Is it normal for my clown loach to.....

[zach_fresh]

lie on his side or back???????

 

[Asher]

how long has it been in the tank?

 

[WaterPond]

i wouldent say that is normal, no, but i know nothing about clown loaches.

 

[Asher]

the reason i ask is that I have had some fish that just had weird quirks like that. I had a beta who would lay upside down in the roots of the plant in his vase for hours at a time and when I went to feed, there he'd be waiting for food at the top! So if you've had him a while and this is a recent developement then it could be bad...

 

[WaterPond]

you dont have a betta vase with the plant coming out the top and the roots on the bottom, do you??

 

[Asher]

i did...why?

 

[WaterPond]

i'm just don't like those

read this :
http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_in_a_vase.htm

 

[triazole]

completely normal for the botia family.

 

[IceH2O]

Yes clown loaches like to play dead...

 

[skibar70]

Clown loaches are very aptly named because they do just that clown around. I have had them a lot and they did that for me too but were just fine.

 

[hsherman1986]

yes it is perfectly normal. He is asleep when he does this. Mine do it all the time (and i have four. Picture that, four clown loaches, all laying on their sides, one on top of another...LOACH PILE!!)

 

[coldmachineUK]

Yup normal botia behaviour like someone said. Sometimes they like to stand up on their caudal fins as well Bizarre fishies lol.

 

[kmgriff72]

I freaked out the first time my FP clown (SW) did that also. He was sleeping like someone said, as soon as you started moving around (getting ready to feed) he would wake right up and be ready. He also would hang out at the top of the tank in a vertical position like he was gasping for air but he would be asleep again. I cried when I had to tear down that tank and give him away to a friend.....

 

[hc8719]

you dont have a betta vase with the plant coming out the top and the roots on the bottom, do you??

also i could imagine the water becoming stagnant, and bettas like to breath air directly (they're actually a type of gourami), how can they breath, and what about params, waste build up... i could go on, but i wont this time

 

[EXM]

I am currently aware that some snakes when pregnant will lie on their backs or sides to reduce stress on the eggs and seeing that clown loaches are bottom swimmers and would put weight on their belly.

 

[jaowl]

It is fun watching the 'clowns' when they are in a non swimming mode!!

I say they are 'faking me out'