Loaches Online Forum

hiya guys n gals

i have had my 3 clowns in my tank for a few weeks now and 2 seem to have settled down real well but the other one is soo pale as you can see in the pics all my water is checked regular and is fine, i have nothing in the tank i deem as aggressive there are a good number of hidings for them and more will be added, any ideas why hes so pale? he does still come out plenty and seems happy enough its just his colouring



as you can see he out with one of the others and defo not the same colour





any help greatly recieved

Rave

Looks to me as if the pale one is the largest one - is that true? I can't claim any expertise, but just keeping them for a few years I have found that the larger clowns seem much more shy and take a long time to settle in. I bought a 4 incher to go with my exisitng four clowns, and it is still settling in after 2 months. Even my old 4 incher is slow to settle in to the new tank, while the three smaller ones 2-2.3 inches) are pretty much out all the time. The larger ones are out after the lights go out and when there's zucchini to be had.
Give them plenty of hiding spots and have some suitable dithers (danios, barbs) that stay active so the clowns feel safe. Then just be patient. It looks healthy otherwise.

If everything is well with the tank and the fish appears healthy, it is not likely anything to worry about. Clown loaches can change colour regularly depending on their mood, their surroundings etc. I've got nearly 40 in my aquarium, and they are never all the same colour at once and many have lighter black stripes than others for a large percentage of the time.

Emma

thats great glad im worrying over what is probably nothing he defo seems to be happy enough comes out feeds and such but is still a little shy at the mo ill add more caves and such to see if that helps him out and drop some salad in for him later

thats for reassuring me guys


Rave

I wouldn't worry about the grey/pale colour, but what about the black spot on "his" back? Has that always been there ?

yep been there since i had him loks like a black splodge and hasnt grown insize or anything at all