Trouble eating

[Toothpik]

well i tried to get my clown loaches to eat..but they didnt even show any interest...i soaked blood worms in garlic guard and selcon but all i saw was one loach with one in its mouth but i tried to spot feed them but no interest...any help?

[Emma Turner]

Have you tried feeding after lights out?

Emma

[Toothpik]

i have only had them for like a 4 hrs lol but no this is my first night with them....is there any reason they might not be eating properly bc my old loaches went crazy for blood worms... maybe they need a few days to not eat before realizing they need to eat..but even so that cant be healthy..so ill still keep trying to feed them...is there any particular food they need?

[Emma Turner]

I didn't realise you'd only bought them today. If they aren't feeding yet, don't worry. It can take new loaches days to settle in, weeks in some cases. Offer as varied a diet as possible, with good quality sinking pellets/granules, and a mix of frozen foods such as vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, white mosquito larvae, Mysis shrimp & krill (chopped small if the loaches are little). Most loaches do really enjoy bloodworm, but remember it is very rich, so feed sparingly. What size tank do you have these new loaches in? The reason I ask is that if they are in a small quarantine tank, be very careful not to overfeed and keep an eye on water quality as it could deteriorate quickly whilst you are trying various foods. This article has a section on feeding and foods, which might be of interest: http://www.loaches.com/care/the-loach-almanac

Emma

[Toothpik]

i see...i noticed they were searching for food so i set a shrimp sinking pellet in the middle where they search and they totally went around it i was like what!? but i guess ill continue feeding the same way so whenever they want to eat they can...its a 55 gallon tank ive tried frozen brine and blood worms and sinking pellets...i have mysis i guess ill try some and see but that will have to wait till tomorrow morning...also i read in the almanac that if the loach has not eaten within 3 days then something is wrong! that statement totally concerns me bc you said that its completely normal that loaches dont eat for a few days sometimes even weeks~!

[Emma Turner]

Thanks for pointing that out, personally I would say that needs amending.

Best of luck with them,

Emma

[Toothpik]

thanks emma i went to check the shrimp pellet but it was all gone! im not sure if it was my loaches or my my rainbow fish but then again they arent ones to scavange for food so i dont really know

[Toothpik]

great news Emma! i fed them algae discs and they loved it they tummies are not plump but not proportinate to their bodies lol their bodies are long and slender and there you see their tummies nice and fat but heres my feeding routine what you think?

Morning-mysis or brine
lunch-maybe a blood worm treat/sinking pellets
snack-brine or algae wafer

dinner or lights out-pellet

[bslindgren]

Try frozen brine shrimp. I have had good luck with that to get loaches eating (with one notable exception, which is my latest acquisition)

[Toothpik]

thank you i will try brine tomorrow morning and im going to try to get like 4-6 more clowns

[Toothpik]

well i tried brine this morning but no luck they didnt go for it till it sank into the rocks looks like i need to get sand really fast .....the only thing i get them to eat is algae wafers and shrimp pellets is that good enough for now?