Stimulating Loaches through Play

soul-hugger · Post by **soul-hugger** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:53 pm

Hi all..,

With Loaches being such inquisitive creatures, I was wondering if there are any ways to stimulate them and keep them from getting bored. Hopefully this question doesn't sound stupid, but lately I have been wondering if there are any toys or other such items to keep a curious Loach busy. I know that with other animals, they enjoy a challenge. For example I have for my dog a rubber toy with a small hole on one side. You can stuff it full of peanut butter and dog treats and it keeps him busy for a long time trying to get them out. Although you cannot compare a fish to a dog, I wondered if any of you have tried anything of this nature.
I will be curious to see your replies.

Thanks..,
soul-hugger

helen nightingale · Post by **helen nightingale** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:04 pm

its not a stupid question at all. loaches do seem to be intelligent as fish go.

i have to ask, does the dog toy with peanut butter stink and make a mess? it sounds gross, but i bet the dog loves it

Stonecoloured · Post by **Stonecoloured** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:44 pm

I used to dangle a pieces of thread into the water for my Dojo to swim around - for food treats... after a few weeks I could stick the thread into the water in any part of the tank and he would swim upto it and swim around. I can't think of any other "toys" at the moment.

soul-hugger · Post by **soul-hugger** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:20 pm

Hi, Helen..,

The dog toy doesn't stink or make a mess because the dog makes sure to lick every last crumb from it before he is done. Usually I smear Milk Bones or other crunchy treats with peanut butter and stuff them in. The toy itself is made of rubber and can be washed. But some other dog treats are definitely stinky and messy... like bones and pig or cow's ears. Yucky to us but the dogs sure like them.

Another dog I had used to drop a bone between the rungs of a plant stand and then try to get it out. She did it on purpose and would entertain herself (and us!) with this game for hours.

Hi, Stonecolored..,

The string with food on it is a really good idea. I might try this and see what happens! The Loaches I had in mind for this are Dojos, too. They have personalities like otters, and it seems like they would love to play if you could think of ways to do it.

I saw a fish toy advertised in a magazine. You could teach your fish to do tricks, like pushing a ball into a net. This might be neat, but it seems more to me like silly "human tricks". What I had in mind was something a little more "natural" for the Loaches, something that would make them think and keep them busy. It would be interesting to observe them at length in Nature and see what they do.

Sometimes I feel bad for my Loaches because they spend a good part of their day hiding under driftwood. I only have three Weather Loaches, and I have been looking for awhile for a few more to add to the mix, but it has been hard to find healthy specimens. They are in a 55 Gallon tank, so I think they would be OK for space if I added two or three more. This alone may help them to come out a little more. In the beginning I had two of them in a 20 Gallon tank, and after I moved them, they went through a pretty bad case of Ich. After that, their personality changed and they became more retiring. They no longer eat out of my hands, they appear to startle easily, and they have begun burrowing, which they never did before. I can no longer find them lounging in the plants or laying out in laugh-inspiring positions. To this day, I'm not really sure why. The conditions in the two tanks are almost exactly the same, except that in the larger tank, the temperature is a little lower; 73 instead of 78-80. I was thinking of them specifically when I got the larger tank, and have been trying hard to find tankmates that are compatible with them in likes and needs. It has become frustrating for me and I have been trying to figure out ways to draw them out. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank-you:)
soul-hugger

soul-hugger · Post by **soul-hugger** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:29 pm

I just thought of something else. I have a lot more fish in the 20 Gallon tank. Most of them are small tetras. Maybe their presence helped to make the Loaches feel safe. Like when people talk about using "dithers". Since I have been being so careful to choose the right tankmates, it is taking a long time to stock this tank. Does this make sense? I can't think of any other reason they would have been happier in the smaller tank, until I thought of this. Any thoughts you may have on this would be appreciated.

Thanks again..,
soul-hugger

andyroo · Post by **andyroo** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 5:23 pm

I've heard that South American Arawana will "play" with a ping-pong ball floating on the surface and this keeps them from getting drop-eye condition. Any sort of habitat enrichment should be positive. Tubes/pipes and plants and current to start with, snails and burrowing foods as well.

