Am I Overfeeding/Underfeeding My Clowns?

[Loachy]

Hi everyone,

As some of you might remember, up until a few months ago, I've only owned one clown loach, a cory cat, a cherry barb, an unknown fish, and a long finned danio. I have slowly increased my clown population to 8 and I think they are doing wonderfully .

My largest loach is maybe 5 inches and the new loaches are all about 2 inches. I am currently feeding them 3 TetraMin Tropical Tablets and supplementing with Omega One Shrimp Pellets (twice a week). I feed them this twice a day (7 a.m. and 7 p.m.) I suppose they sometimes get the leftovers of the other fish wich are getting two TetraMin PRO Tropical Crisps and TetraMin Tropical Granuels. Is this enough food for the clowns?

I ask because the little ones will come up to the front of the aquarium when I approach the tank, as if begging for food, and will begin searching the gravel as soon as I walk away. I'm a sucker for little beggin clowns

As always, I appreciate your input

[LoachOrgy]

its common for the loaches to come up and beg you for food at all times of the day. sometimes its really hard to resist. they are all cute little beggers lol.... or they run away!


sometimes i feed my loaches and then 5 minutes later they are dancing and trying to persuade me to feed them again lol...

if you don't have any bacterial blooms then i would say you are not overfeeding them. do they eat all of the food in about 10 minutes? if not maybe lessen the amount. i believe in the loach almanac it mentions that you should feed enough to where the loaches eat all the food in about 10 minutes.
i may have just had some serious water quality issues due to food being burried under the sand and decomposing. i usually vaccum and change the water bi weekly but it never hurts to clean your tank when you see waste buildup.

[Loachy]

Thanks LoachOrgy!

Guess I'll need to learn to resist their cute little antics.

It does look like they finish the food in about 10 min. I usually check to make sure there's nothing left. I did notice some algea buildup on the glass but it was time for my tank cleanup/water change so I didn't think anything of it. All my water parameters seem fine and there's no weird odor coming out of the tank.

Glad to hear that I'm not starving them.

[tariesindanrie]

Hi Loachy,

My only recommedation would be to get some fresh veggies and fresh meaties in there from time to time also. Mine are almost the same size as yours, and have been enjoying zucchini and broccoli (wash well, peel and blanch for about 30 seconds to kill any bacteria), weight it down, toss it in...I've also tried taking a small frozen tiger shrimp, blanch, peel, dice it up- toss it in- back up and get your fingers out of the way quick!

I usually feed flakes in the morning- few Hikari sinking carnivore pellets or more flakes in the evening, with the veggie or shrimp thrown in about every other day. So far so good.

Oh- and that pleading, looking you in the eye, fins fluttering 'please feed me' look never stops...they are con artists as well as piggies!

Best of luck with your buddies!
Kate

[Loachy]

Thanks Kate!

I thought they needed some time before trying the veggie and shrimp thing but it looks like they're ready for it. I showed my husband some of the videos on YouTube and he is really looking forward to someday hand feeding these guys. He bought the veggie clip a while back hoping I'd let him try it. He'll be glad to know that it's time to introduce them to new foods