OK to feed them tonight?

[Illsavemyself]

Just got my first ever loaches today. 5 juvenile Botia Kubotai which are absolutely gorgeous!

They had to be ordered online as they had none local and they arrived 10.30 this morning. They would have been stressed from the longer journey and being packed up in a box for 20 hours or so.

After getting the bags up to temperature I drip aclimatised them for almost an hour as I was concerned that my water is almost certainly harder than the shop they came from. One of the fish in particular seemed a bit more stressed than the rest as he/she tended to just sit in one place whilst the others rushed around. Once introduced to the tank four of the five seemed to settle very quickly and went off immediately to explore there new home whilst the remaining one sat in the corner unmoving for the first 2 hours. Even when one of the other loaches came to say hello and give him a nudge he didn't want to move. Happy another 3 hours on he seems more settled, and has had a bit of a look around. The lights on the tank have been off since they arrived by the way.

My question is in the title. As they are in a tank full of greedy fish it is always going to be better for them to get their main meal in the evenings. So if I don't feed them now with the lights off they might not get much until tomorrow evening. I know that new fish might not feed much anyway whilst they settle but should I at least try this evening or leave it until tomorrow? Certainly with all the digging at least four of them have done they seem up for some food but have heard that you should not feed new arrivals for the first day.

Can I drop some sinking wafers in or should I not? I only have a Bristlenose as a bottom feeder at the moment so if they do refuse it them it might not get eaten at all. I do have plenty of plants though that should help negate any issues that might arise from this.

[Batch]

Okay better late than never. I'd say its fine to
feed them. When I add someone new to my tanks,
I feed my fish at the same time. That way everyone
is distracted when the new fish are added. Depending
on the (new) fish, sometimes they join in the feeding frenzy
or just find a place to hide.

Hope it went well.

Batch

[Dutch]

How are they doing?

[mickthefish]

yes dorset hows the botias doing, i'm the same as batch i feed the fish as normal.

mick