Try doing up a ping-pong ball in patters similar to your loach with a jiffy-marker then flooding it.

My modesta have not been very day-time social this winter... No begging for food or anything. I've introduced a couple of partial-dithers (gouramis and tetras) and am hoping to see more activity as the tank warms up.
4 may prove too small a school, but they're rarely imported.
A

palaeodave · Post by **palaeodave** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 5:42 pm

Burrowing foods?

OneWay · Post by **OneWay** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:32 pm

mine love to pull frozen food through a net,, i place blood worms, beef heart, and mosquito larvae into the net, then secure it to the bottom. The current draws the net full open and they pull the food through the down stream side. It is quite interesting to watch

wasserscheu · Post by **wasserscheu** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:24 pm

eating spaghetti in front of them fascinates them

I used to hide food for clowns and tick with a needle to point where it is, they learn fast, but even faster were the Amano shrimps.

Occasionally add or change some not occupied caves, they like to check out new stuff. Or add a layer/platform they can swim underneath and pose on top... or pipes that go above water, connect a little tank, just for fun. Some swim through the pipe and some individuals of the same species don't. I leave the radio on occasionally.
Lay your head for a while close to the tank and don't move but keep eye contact, repeat the same pretending you are sleeping, they come checking what's up with you... I am sure by now, that clowns know very precise what mood I am in. Their behaviour somehow reflects me. When listening to music and being relaxed they come up to my face, that is pretty interesting and repeatable.

starsplitter7 · Post by **starsplitter7** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:14 pm

I move my decorations around for the fish. The Dojos like to surf in the flow. Burrowing food for me includes MTS and gammarus.

Keith Wolcott · Post by **Keith Wolcott** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:20 pm

Excellent topic to start soul-hugger. I also think that keeping life interesting for our loaches is an important part of our duty. To summarize, the standard options are, changing the decor, varying the water currents, and varying the food and how it is given.

Wolfram, I never thought of eating spaghetti in front of them, but I will have to try it! Mine watch me eat burritos for lunch. Do you mean that you tap on the glass with a needle near where the food is to indicate where it is? That is a nice idea. I will try that too. I don't have any music in my tank room, so that is a good idea for me to try too.

I have been experimenting with my lights by leaving my moon lights on all night. I'm not sure of the effect yet, but I think any change is probably interesting for them.

Has anyone experimented with temperature changes? Gradual changes, of course, but as we like changes in our environment, they might like some small variations in temperature.

Glostik · Post by **Glostik** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:15 am

My clowns play soccer with my smaller river rocks.

They move them around all the time. Always hear banging when the lights are out.

My clowns also play with my glass thermometers, theyve broken 4 of them.

Mine also like to play in the current swimming around in it.

fhm_usa · Post by **fhm_usa** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 2:50 am

I think I've seen that somewhere that magazine a fish playing with a ball and going through hoops...hmmm!

SPARKYTHEWELDER · Post by **SPARKYTHEWELDER** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:34 am

i dont use any toys really but i do tap on the top of the lids when i feed and now my loaches know that its feeding time when i do this !

In some circles i believe this is called pavlov's law ! In animals they become conditioned after a while then the stimulus is not needed they just do what they have been conditioned to do by the original stimulus !! Its rather neat and its makes feeding easier !

Sparkythewelder

andyroo · Post by **andyroo** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:28 am

Dave,
Burrowing foods= infauna. Tasty stuff that lives under the gravel. MTS, worms, burrowing clams, nymphs, clam-shrimp and such. I used to have some sort of bright red annelid worm living in my gravel- you could see them through the glass from underneath- but i'm not sure since the tank re-fit 2 years ago. Those used to keep the clowns very busy as they were >1 and 2 inches under the substrate.
Clean, live tubifex spread over the length of the tank might get a few into the substrate before the fish get 'em, or feed a helping or two before the loaches are awake.
Are there flood-tolerant earthworms or similar? Must be.....
A

Loaches Online Forum

Stimulating Loaches through Play

Stimulating Loaches through Play

toys for fish !

Who is online

Go to page

About us