Loaches Online Forum

I came home a few days ago with a container of Tetra Jumbomin Food Sticks "The Live Food Alternative" for aggressive carnivorous fish. I bought it because the back stated that the sticks (literally, 1" x .25") soften and drop and are good for loaches. I have 4 Dojos and a Kuhli and WOWW to say fish frenzy is not even close - more like SHARK ATTACK! I hold a couple pieces over the area I want to drop them after I soak them in water for a minute or two and as soon as the "kids" get a whiff they go absolutely NUTS! They suck the food up slurping huge gulps (and of course, blowing bits out the gills) like piggies! Its an awesome show - lol. I only have been giving them 2 or 3 every few days but boy did they catch on fast to what I had for them... they went from 'Oh, time to eat?' to "Gimme that - SLURP"

Seriously, the stuff seems like a great option and I have had no problems with dirty water or anything, and they absolutely adore these pellets. Though they are directly advertised for the big bad fish - they even mention pirahnas; the back states that the pellet remains are made to sink and are ideal for loaches and catfish. I think my kids would agree... If I could get the digital camera to focus on the interior of the tank instead of the side, I will get pics of the party next time.

Emily

Interesting......many of us know how much Loaches love Hikari Sinking Carnivour pellets. My LFS sells them in bulk, but my Clowns kill a 100 gram container in about a month and that's $25 with tax!

So I tried Hikari Floating food sticks, again for carnivours. This stuff is cheaper than the Sinking Pellets and just like you're saying it's a big slurpfest every time I feed.

The tank is open-topped and every morning the guys are going nuts to be fed. I feed them and start getting my breakfast. All I hear is slurps and splashes. There's ALWAYS water thrown out of the tank by their antics.
I feed a load of these sticks and a big pinch of Hikari Flake (again bought in bulk) at the same time. That way the smaller fish get fed too. It all gets eaten within a minuite.


I'm wondering how these Tetra sticks work out price-wize? I'm trying to save money as it's costing me more than feeding a cat to feed just the 13 Clowns.

Martin.

Since DRS Foster/Smith catalog is laying right here thought I would look that up for you. US Dollars.

Hikari Food Sticks:
8.8 oz $ 12.99
2.2 lbs $ 42.99

Tetra JumboMin:
7.40oz $ 11.49
3-pk $ 30.99

They are usually a tad higher but not always.

Hope this was useful

202 lbs!.....Pounds? You sure that's right? How can 8.8oz (just over half a pound) cost $12.99 and 202 lbs cost only $42.99?

I can get a kilo (2.2 lbs) of food sticks for $100 (ish)

If your figures are correct that's the bargain of the century

And hey! I never knew you liked Bob Seger

Martin.

sorry, thats 2.2lbs.

I think - not entirely certain - that I paid around $7 for the 3.7 oz container at the nearby Petco (keeping in mind that everything in San Francisco is outragously overpriced).

I just did a web search and a couple places that sell it seem to average about $6.99 - for the small 3.7 oz.

The larger 7.4 oz. size seems to go for $10.69 at Petsmart online and that seems pretty low compared to others.

I went to the Tetra Site and found the phone number (don't know if the same numbers work everywhere) but if you want to talk to their people, its
1-800-423-6458 to talk with a member of the TetraCare™ Team. (Uh, I cut and pasted that, I didn't look up how to get the Trade Mark symbol.) Anyway, they may be able to tell you about the pond foods versus some of the other foods or if you can get larger volumes at a discount.

Do other people tend toward the cichlid foods? I feed primarily goldfish mixes and the "meatier" stuff added in a few times a week. Does it make more sense for Dojos to get more of the "meat" foods and less of the other variety? Should I reverse the plan? Keep in mind that the primary food I am giving is the BioBlend Goldfish blend.

I found this site that seems to have a large selection of bulk foods:

http://kensfish.com/index.html

I wonder if we can talk them into formulating some loach foods - maybe a clown formula, dojo formula, etc.? Loaches are getting so popular, it seems like the market might be out there...

Wow! Those are some seriously good prices and the products sound good too. Their prices on powerheads seem great as well.

Hmmmm.......might be worth looking into.

Martin.

I've ordered from them before. Service was very good. I got some bulk flake food from them, and my fish haven't complained. They even threw in a sample of spirulina or veggie flakes.

They also have good prices on heaters and sponge filters, too.

Just remember there's a time limit on commercial foods.

anyone tried sera viforma or ocean nutrition sinking wafers? not quite a slurpfest, but then we cant eat icecream every day .

Hello Everyone!!

I am brand new to these forums, but I wanted to add my $.02 on www.kensfish.com ...they do great business!! The prices are hard to beat and the customer service is great!!

I recently 'rescued' a B. rostrata from a horrendously dirty and unkempt tank... now she or he is in a clean and heavily planted 20g L with 3 guppy girls, 2 molly girls, an oto, an SAE and some C. habrosus. Can you say "happy as a lark?"

I also set up a 'cold river tank' with 4 P. cheni... just added the new fish yesterday and they are doing great! I think I have a male and at least 2 females... one kid is still playing "hide and seek" in the many rocks and drifts