I have a clown loach that is swimming vertically at the top of the tank...?

Question

I've had him for about a week, and after I got him I read that clown loaches do better with mates, so I got another one. Before that he was shaking violently and hiding all the time. But with the introduction of the second clown loach he seemed much better. But today I came home from work and he is swimming at the top of the tank, in a vertical line. He will go down now and then but spends most of his time up there. When I googled it, this seemed to mean imminent death. Is there a way to stop whatever is wrong?

Well he SEEMS to be swimming okay - but he seems stiffer than the other clown loach, and also sometimes it seems like he is struggling to stay upright and not fall to one side - but I can't tell if thats just because it is hard for him to be upright or because there is a problem.

Also the other loach isn't messing with him other than swimming around him sort of curiously.

Also he is extremely easy to catch - he doesn't put up hardly any resistance.

Answer 1

Before you get too concerned try this:

Watch him carefully for a few minutes. Does he seem to be in control of where he is swimming or is he fighting trying to stay near the bottom and finally giving up to float to the top? Also try feeding him some sinking food. Is he able to go to the bottom to eat?

If he seems to be able to swim for himself and is able to go to the bottom to eat then he's not about to die. What could be happening is a territory fight between the two loaches. Clowns usually don't fight and usually do very well in groups but like with most any fish you can get that one that doesn't fit the general rules. If that's the case you will see him avoiding the other loach or the other loach chasing him some. Another fish in the tank could also be the aggressor and causing a problem for him that would make him hide as he seems to be doing.

All of that being said, if he can swim normally, go to the bottom and eat and you don't see any other fish chasing him at all, then just give him a few days to see what happens. Clown loaches do weird things from time to time, that's part of the reason for their common name, they clown around. He may be acting completely normally tomorrow or even later tonight. Eliminate the possible problems and then go with it's just a clown loach being a clown loach.

If you do see any of the potential problem signs above, add those details to your question or feel free to drop me an email.

MM

Answer 2

There may be some terratorial issues going on or just some settling in issues. Something similar happened in my tank when I added yoyo loaches to my tank that already had clown loaches. The established clown loaches started swimming up and down at the end of the tank. This went on for several days before I ended up putting the new ones in another tank. The fish in the original tank got back to normal after a while. I don't know if your situation will iron itself out with time or if you will need.to move them to another tank.

Answer 3

Awesome input here by MM and impecible. I just want to suppliment this a little bit. How established is your tank? My big tank crashed almost a couple months ago because of a bio filtration issue from Oscars over polluting it. In that time I was able to evacuate out my big 5 inch Loach, and a few other fish before the ammonia killed off the rest of my stock. The loach was quite damaged by the exposure and it was touch and go with him for a couple days. He would lay on his side and I thought he was dead a couple time, but he bounced back quite well in the end. When he was exposed to the ammonia though he was doing much like what you said, going verticle near the top and having trouble maintaining his balance. Just to rule out ammonia or nitrite exposure, double check your water chemistry is all I wanted to add on.


JV