Loaches Online Forum

I always get frustrated with those “all you can eat” threads, as amongst my loaches, only Sewellia and Striata are going for watermelon and cantaloupe. I´ve tried ANY POSSIBLE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE, cooked and raw, apples too, sweet and sour ones, and those asian pears, plums, banana (Raphael took it for a while but stopped), peas (peeled), potato, small pieces of oranges, garlic, green and red pepper, zucchini, cucumber, (not even ancistrus takes it, the shrimps do), broccoli, …. I even cut the surface, so they could tear out little pieces. Tried thawed frozen lotos-roots, bamboo sprouts. bean sprouts, spinach, and all other common stuff. They go checking, they are not ignorant, but no… I´m so mad. Only those polluted bloodworms and some other stuff most likely has sugar in it …or so… They eat spaghetti only with sauce – great… They are like my kids, what am I doing wrong? … actually I do need to eat more veggies and fruit myself … so, broccoli soup today.

Wolfram, try making a tiny slit in the veg & put in a piece of wafer or a pellet in it, something they already like.

Do you give them a fasting day? I usually have one day a week (usually, the day before I vacuum the gravel)- I feed them very lightly with flakes in the morning on that day and nothing else- next day, vacuum and water change and some new food, or something that I know they might not be crazy about but is good for them...I do feel your pain, Wolfram- mine won't eat broccoli now matter how it's presented and the pleco likes plums but they don't and on and on...we do spoil them, don't we?

Kate

Thanks a lot for your nice Ideas, I love them.

NancyD wrote:Wolfram, try making a tiny slit in the veg & put in a piece of wafer or a pellet in it, something they already like.

Great Idea, I´ll try that. Slits I already do, didn´t manage putting the teasers in though …

tariesindanrie wrote:… we do spoil them, don't we?

Kate

Yes we really do, was thinking about that when enjoying my broccoli-cream-soup, … who cares about loaches … I had good veggies today

Fasting days are very good, I had fasting times before, right now I had too much trouble, so I´m a bit on the overfeeding side as their appetite was not so good lately, but coming back to normal now. In future I sure will put healthy days in… when on vacation, and no jung fish, they stay without for a week os so...
Btw, when having the diet day, it may be an idea to try the 0-day after the vacuuming (4 hours after last meal), so the water stays clean for another day?