feeding loaches for beginners?

[scottonjackd]

evening all just some quick advice please, i have 2 clown loaches and 1 molly (should i have another?) and im not sure how much bloodworm to feed them and when, my mollies going barmy but im trying not to over feed them!!
cheers






2 clown loaches
1 molly
1 pleccy
2 neon tetras


beginner who likes the pics on here and i cant wait to take some of mine (does the flash scare them??)
cheers all!!

 

[Fruitbat]

scottonjackd...

What size tank are your fish in? (This will determine whether or not you should add more.)

I usually feed my fish no more than they can eat in about 5 - 7 minutes and I make sure, especially when feeding bloodworms, that the bottom-dwellers (I have a lot of them) get their share of the food.

With frozen bloodworms...I usually thaw them out by putting them in a bowl of warm water. waiting until they're completely thawed and pouring them into a fish net. After a quick rinse in the net using tap water, I feed the fish by simply taking fingerfuls of worms and swirling them over the water's surface. Then I'll grab a couple of bunches of worms and actually place them on the bottom. This way the loaches get their favorite foods without having my Tiger Barbs, gouramis, etc. eat them all before they get to loach level.

Of course...with only one molly and a couple of tetras in your aquarium, enough bloodworms should get to the bottom for the loaches to get their fill. The 'pleco' will probably appreciate them too...though you might want to think about getting some algae wafers for him. (The Clown Loaches will snack on these as well.)

 

[scottonjackd]

so i can feed them once a day on bloodworm and they will be ok then yeah?? cool, will they actually stop eating when they are full though??

thanks for the information its all a great help!!

 

[Fruitbat]

What I'd suggest is that you try feeding them standard flake food on a daily basis and then supplement that with the bloodworms once or twice a week.

Most fish will stop eating when they're full but you don't want to just dump a bunch of food in the tank to let the fish eat until they're done. If you do that, any uneaten food will decompose in the substrate and cause major havoc with your water conditions.

You might have to experiment a few times to get just the right amount of food but it is better to let them go a little hungry than it is to overfeed!

 

[Lotus]

There's a really nice article here on feeding loaches: http://www.loaches.com/almanac/feeding.html

 

[Clown_Loach_Kid]

My clowns just LOVE small snailsif they could I think they would dance when I throw in some snails for them. One advantage to feeding snails is most fish you can put with clown loaches won't eat snails so the loaches get them all to their selves.