Loaches Online Forum

Last week, my fiance bought me 4 young Histrionica. Their length is about 3-4 cm and their colors are vibrant(when I see them). I've seen them eat and play, but they are...somewhat thin looking. I am new to loaches and am not sure if all young loaches are thin, or if it is a sign that I need to feed them more. Currently, they are fed shucked peas, flake food and freeze-dried bloodworms. I tried blanched zucchini, but they didn't touch it. I would take photos, but they are still getting used to the aquarium and I rarely see them when near a camera.

What I want to know is;
Do Histrionica look thin when they are young? Does anyone have pictures?

Is there a chance that they will warm up to the blanched zucchini as they grow older?

Also, how long does it normally take for a group of loaches to become comfortable in a new tank? I like watching them, but they are still skittish.

This is one of mine at about 4-5 cm

I treat all new loaches for internal parasites in quarantine. Levamisole or flubendazole work well.
It can take a few weeks to settle in. Mine prefer cucumber, but do eat zuchini. What else is in the tank?

Mine are a bit shorter than that, but don't look very different otherwise. That is a relief, I wasn't sure how they were supposed to look.

They are kept with 6 zebra Danio who they swim with when they think I am not watching.

I would also try shrimp pellets and algae wafers.

Mine love frozen bloodworm & earthworm pellets but really eat any pellet, wafer or flake. They love romaine & leaf lettuce ( sword & crypt leaves too), zucchini & peas, not too much.

My histies grew from ~2 inches to 4-5 in the year I've had them. Wonderful fish!

plaalye, that is a very sharp photo and great looking fish of course. Wish I could take photos like that, I tend to get nothing but blurs and reflections.

I had some very small Kubotai about 6 months ago. I found Tetramin tropical granules to be better than pellets because they are so much smaller. They also sink to the bottom and provide a variety of foods. My Kubs just now have started to eat pellets, they still struggle with them because they are still only 3 inches. Flakes work well but need to be ground up a bit.

They will go crazy for live brine shrimp if you can get them. Frozen brine shrimp is also good, but nothing beats live food.