Loaches Won't Eat

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after you get a new stand, get some loaches! the yoyos can be very playful. angelicus are more serious, but really beautiful. kuhlis are sooooo cute--and are the most playful ime. they all hide, the angelicus most of all (as well as the clowns), but they come out at feedinh times. they all like to be with playmates, and i've seen the angelicus hanging out with the yoyos which is fun (i have 3 of each and 4 clowns).

the yoyos and the angelicus do this really creepy scary loach thing--they often lie on their sides at the bottom of the tank, or squeezed in between some decoration and the tank--and stay there for hours. they look dead. and just when you see them and start to panic, they get up and move. sneaky little devils!
 
the yoyos and the angelicus do this really creepy scary loach thing--they often lie on their sides at the bottom of the tank, or squeezed in between some decoration and the tank--and stay there for hours. they look dead. and just when you see them and start to panic, they get up and move. sneaky little devils!
Click to expand...

If you want a tank with character, you definitely need like 3 yoyo's or striped loaches. If your other fish get kind of bored to watch, the yoyo's will keep your interest. :)
 
When I throw 3 or 4 small pest snails in the tank, the striped loaches have a hay-day. They go bonkers and just tear them up, lol.
 
One more thing, yoyo's are escape artists. If you remove any ornaments, look them over thoroughly. Might have a hitch-hiker on board. :)
 
Well it's not like the legs are bowed and strained. it's a 6 piece metal stand that I had to put together (4 legs, 2 platforms). Thus if you're doing something like applying pressure to the inside of the glass to wipe off algae, I have to be careful not to rock the tank and freak out the fish.

So I just thought they might be sensitive to vibrations in the room.
 
Okay, I've had the 3 yoyos for a week now and I'm having a bit of a trouble getting them to eat. I have Hikari sinking waferes that the LFS sold me, but they don't seem to be too interested in them. At first when I put 'em in the water, they're still kind of hard, but one of them doesn't seem to mind and immediately starts pecking at it when he finds it. The other 2 just ignore the waffers when they see them.

They haven't shown any interest in the flake food that I've been feeding the tetras. I got some frozen blood worms and, if I reach down and stick some in near the bottom (they'll float and the tetra will eat them all otherwise) then they seem to love those. But if I understand correctly, bloodworms are too rich to feed them everyday, right?

All of them do the usual loach thing, scavenging around for food all of the time, but I'm a bit concerned for the 2 that aren't eating much. Any suggestions?
 
Your loaches may be snacking when you're not watching (eg, late at night).

I've noticed that mine are like little kids and don't like most foods the first few times I try them out. Then eventually they catch on and do their best to not let any other fish have any kind of food whatsoever. After a couple months, it's gotten to the point where my 5 clowns will hover midwater in the tank whenever they catch sight of me, anticipating the next bounteous delivery of food. As soon as flakes/worms/pellets/wafers/snails hit the water, they attack them like creatures possessed.

Since you've confirmed that they're at least eating something sometimes, you might be able to help them get over their pickiness and culinary apathy by skipping a day or two of feeding. That makes them much more eager and much less choosy, and often once they get in that mode, they stay in it.
 
I wouldn't worry about it just yet, since you've only had them a week. I didn't see my rummynose tetras eat for almost 3 weeks. 8O They spend a lot of time scavenging for food and will eat anything that falls to the bottom of the tank.
 
re Hikari: My kuhliis are all over their Sinking Wafers (the one with the cory on the cover) and ignore Algae Wafers, fwiw. I don't think you should worry yet either.

The more hiding places loaches have the more they swim around in the open. Consider moonlighting if you want to appreciate them more, too; I think my noctournal fish are least spooked by red LED, after trying a few methods. It is not too expensive and there are a lot of HowTos in the DIY Forum.
 
Thanks for the replies... I'll wait until tomorrow night and try dropping in a wafer after the lights go out, maybe. They should have plenty of places to hide. My plants are getting thicker and I have two caves. One's rock and the other is wood. They seem to like the wood cave better 'cause it's where they hang around most of the time.

I'll keep trying stuff.
 
I'm going on week three with my loach and I have now seen him twice. Once when I put him in the tank and once when I pulled out the resin driftwood piece with the cave bottom thinking I needed to get his corpse out of there and he went swimming off. He went back in as soon as it was replaced and now hes gone again...I'm starting to get paranoid about him being dead again but am getting to the point where the other fish will just have to nibble him to death...I cant disturb all the surrounding plants again to pull out the driftwood AGAIN because he's shy.

I don't ever see him, lights on or off....even with the room completely dark I can sit there for 20 minutes with just the lunar LED's on and no ign of him.
 
Jason, your loach might just want some buddies. Travis did well to start with a crew of size appropriate loaches. HTH

Joe
 
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