[Sharper]

He seems to be acting okay. I've had him for over 2 years. And I honestly had no idea that he needed a friend this whole time, so I added another clown loach (much smaller) this past weekend. His whole behavior changed and he became very active, swimming around and playing with the new fella. We also recently upgraded our tank from 30 gal to 55 gal about 3 weeks ago. But it's only today that I see his color is much lighter than it was yesterday. the black markings on his head and on top of his body seems to have an irredescent white velvet coat. He still plays, very active and is eating. So I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not? (Attaching photo)

pH 7.8 this morning
Temp 78 F

 

[Diana]

Did you quarantine the new fish?

You describe a 'velvety' look...
Look up Velvet, an external parasite of fish. Read the instructions about the best way to look for this parasite- certain kind of light.

Here is more info about Clown Loaches.
http://www.loaches.com/species-index/clown-loach-chromobotia-macracanthus

 

[Fish Em]

He/she looks pretty normal imo. When I had my clown loaches, they used to fight sometimes and their color would have that faded look momentarily. If you just brought a new one, they are probably squabbling and that color fade is typical.

 

[Sharper]

Thanks so much for the help!

Actually, after reading the more on the link that was posted by Diana, I realized that he was just "greying out" because he was back to his vibrant color this morning. Good to know!

And I had no idea they could live 40 years......goodness!!!

 

[Lonestarbandit]

Clown loaches will grey out as a show of dominance around other loaches. He was showing he was the boss of the tank.