Loaches do best in groups of at least three or more. And you will find that they hide. Really well. Do you have decorations or places where they can scoot under and hide? There are times when I don't see my clowns (4 of them) for days on end. And then poof - suddenly they're all over the tank.

I always found it easier to get clown loaches when they're really young, and they seem to adjust better in the tank than large ones (and those are very expensive!)

Clown loaches are very sensitive to abrupt temperature changes when you do water changes, so do be careful! (I learned the hard way - was able to save them by scooping them out and dropping them into another tank where they almost immediately revived)

are they burying themselves in your substrate? i hear kuhlis do this but i am unsure about clowns.

Hi
I've had that same experience but in my case only one. Could never find a trace .Still have the other four ,3 years later. Sorry can't be of any help,I'm still baffled too lol
gary

do you have a catfish??

I had the same prob with male bettas going missing. Like you, i thought they just died then the snails and pleco got to them. Until one morning i noticed my catfish's belly was a lot bigger and oddly lumpy.. arrrggghhh..

Thanks everyone for the help...Nope they are not in the sand on the bottom and nope no catfish or anything that will be able to eat them. garyfla THats what happened. I searched everywhere. I only have plants in the tank and I have a sand bottom and I checked through the whole tank and there is nothing there. I have no idea where they went but since I have 5 now so far they all been staying put.

I have had a couple mysterious disappearances myself over the years. One was a plecostomus that just vanished one day. Although the landlady's cat whom I let in sometimes kept mum about the whole thing. Prime suspect #1.
Last year we had a glass cat disappear. Now it is pretty easy for a transparent fish to hide but this guy just vanished and no trace was ever found. We moved and everything.
Things that make you go "Hmmmmm...."

Hi
funny experience with disappeances. Bought 4 common crayfish and put them in the 150 gallon tank .One week later all four were gone. I tore the tank apart looking for them . About one month later I was having my morning coffee
when i noticed re dots moving around in the shadehouse
Got a flash light and checked .All four of the crayfish had migrated to the pond about 25 feet away !!
Bad move though thet were a midnoght snack for a fast raccoon lol. Which is the reason I put them in the tank in the first place.!!! gary

I just got a baby clown loach today to replace the buddy of one that died a short while back. Little fella must be in hiding.

I've had a weather loach for 3-4 years in my 150 gal tank that I see once every 3 or 4 months. He is usually under the gravel [I guess]. I has a eel that would go under the UG filter plates every night.

No fish simply dissapears into thin air, or water for that matter. They get out and in flopping around on the floor, end up under some place you never think to look, or they die and are eaten by their tankmates, or, they get into some tank decoration and you simply can't see them.

Or....Puss has struck in the night.

But Clowns do sleep on their sides. It's a habit geared to panic anyone who has never kept them before. You think it's dead, and it's really just napping. However, I have never seen a Clown dig under sand as do their eel like cousins.

BTW: Clowns are really happiest in schools of at least 8 - 10 in tanks at least 3 ft. long. They don't need depth so much as length. Mine are currently in a 55 and at the rate they are growing, will soon need a long 90 or 100. Given enough space, they will grow up to 16 - 18 inches.

I've read that Clowns grow quickly as babies, then slow down and take years to mature, which somehow makes no sense to me. I think they may simply need a lot of space to grow and plan to test that theory next year, when I will release a bunch of 6 - 8 inch Clowns into a 1000 gal., planted stock tank and see how they do after 5 months.

If I had Gary's climate, I wouldn't need to wait until next spring. (Grouse)

I agree with the hard-headed realism of this but it is just fun to ponder those 'missing fishes' mysteries on whom the case is never closed.
BTW I got up this morning and now my bigger clown loach is hiding too. NO trace. I suppose I better give it a couple days.

The REAL answer, is that the "missing" fish were snatched in the night by the same gremlins that take socks.

Those who keep fish tanks in their laundry rooms are most suceptable to such kidnappings as the gremlins are likely mistaking the Clowns for wet argyles.

ha! good one. this thread just got even more interesting.

Ha! This is so great! I had a disappearing clown loach about 6 or 8 months ago... decided to buy more - 4 clown loaches Saturday afternoon. After I arrived home, I acclimated them to my water, and eventually released all 4 in my tank. Two hours later, I could only find two. I began second-guessing myself, thinking maybe I left them in the bag, or maybe I only bought 3. After searching my lil' 20 gallon tank, substrate, filter system, biowheel, nearby floor, everywhere, bucket, trashcan, etc. I had only 2 clown loaches now.

