are my dwarf chain loaches healthy?

[miles_hot]

we have had 6 dwarf chain loaches for 2 weeks or so now and they coloured up beautify when we got them into the tank however they now seem to our paranoid eyes to be losing some of the glossy black on their backs. The strip down the side is still glossy blank however the chain on the back appears more grey than glossy black.

They are in a tank with 1 tiger barbs and are brilliant at holding their own against them - the two groups pretty much ignore each other now but at the beginning the loaches were scattering the tiger shoal all the time

The only issue I can see is that the loaches don't seem to know what food is. They don't appear to go for the sinking granual food which we put in (the meaty bit) now do they go for the Veg flakes. They also ignore (an in a few cases sit on) the sinking pellet which the shop sold as good for them when we bought the loaches.

Certainly some are getting much bigger than when we bought them, others we're less sure of however that's probably just paranoia. We assume that they're feeding off detritus at the bottom as they are certainly spending time "cleaning" rocks and branches and digging in the sand - when they're not chasing the heck out of each other!.

Is it normal for there to be a colour difference between the side line and the main pattern
Have you any favourite food which loaches find naturally appealing that we can see them eat or is this foraging only behaviour 100% natural and positive?

Many thanks

Miles
PS Great site - and a fantastic resource

[Marcos Mataratzis]

Hello Miles,

I would check water parameters first, like temperature and pH. I also recomend live food like brine shrimps and white worms. Take a look here for the best parameters to use for your loaches:

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/ya ... idthimunki

Marcos