Feeding Baby Kuhlis

[soul-hugger]

I just got 4 new baby kuhli loaches! But I've been finding it very hard to tell if they are actually eating. They are so tiny-only about 5cm long and a couple of millimetres thick. I also have other small fish, a clown plec and 2 weather loaches. I feed them bloodworm, brine shrimp, flake, shrimp pellets, algae wafers, and vegetables too. Should I feel confident that they are getting enough from the leftovers of other fish, or is there something special I should be doing? They also seem to hang around near and under my filter, staying away from the main body of the tank where most of the food is. I would appreciate any help or comments on this matter. Thanks!

[Thomas]

Hi,

You can feed living tubifex worms (if you can get it). It is a very meaty food, and your new loaches will increase their weight.

Try to feed them near their hiding place (filter).

Thomas

[wasserscheu]

Tubifex are great food, I personally am too much chicken though and scared to bring in unwanted guests with live ones.

I am not sure whether deep frozen black mosquito larve or other small deep frozen stuff would be an option.

[Sea Sprite]

wasserscheu,
I am still pretty new to this (in retrospect) and absorbing new knowledge everyday. What types of "unwanted guests" might arrive with the live food?

[Diana]

At 5 cm long they are large enough to eat just about everything you are feeding. Just make sure the food is well spread out so the shy ones can get to it without having to argue with the bossier fish. Feed at different times of the day, too. You might find the Kuhlies eat better at dusk and dawn rather than mid-day. In an aquarium this might really be when the tank lights are off but the room lights are on.

Tubifex worms live in foul waste and without a lot of rinsing can bring disease and parasites to the tank.

My LFS keeps them in running water, so by the time I buy them they are well rinsed.
If your store does not do this then put the tubifex in a coffee filter, rubberband it closed, then put the coffee filter in a bowl and run the faucet very slowly through them for several hours. You could do this similarly by setting them up in a 5 gallon bucket with a small pump to run the water from the bucket through the coffee filter of worms. Change the water several times, and keep the pump off the bottom of the bucket, perhaps sit it on a brick.

[Laura]

I like frozen daphnia - it's small and gets spread all over the tank.

[soul-hugger]

Hello! Thanks for the advice. I have been trying to put food down near the filter, and it seems they are eating it. Last night I tried giving all my fish crushed garbanzo beans (chick peas) with the skins removed. I was surprised how much they loved it! Even the baby kuhlis had a share. Does anyone know if these kuhlis are really babies, and if there would be any way to tell how old they are? I know kuhlis are small by nature, but at 5cm, these are so narrow. They are very cute and I love them. I just wish they would come out more.

[wasserscheu]

Some of my P.Oblonga I also got as "hardly visible" they all made it. I don´t think 2" are babies anymore, they just need to faten up, mine gained weight very fast, without paying special attention - but my tank contains at least occasionally cyclops and one kind of Oligochaeta (thin small worms).
They also sift sand, once the tank is settled well, they may find things there, we don´t even know it´s there.
Thin Flakes are easy to eat for them too, as starters or apetizer. Shrimp are hard to chop that small but perhaps you are more patient than me, or possibly just mush little shrimp pieces (deep frozen ones, I personaly blanch mine).
Feeding often may be good, abd as Diaan wrote, also in the evening or night.
Lots of hiding places (jungle type) may make them more outgoing, but give them some time.

[soul-hugger]

Thanks for the advice. All four kuhlis are eating and growing. I have 8 different kinds of fish food, and have also been supplementing them with veggies, which they like. I bought a new food; it is Spectrum sinking pellets for small fish, and they are so tiny they spread all over. When I put them in, the kuhlis go crazy sifting the substrate. I am not worried anymore, as they seem to be doing excellent, and they're coming out more too. One of them is especially playful in the evening; he loves to swim back and forth through the filter bubbles, and he'll do it for hours!

[Sea Sprite]

Thank heavens for all the replies to your thread, Soul-Hugger!

On the 8th I went to the grand opening of LFS's "Freshwater" side of the shoppe and found P. Kuhliis!! I brought home 6 total (leaving behind 2). As well as 2 boesemani rainbowfish. It was buy 2 get 1 free on all fish so, posted somewhere (I think) that I could not tell if the kuhliis were feeding or not....

I was told to at the shoppe when I went back to rest assured that they are fantastic bottom scavengers are are able find 'left overs' the other fish did not eat.

What veggies have they eaten for you? I've tried blanched spinach & skinned & blanched zucchini, (which my other fish absolutely LOVE!) , placed in a clip...they don't seem to notice.
What veggies are you having success with...? How do you prepare it? Placement in the tank?

P.S.
Yesterday I went back & the same 2 P.Kuhliis that I left behind were still there...so, of course you KNOW I had to bring them home. As well as3 more boesemanis, 3 dwarf neon rainbows, 3 scissortail rasboraas (which I'm not sure they were happy I told them were mislabeled as silver tipped tetras) & 4 brilliant pink neon danios.
All are in the QT being treated for internal parasites.

[soul-hugger]

Hello Sea Sprite! Congrats on your new kuhlis! I have had the most luck with chick peas and green peas. Both have an outer skin that has to be removed, and you can do this easily just by firmly rotating them between your fingers. The fine skin will come right off. The rest you can either cut up or just crumble. For the green peas I use frozen ones, and just defrost a few in some warm water. I use canned chick peas, (making sure there are no other ingredients) but frozen or dried/soaked/cooked would also work. I am fairly new at this too, and I'm still trying other things. I found they mostly ignored the cucumber, but I would try it again. I also recently bought some food called Spectrum sinking pellets for small fish. They are very tiny, and they mostly sink out of reach of the bigger, more boisterous eaters, where the kuhlis will sift the bottom for them. I will let you know if I try anything else that works well. Good luck!

[Sea Sprite]

Yes, please keep me posted & I will try the peas & chick peas.

Thanks again!
And THANKS to all who have responded here...