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hello all, i have 3 clown loaches in a 46 gallon with a range of tropical fish and about 100 snails on the plants. The clown loaches have been in there for about 1 and a half years and they are very shy, hide all day.. only see them when feeding. i remember reading somewhere that CLs love snails but how come mine arnt interested? btw the snails are like 3mm in diametre.

thanks for ur help

how big are your CL's? I think only young CL will eat the snails.

around about 10cm(4 inches) or so

clown loaches will eat snails at any age (size).

That is kinda wierd that they hide all day.. do you have any big fish, or fish that are jumpy, or constantly dwim all day that might be scaring them?

Also, if you want to see them more, make ALOT of hiding places, then they will feel more comftorable to come out during the day.

Hi Hellstorm! I know that clown loaches like to be in schools more of around 6, this helps their shyness. Also, if you have a smaller schooling fish like tetras, danios or even guppies for that matter, they will come out more because they depend on the school to let them know whether everything is okay or if it is time to hide. What I mean is, if the school is out and about, the clown loach knows all is well and is not affraid to come out. If the school all of a sudden darts then the clown loach knows it is time to hide.
As far as the snails are concerned... Do you know what kind of snails they are? My friend has pond snails and MTS and they won't touch the MTS because it is hard for them to get past their protection. (Malaysian trumpet snail). If the clown loach is too affraid to come out, this could also be a reason for your snail population not dwindling.
Good luck, and I hope all turns out to be well.

not every clown loach will eat snails either. i had 2 and only one would try to eat snails. if yours eats them, and that's what you want then you're set. but if it doesn't want the snails, that is also "normal" just not as common.

---

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well in my tank there are 4 gouramis (almost fully grown) who always hides behind filters rocks etc.. They werent like this at the start but i dont know why they are hiding so much now. There are also about 10 corys and were so active up until 6 months ago and then they hide all the time too. there are 3 types of tetras all in schools of 8+ rummys, cardinals and blackneons, they are pretty active atleast i can see them all the time. there are also some guppys and mollies which a friend gave me a while ago... he gave me 2 of each and now ther r about 20 and they are very active.

Could the mollies and guppies be scary the cories and other fish that are hiding? And make more hiding places? wouldnt they hide even more then?

Sry i dont know what kind of snails they are just very small 3-5mm in diametre and are mutiplying every day. What should i do about the snails?

thanks for ur help

Hellstorm

It seems rather strange that other fish are hiding as well. I have read some where that if they are not 100% happy they will hide all the time.
Is there some thing outside tank area that could be causing this???? Just a wild guess.

Another aspect could be they are just not hungry. If you have that many snails squash a few for a meal and see what happens especially if they have not been fed for two days.

It will not hurt any fish at all to go with out food for a few days. Mine do not get fed on their weekly water water change.


Keith


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Well my house is on a hill and there is wood on the bottom to support the house. Everytime i walk pass the tank i think the fish can feel the vibrations.. could this be causing most of the fish to hide all the time? They weren't hiding at the start when i purchased them.

Hi Hellstorm haven't seen you around for a while.

I agree with Keith - squish some snails on the side of the tank and reduce feeding for a while. Maybe your loaches juat don't realise what a yummy meal is waiting inside those hard shells?

As for the hiding fish, it could easily be the vibrations from the wooden floor that's making them hide. Check the obvious stuff like water quality, but if it is the vibrations then there's not a lot you can do about it. Maybe just make sure the tank stand isn't touching a wall or anything else that may magnify the vibrations.

I've found that my loaches are actually more confident when there are other active fish around. It's the concept of "dither fish" where a shy fish depends on other fish to tell it when it's safe to come out.