Why won't my Tiger Loach eat?

[Icewall42]

I'm starting to get a little worried now... I bought a Tiger Loach from the LFS a couple days ago, maybe 3 days roughly, but I haven't seen him eat, even when food floats under his nose. Occasionally I see him dig into the sand, but that's after feeding time and I'm pretty sure he's not getting anything.

When I bought the fish, he was pretty slim, but didn't seem to have wasting disease as his head was round and full. He's active in the tank, like any other fish, though rather shy. His fins have always been out, so there's no shimmy. He just won't eat. If he did, I think he'd fill out just fine. But I don't know what's going on.

I checked the pH and water chemistry two days ago, maybe even yesterday. pH is about 7.0-7.2 now, water is a tad on the hard side (but that's always how my water has been, when I had Tigers previously), water temp has hung around 78-82F. The tank has clean water, so there shouldn't be a lot of ammonia buildup yet.

Any ideas?

[Emma Turner]

What other fish do you have in with this loach - does it have others of it's own kind? You could try feeding after lights out, as new additions are often very shy for the first few weeks and lower or no lighting may make it feel much more confident. They usually find (defrosted) frozen white mosquito larvae or bloodworm hard to resist.

Emma

[hemi]

alot of times the fish that come into LFS are starved for shipping
i find a nice bellie rub will get them back to eating b4 it is to late
and i dont know why

i saved 2 L177 plecos like that
and also a tiny little tiger barb who didnt eat for a week after i got him
now he eats like hes a whale

[Icewall42]

Hmmmm I'm not sure about the mosquito larvae, but I might be able to get the frozen bloodworms. I've given my fish frozen bloodworms before, when we ordered it for our store, but now I have to find a store that actually sells it. I'll keep an eye out. For the time being, might chopped prawns/shrimp help? If so, should that be pre-cooked or raw?

The Tiger Loach is in with a group of other loaches like clowns, skunks, and Modestas, as well as the Sinibotia Pulchra, but no other Tigers are with it. This loach mgiht specifically be lonesome, but I have a great big Tiger Loach before that was content to school with the Modestas. The light might be the issue, too, so I'll try feeding them lights out tonight.

As for the belly rub... that really works?? How would I go about doing that? Just when the little guy is in a net?

[hemi]

welp
ill tell ya the story

i bought this beautiful L177 pleco from a good LFS
it died 2 weeks later and i didnt know why
i figured whatever sh-t happens and it was only 17 us dollars

so i go back to the same store
and get another one from the same tank
this time i kept an eye on it
i noticed its stomach was caved in sorta
and i never seen him eat
welp one mourning i noticed him laying kinda wedged between the glass and gravel
his mouth wasnt on anything
he didnt move when i knuckeled the tank so i thought he was dead
i reached in and grabbed him no movement
welp as he hit the air he wiggled a tiny bit
so now im sitting here with what i thought was a dead fish
i had his belly side up
so i dont even know why but i rubbed his belly
enuff pressure that i can see the skin indented a little
i puttem in a spiecem contaner with some food and BAM he startted eating
i then went and bought the remaining one and rubbed his belly also
they died months later cuz my water supplier upped the clorine cuz of a storm and didnt tell nobody but thats another story

as for your fish
being that it is more like the tiger barb then a pleco
i just had him in my left hand laying on his side
and rubbed his belly with my right index finger flip and repeat
hes now one ferosciuos little eater and the littlest fish in my 180
but he dont take no shit

i belive there starved for shipping
and sometimes dont get to the LFS fast enuff to start eating normally again
my theory is there stomachs get so small they sorta collapse or bind up
and need some stimuli a little and the rubb helps it out
its worth a try
as i usually rubb at the point were i think there dead or close to it

anyways man good luck
i hope the rub helps