Loaches Online Forum

on saturday i bought a kubotia (with the plan to buy at least 2 more once the shop gets some more in). i put him in my community tank and after a couple of days of hiding he finally came out to eat. after putting the sinking pellets in he went and found some but immediately took them the the tunnel where the upside down catfish lives, he dropped the pellets at the entrance and the catfish ate them. the loach did this at least 10 times before going to his own corner to eat. i have fed him 2 more times since and both times he does the same thing. has anyone else seen any weird loachy behavoiur?
i find this really odd but fascinating to watch.

Loaches do lots of weird things to make their owners go crazy!!

I've never witnessed such behavior, but it sounds fascinating.

Enjoy your funny loach!! Just wait till he has friends....then the party really begins!

I am amazed that he is grabbing the sinking pellets assuming he is small. My guys are between 2 and 3 inches and they don't take pellets yet. They only feed on granules, crisps and brine shrimp. I have tried to put a few pellets in the tank, but they just investigate and leave them alone.

hes just under 2 inches these are mini pellets theyre about a third of the size of regular pellets. my loaches and catfish love them the only problem is you have to put more in as the top feeding fish can get/eat them more easily then the regular pellets and they sink more slowly so i pre soak them.

What brand are the "mini" pellets? I would like to try some.

I find the TetraMin tropical granules for the most part sink to the bottom, usually I put them in the filter outflow hence they get a good downward momentum to take them to the bottom. Same with crisps, in the filter outflow to get them to the bottom.

they are King British tropical fish mini pellets. i live in england so if you're from some where else they might not sell them. putting them in the filter overflow is a good idea i might have to try that as my loaches are in a community tank they have top feeders to compete with and i always wonder if they get enough food.

Thanks for the reply, will grab some when I am in europe soon. You will really enjoy Kubs, they are fantastic fish. Their true behaviour won't come out until you have at least 3.

went to a different shop yesterday and they had 15 different species of loach including kubs so got 2 more but i will definitely be going back there loaches are my favorite type of fish.

That behavior is totally normal! B. Kubotia (Kubs) are a very boisteruius species of Botiine loach. Kubs are teh most active of the smaller Botiines in my experience. They will chase small dihter fish, play hide ans seek games with each other and also like many other loaches they do the "loachy dance" by swiming rapidly up and down the glass and they may even do this in a circular formation.