After contemplating various scenarios, options etc. and feeling truly perplexed, I decided to google "disappearing clown loach" and found this thread...

After reading through this entire thread, I look back over and there's all 4... WTF!?

Turns out they were hiding in a peice of faux-driftwood in my tank. I sat and stared and watched them disappear and re-appear from this thing. Some would call it boring. I didn't even think they could fit in the quarter-sized opening. is it possible?!

During my search, I picked this thing completely *out of the water* and examined it thoroughly, including all the holes. I placed it back in the tank, and re-arranged it like 5 times, and they never so much as peered around the corner.

Now, about that original missing clown loach. I never did solve that mystery; However, I did remove my faux-driftwood and cleaned it in the sink with the little sprayer thing, I didn't find any remains, but there was a foul odor, maybe rotting fish remains?! Maybe the snails gobbeled up the majority of the coarpse... Guess we'll never for sure..

I look over to my tank right now and only see 1, but I will rest easy, as I am certain the others are lurking around somewhere.

Anyway, there's my contribution, hopefully it will make someone smile! (and relax knowing their loaches are safe)

Matthew
Charleston, SC

Clown Loaches characteristically like to hide. They are also sensitive to changes in water conditions, ich, and they can jump out of the tank. Sometimes they can be belligerent. Not a good beginner fish, but not the worst to keep alive.

Laugh* Can't believe i found this thread. I read through all of them, and identified word for word Matthew from Charleston's story.
Just last night, i was counting our clown loaches and couldn't find the 4th one! After much searching, i found it in our 'castle'. After freeing it, it disappeared. The tank was only a 90L, so i got worried that maybe it jumped out, so i looked everywhere on the floor, in bags, in shoes, etc. But to no avail.... I was really puzzled. So, i sat down and googled "Disappearing Clown Loaches" and found this thread, and had a really good laugh at Matthew's story. So, when i went to bed last night, i was hoping that what he said was true that it was indeed lurking around somewhere.
This morning, i looked into the tank, and sure enough the 4th one with the little spot on its fin was there. I rubbed my eye to make sure. But, after having breakkie, i went back to check again, and it was gone. I was thinking was i hallucinating? Maybe i wasn't fully awake yet. Then the search started again, and once again to no avail....
I really thought i went bananas....
In the arvo, i went to buy 3 more clown loaches, as i was reading that it was better to have a minimum of 5. Anyways, i was still hoping the 4th loach would suddenly show. I decided to clean the filter, and you guessed it. There was the 4th one lodged (and probably stuck) behind the filter. I have now freed it, and made sure that it was impossible for him to go back there. (He's still trying, the last time i checked :))

As soon as I put my 3 Clown Loaches in my tank 1 disappeared immediately, and the next day I now only see 1 who is always scavaging the bottom of the tank and the decorations I assume for food, I have a lot of snails since my Cherry Barbs have gotten to old to keep them under control any longer.

I'm sooooo glad to see i'm not the only one having this problem! We bought 2 clown loaches and put them in the tank and for the first say 2 weeks had no problems with them. Then about 2 weeks ago they just disappeared i tore my 75 gal tank apart looking for these things and they were just gone i moved everything in this checked the filters the floor moved the hide away rocks everything and they were no where i was flipping out because i'm a logical person and things don't just disappear but they were gone. Then we got up this morning I did my water change cleaned the filters .... got done sat down in front of the tank and guess what was swimming around right in front of us.....

GREAT!!! im not the only one... I bought one clown loach, put it in my 55g aquarium with his bff baby pacu angelfish and gourami. After one night of him being in the 55 i coudnt find him...still cant find him. I checked everywhere but I think he'll show up like everyone elses... I've gotta get him more clown loach friends! :D

Well thank you http://www.houzz.com/user/petiolaris i bought 2 loaches today and i could find the previous one! Looked everywhere, lifted all hiding spots, checked in filter too! Until.... I saw petiolaris's point about jumping... "happy" (named by my nephews) was no more - I had added some top up water to the tank and it must have freeked at the change and made a splash for it during the night. Lesson learned.

I have a YoYo loach that makes an appearance once every three months or so. I was told that if I wanted to see more of him I should put a dim light over the aquarium and watch after dark with all the room lights off.

Probably give your YoYo a couple more friends and he may come out more. I have 3, two are always out swimming while the third spends much of his time hiding, only coming out to eat. I have 6 Khuli loaches and they usually only come out to eat.