Dwarf Loaches (food)

[chichian]

I recently got 3 dwarf loaches (would have gotten more but I had found out that they didn't really stay 2" like my all fish books said, and they were like $18/each).

Anyways, the LFS guy gave me 2 bigger fat ones and 1 small skinny one (ignored my request for ones of the "same size" since they were kinda hard for him to catch). One my books said they would only "school" with others of similiar size and age; so far this makes sense since the small one is always on his own and the other two hang out together, but I don't have enough for a school anyways. Perhaps in the future I'll get 2-3 more (after I get enough $$ for a qt tank and for the loaches).

My biggest issue now is food (well besides the current treatment for ich in my tank). I wanted the small one to eat more and perhaps then reach the same size as the others and possibly fool them into letting him play their reindeer games, but NONE of the loaches eat any of the food I put in there!!! They don't eat shrimp pellets nor algae wafers. They seem to search for flake that falls to the bottom, but then they actually pass it up when they find it. I've have only seen the largers ones eat twice: they eat snails when they find 'em (it's kinda cute watching them try to snag a piece of the snail from under the shell), but I really only had like 6 snails at most (that I've seen), so perhaps that translates into a lot more actually hiding in the tank, but I'm still worried.

Should I get snails for them to eat? Or does anyone know an alternative food that doesn't have the chance to overtake the tank?

Any suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Lotus]

It sounds like they're still adjusting, and not taking well to prepared foods. You can try either frozen brine shrimp or bloodworms, most botias go crazy for them. You can also try a slice of zucchini/courgette or cucumber (held to a rock with a rubber band usually works). They may or may not go for the veggies. If you have live brine shrimp or live bloodworms available, you could try those, too.

A lot of fish won't eat prepared food if there is live food in the tank (like snails), but you can try to feed them other foods.

 

[chichian]

Thanks Lotus, I will try some bloodworms and a cucumber. If they don't eat either, I'm sure everyone else in the tank will be more than happy to devour the worms and cuc for them.

 

[FisheyLisa]

definately blood worms, I use frozen. Also frozen brine shrimp. I am assuming these are like other loaches, you probabaly don't want to rely on bloodworms, and make sure they get different protein sources after they acclimate. It will probably take a week or 2 for them to get used to things.

i would watch the little guy. I have heard mixed opinions on getting odd vs. even numbers, but if he is socially out, it may put added stress on him and could lead to problems in the future. Just food for thought.

Good luck! do you have any pictures posted? I have never heard of dwarf loaches.

 

[chichian]

I tried the frozen bloodworms; they didn't seem interested. I even dumped a bunch in their area (since they wouldn't approach the feeding cone), and they just ignored them. The other fish ate 'em up though like mad! My betta was such a pig, I swear he probably ate like 20 or more (he just waited by the cone and ate and ate), I thought he was going to explode. I finally had to move the feeding cone away from him cause he got so visibly FAT I knew it couldn't be good for him. Luckily, he seemed too lazy to persue the cone.

Anyways, the loaches show no interest in the cucumber either. I'll just wait and see.

FisheyLisa, I'm worried about the small one too. I haven't been able to find the small one the last two days (I hope he's okay), even though I'm vacumming everyday I don't see him at all (not even a carcass). There are a lot of hiding placing though, and when I first got my pleco I couldn't find him for a few days too (now he comes out every night just to suck on the front glass, but I can only find him maybe 1 out of 10 times if I look for him during the day). I'll give the small one a few more days I guess to show back up before I tear apart the tank looking for him.

I will try frozen brine shrimp now also and if that doesn't work, I'll just get some snails and drop them by the loaches (they have a cave the like to chill at--well the larger ones hang out there).

No, I don't have pictures of my personal ones yet (my digital camera has been MIA for a while now), but they are "Botia sidthimunki" which really aren't dwarfs as I have come to find out from internet articles. They can get like 6" despite other sources that say max 2". Here's a link http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_sidthimunki.html with some info and pics. They are really cute though. When I find or buy a new camera I'll post some pics of these guys.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Btw, what is the odd verus even numbers debate? I don't know that I've heard of that before.

 

[FisheyLisa]

neat pics!
My LFS says that even numbers are better because then the oddball out tends to not do as well. On loaches I have read opposite, that odd numbers prevents pairing. Then again my LFS says some screwy things like clowns only really need a 20g tank, but i think believe (and have been told and read) that they need bigger.

I don't know, sometimes the LFS is right on, other times I wonder.

 

[derajer]

Personally I've always heard that odd numbers work better for schools, but who knows.

I know that I sound like a broken record cause I say this to everyone, but pond snails are a great source of food for loaches and puffers. You can usually get them for free from a petsmart or similar store. Otherwise if you can get any of them at all you can breed them in a jar or something.

 

[chichian]

Very interesting (odd vs even). I'm not sure which is better either. I noticed with most of the fish (even #'s) in my tank, there is usually one that ventures off on his own a lot (this happens with the SAE's, corys, rummy nose). So maybe I should have gotten an odd number to begin with? Who knows (this might be trial and error sort of thing).

I haven't have a chance to try the brine shrimp yet but today I'll take off work a little early and go get some along with some zuchini.

derajer, I think I would agree with you as this is the only thing they have eaten since they have arrived in the tank. I don't mind getting some once in a while as a treat, but I'm trying to use snails as a last resort as a staple diet. If this ends up being their staple, about how many and how often do you feed your fish snails? Have you ever had an issues with population control (of snails), or are they pretty much the population police (can they handle it)?

 

[FisheyLisa]

If they are anything like clowns, no matter how many snails you put in, you will never see them again. I got some at petco (free), and I dumped them, maybe 20ish, and saw them that day, and that was it. Snails are such a great idea to coax them out! I was thinking of starting a feeder colony at one point.

I am doing the zuchini right now. It is working good for the one I have had (I heard him click for the first time!) but as a luer for the new one, no go. The new one was all over an algae pellet last night.

As for MY opinion on the odd vs. even, I still don't know. I would have thought odd is best. I ended up with all even groups though! (mis-researched plans!) I have a group of 4 cories (2 big 2 little), at one point they hung out in 3/1 but now they all hang together or in 2's. I had 4 adf's, they were always 3/1. I can't remember who the odd-one-out was, but recently one died and I don't know why exactly. This seems like another thread though!! Sorry

 

[chichian]

Yeah, the even-vs-odd thing can probably never be figured out. Sorry about your adf . It might have just been his time. The odd number seems to be making sense to me too (from what I've seen in my fish), but I guess the groups can have dynamic behavior (like your corys were 3/1 and are now in pairs 2/2) and maybe it will always change even with the same group of fish.

As for feeding, I'm gonna get some snails then, and try to still give them a variety of options in hopes that one day they might try something else and like it.