make me fat!

[poeticpyro]

how does one plump up a clown?

one of mine is skinny, but not emaciated, just skinny and it's a baby... just was curious, the other three are fatty lol!

[Mark in Vancouver]

You should know this by now, pyro. The two foods that are recommended are bloodworm and brine shrimp. And you've complained that yours are not taking this food.

Also, the concept of "fattening up" an aquarium fish of any kind is misguided, IMO. If the fish is unhealthy, thinness is probably the fault of parasites or other conditions. This too can be dealt with.

How many loaches have you bought, in total?

[mikev]

poeticpyro,

may it be that you are a little impatient? They don't become fat overnight, it is something that takes weeks or months..... best course of action is to give them the anti-parasite treatment, feed them well, and give them time to grow and fatten....

[pedzola]

Maybe your loaches prefer a less fatty diet... if you could eat a cheeseburger or a salad, which would you choose? Maybe some loaches prefer salad...

Maybe they are healthier if they are not piggy eaters?

[mikev]

Maybe some loaches prefer salad...

One of mine seems to. While five prefer bloodworms, he is more enthusiastic about pleco's wafers...

[TammyLiz]

My yoyos and rostrata enjoy eating the algae based flakes I often feed my gouramis. They turn upside down and eat them off the surface, clicking and carrying on. Its cute. There is only one that doesn't seem to like them. He cruises the bottom and waits for the bloodworms. I doubt the veggie diet is bad for them but I'm pretty sure they need something with a lot of protein, as well.
Have you watched to see if your skinny one is eating? As long as he is eating he should not be thinner than the others. If you have had him long enough that you feel like he should be fatter than he is, and you see him eating, it indicates a problem with parasites.

Tammy

[poeticpyro]

i have had this one for a month now, he hasn't gotten "fatter" one is worrying me right now it's an older clown 1 yr. or so and it's acting a little odd, but it isn't breathing heavily or not eating, it's just acting a little different. i've tried blood worms and brine shrimp, they just turn up their barbles at it, the yo-yos eat it all, but the clowns just look at it like i'm nuts. i've been hearing that the "odd" ones are harder to keep alive, i'm praying that it's not true, the two that are in question are both oddities... ah... so annoying.

[TammyLiz]

If they're not eating there must be something stressing them. I doubt there is such a thing as a loach that truely doesn't like bloodworms, provided they are not freeze dried bloodworms. Mine seem to think freeze dried is yucky.

If you are feeding them frozen or live bloodworms and they don't want them, maybe you should be looking elsewhere for the problem. Post the stats of the tank, inluding the volume, and exactly what all the tankmates are, even non loach species. Do you add anything to the tank other than dechlor? Have you tested ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? Hardness, pH? What is the temp? How often do you do a water change and how much? What are the dimensions of the bottom portion of the tank? Do they have somewhere to hide? A big open space to swim? Something must be stressing them. Maybe if you can answer all these things we can figure out what you could do to make them feel better.

[Emma Turner]

i've been hearing that the "odd" ones are harder to keep alive, i'm praying that it's not true, the two that are in question are both oddities... ah... so annoying.

Don't know where you've 'heard' this from, but it is absolute rubbish. I have plenty of oddly marked Clowns that I've had for years and years, and they are positively thriving.

Emma

[poeticpyro]

all perams are just where they need to be
the tank is 20"x 20" x 20"
there are two nice sized hiding places, plus a ton of plants that they can creep into and they usually do.
tankmates are in the signature...
"loach tank" not puffer tank...
and i had 4 fish die recently in the tank, two ate a poisonous fish and the other two died because of a fight... even though they had gotten along for almost a year.. odd. don't know what's going on in the tank.

the loaches are eating only when it's pitch black you can hear them all clicking away. i'm going to give them a few snails as a treat tomorrow morning.
they get fed twice a day, 12 hours apart.

[EdenAU]

all perams are just where they need to be
the tank is 20"x 20" x 20"
there are two nice sized hiding places, plus a ton of plants that they can creep into and they usually do.

I think that equates to a 35 gallon tank

I had one very emaciated loach; I say "had", because he is now almost up to normal "fatness".
I treated the whole tank with levamisole (the whole tank, because all the fish came together); I also feed 4 times per day (because I can, and because the fish will eat).

When you say "all perams are where they need to be", what do you mean?

Maybe if you could give us the temp, pH, GH, KH, ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels, something might "stand out" as the problem (it might not be just one thing, but a combination of a couple of normally innocent things).

My apologies if you've posted it in another thread somewhere (I don't always get time to read every single thread), but how long have you owned the clown loaches & how big are they now?

[andyroo]

the "stripey men" as the wife calls them (clown loaches) eat offensive amounts, particulalry when a big shrimp dies or i find an ant's nest in the potted plants or when they root out a big snail. They don't get fat... or even grow much for that matter... but for the golf-ball bellies, which go away over a day or so.

Sleek, sveldt, current-dancin' shiney stripey folk.

I would be curious as to how these loaches in everyone's photos keep so plump.


Andyroo

[poeticpyro]

ammonia is zero
Ph was 7.2 and is now more like 7.1
nitrates are at zero
temp 78F

but i do think there's internal parasites in the tank. the clown that died this morning showed no signs of ich or anything and it lost some weight... unfortunately i did an "autopsy" and the intestines had little wormy like things in them. i later found out that it's from the brine shrimp, contaminated pack... so yeah it's all my fault and i feel horrible.

as to whomever (no offence, just forgot your name) said it's a 35 gallon tank, i do believe you're right. don't worry i have a larger tank cycling 180gallons... i just do NOT want to add anyone into it for about a month or so... unless it's the barbs since they're hardy and if they die they're not hard to replace, sounds morbid, but it's true.

[mikev]

Questions:

1. Describe the little wormy things as best as you can.

2. What makes you think that they came from shrimp? You had a new clown within the last month, right?

3. What are you treating them with now?


Preliminary assestment is that you probably have a major problem, and the rest of the fish in the tank may have more of wormy things in them. Ordering levimisole overnight is a smart first move.

[poeticpyro]

i'm using this stuff that dissolves into the water, it's gentler. i'm also using medicated food on the gourami.
they looked similar to ring worms or like heart worms... "anchor" worms even... took a sample to the vet. (i'm a nurse so it's not far away at all). because i had read on dwarfpuffers.com (i'm a member to their forum) that some people in my area had problems with frozen brine shrimp *best thing EVER to fatten the puff* so i suspected it and sure enough upon tawing out the shrimp and doing a close investigation there was frozen shrimp, but not all of it was a healthy color, asked the vet and the vet sided with me. most likely cause, not 100%sure