Clown loaches not acclimating to new tank

[pedzola]

Background:

So I had my clown loaches in my 40g community tank since I bought them. A couple months ago my red-tail shark started behaving badly in that same tank, so I got him his own 20g-long tank. He got along fine w/the clown loaches but NOTHING ELSE.

So after trying a couple of new fish as roommates for the shark, they've all ended up in the 40g tank, cause he hates everything. However, he always got along w/the clown loaches so I decided to drop them in and see what happens.

There are 3 clown loaches, about 2-3" each. They seem to be getting along great with the shark in the 20g-L tank. They school with him, they share caves with him, and he seems agitated sometimes but they don't seem to care. The shark doesn't chase them or corral them into a corner like he did with other fish.

Heres the problem... since I put them in the new tank, the fish have been scared to death. They turned pale white and swim around like crazy... whenever they see me they go nuts and try to get away or hide... they aren't eating...

I've tried adding all kinds of hidey-holes in there... new rocks... some PVC pipes... It's been 3 days now I think, and its still the same. I try feeding them frozen food that they used to fight all the other fish to get... and now the worm-cube just melts and the worms are littering the tank and they might suck one up and then go hide somewhere.

I've been over-feeding the tank to try to get them to eat.. .I've tried a bunch of different foods besides frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp... they just don't seem to be interested... they are still white and scared.

I've been doing water changes w/gravel vac every day because of the overfeeding.

You think it's just gonna take another couple days, or is there something wrong and I shoul dput them back in the 40g before they get sick or something?

:(

[budrecki]

They will need to be in a bigger tank sooner or later. I have 5 of them and the largest, Fat Albert, is 6-7". They are about 18 mths old and they will get bigger

[pedzola]

Yes I realize they will get bigger and will need to be in a seperate tank. I've had them for about 6-8 months and they've grown less than an inch so far.....

In any case... I'm in an apartment and moving in a couple of months, and i will get a bigger tank when necessary.

For now they are only 2-3" and they have lots of room to swim in the 20g-long. (30x12 footprint).

What im concerned about is why they are white and not eating and scared even after 3 days in the tank w/pristine water quality (that is also identical to the water quality in the tank they came from - same temperature also).

.___.

[chefkeith]

Clowns don't like being netted and being moved to new environments. To them it is like being abducted by aliens. Clowns remember these experiences for some time and can sulk for months.

[pedzola]

=< MONTHS!!

Poor little guys. At least they were eating when I put in some frozen worms this afternoon. They ate a few but nowhere near what they would usually do to those worms!

They are still kinda pale but more colorful then they were the last couple days. And they still can't stand to look at me... if I come near the tank they scatter and go nuts. :(

I don't want to be the bad guy! =(

I <3 my clowns.