worldrallynut]

loaches will often "grey" out when stressed or fighting. I would give them a few days to calm down and get back to normal.

[Ippo456]

That's the thing, they didn't turn grey.
I only noticed that one of them turned grey when I brought them home, but the colour returned to normal.
One of them is really inactive & keeps swimming around the surface ..
He seems wobbly too .. if the other clown touches him, he wobbles as if he doesn't have balance.
I notice him swimming around, but rarely

[worldrallynut]

how did you acclimate the fish?

[Ippo456]

I just float the bag in the tank, so that the fish won't get a temperature shock .. that's all.
Too bad the little guy died
I had a feeling this guy didn't have long to live ..
Will return him to the shop tomorrow, but I won't get another clown loach (I already have 6).

[worldrallynut]

Sudden temperature change is not the only thing that can shock a fish. The difference in water chemistries can have the same effect. Whenever introducing any new fish you need to give them time to adjust to the temperature and the water. You can take the bag and float it for about 15 min. After, I would add a little of the tank water to the bag and close again and float. Do this several times until there is more water from the tank in the bag than from the store. If you need, take some of the water out of the bag and then continue adding tank water slowly.

I use a drip line to acclimate all new fish. Get a bucket (make sure there have been no harmful chemicals in it), maybe 5 feet of airline tubing, and a regulator valve for airline tubing. After floating the bag for 15 minutes, empty the bag into the bucket (be sure there is enough water in the bucket that the fish won't be out of the water in the bucket). Attach the valve at the bottom of the tube and insert bottom in the bucket and top in the tank. Suck the bottom to create a syphon. Once you have flow, adjust the valve so that just a trickle comes out. Let the fish acclimate for 1-1.5 hours, and then put the fish in the tank.

With either method, don't put the water from the store in the tank. If there is any kind of disease in the water at the store, even if the fish doesn't have it, you have a great risk of introducing it to your tank by adding store water to your tank.