Sarah Navarro wrote:

Dick, I also am curiuos about this. I have three clown loaches in a 100
gallon tank, along with a few miscellanous other fish. They are only about
4 or 5 inches long also. I have had them about a year and a half and they
just don't seem to grow any larger. I was told when I got them that they
needed to be in a very large tank because they would get very big, but it's
just not happening yet.

Patience. A clown has a life expectancy of about 30 years, and they grow
all the time, although growth slows down as they become older. What you
buy in a LFS is a toddler.

To OP: clowns tend to be quite shy and nocturnal at first, once they
have adapted to their new home they become bolder, especially if kept in
groups (5 to 6 is the minimum recommended). Clowns should always be
supplied with hide-outs like PVC pipes, coconut shells, peat wood and
the like. Note that clowns can recognise their keeper, when I had some
they would not mind my presence but vanish if a stranger entered the
room.