Worried about my Clown Loaches

[Luvruben]

Hi
I joined this site about 2 years ago, and at the time I got so tied up with other things that it was the last time I visited too.. Time to stop by!
I do have a question... I am fairly new to Clown Loaches. I have a small group of six with intentions of adding a seventh. I have had them approximately 3-4 weeks.
The first week or so I kept them in a smaller quarantine tank while I repaired a small chip in the acrylic on the bigger tank they would be going to.
In the smaller tank they seemed so happy and active, never being still. Always swimming, playing.
I moved them to the bigger tank and now I never see them. Which sounds like it is a common complaint about these guys, lol..I know they do like to hide, my concern is that I never see them eating and their color is not as bright as it should be.
I put food in for them but often clean out most of it later because they have not touched it. And their faded color seems to suggest that they are stressed?
Although the tank is new to them, the filters have been running for years on my Oscar tanks and part of the substrate is from the Oscar tanks. I do test the water to make sure the filters are still cycled, and the levels are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, usually < 20 nitrate.
It is an 8 foot X 2 foot 200 gallon tank, with good canister filters and I added 2 power heads to create a current, which they seemed to love in the smaller tank. Low level light, sand substrate, places to hide.. They are the only fish that will be in this tank, so I know it is not other fish stressing them out.. Everything seemed like it should be in order..
Am I worrying about nothing? Im nervous I think because I do not have much experience with these guys...and I hate it that I dont see them eating..
Would adding the 7th one sooner maybe help with the stress? Or is this normal for these guys to hide/ not eat/ be a little faded when they move in to a new tank?
Im not sure if it makes any difference, but they are medium size, I would say 3-5 inches..
Thank you ! Sorry this got long winded!

[Autumnsky]

Hello. Welcome back!

I have CL's and they are really wonderful, but odd fish.

Previously I had changed tanks and the fish literally disappeared for weeks and I thought they had died and I just didn't see their bodies????!

But they dug a cave in between some stones which had a big DW on top! How they all could fit in there I really do not know.

One day, when I was feeding the other fish, one larger one popped out and really startled me since I thought they were gone!

So all that to say perhaps they are getting used to the tank.

What substrate came from the Oscar tank? What are the pH, GH/KH?

Maybe the water from that is different than before.

They really love caves and rooty DW and will use dense plants to hide.

[Luvruben]

Thank you! They are funny fish! But so cute, lol..
Maybe Ill just keep putting food in and cleaning out what is not eaten later and just assume they eat at least some of it?
The Oscars have mostly rocks as substrate because they like to build things with them ..(they are another weird, wonderful fish!) but it is mixed with some sand and there is a lot of it, so I borrowed about a gallon bucket of it.
Our PH here runs a little high but it seems to soften a bit in the tank. I dont do anything deliberately to soften it because I dont want it to fluctuate... I think it goes down a little just from some of the decor in the tank, like the natural wood.
I ordered another test kit on Amazon, because mine is getting close to expiration date. So I'll see if the results are the same or way off when it gets here..
I think Ill go check on them now... they do have lots of hidey spots and an amazing way of fitting all of their friends into tight spaces... Maybe I'll have a sighting if I sneak up on them, lol...

[Autumnsky]

Mine will rush when I stand in front of the tank when I am around if they didn't get the feeding yet. But usually they see me and dart into the caves or behind the plants.

The tests would probably be the same.