Loaches Online Forum

Hello, everyone!

I have two clown loaches that I have had now for about 5 years. They are around 4 and 5 inches long respectively, excluding tail fins. After looking at all of the photos here of big fat clown loaches, I am wondering if I should be feeding them something else! (although they where little guys when I got them!)

The staple item in their diet is Tetrimin Tablets. They seem to prefer these to most others. I supplement this with Hikari algae wafers and once in a while, a few Malaysian Trumpet Snails. I had a small tank set up for a while, just to culture snails for the loaches, but I have not set it back up since I moved in May.

Other than adding snails back into their diet, (which they love!) What else should I offer? What do you loach-keepers feed your fish?

I have tried offering bits of salad shrimp in the past, but they seem to ignore it. A few years ago, I had Platies in their tank, and they would eat just a few of the very smallest newborn Platies only. The platies have now been replaced by Cherry Barbs and baby barbs seem to interest them not at all.

So, suggestions? Anecdotes?

Hi there,
You may not need to increase the actual amount you feed, but I would definitely suggest varying their diet up a bit more. In the wild these fish feed on small crustaceans, worms, insect larvae, and greenfoods, so a good substitution are many of the frozen fish foods that you can buy from your lfs. Mosquito larvae is always taken with much enthusiasm, as is brineshrimp, mysis, daphnia, and for larger Clowns - chopped cockle, krill, prawns etc. Also you'll find that they will very much appreciate slices of cucumber, weighed down with plant weights or a marine lettuce grip.
Your Clowns would definitely thank you for trying out some of these ideas.
Hope this helps,

Emma

Hi Chrys and welcome to LOL.

You should read this:

http://www.loaches.com/almanac/feeding.html
Martin.

Hi, I feed three times a day. twice flakes and of the eveing frozen brine shrimp, and frozen bloodworms.
jerry

Being in the tropic, all source of live-foods are available to me at cheap price. I feed my fish with mostly frozen blood worm and about once or twice a week they get dancing adult brine shrimp. If it is really picky them I drop in live tubiflex worm with a risk of introducing disease with it.

I would recommend trying Omega One Veggie tablets and Hikari frozen mysis, brine shrimp and bloodworms for variety.

Be very careful when feeding them snails, that they come from a disease free source. I, unfortunately, learned that the hard way.

I have straitas, yoyos, kuhlies, sergent majors (?),and the gold striped loaches,2 "borneo suckers", one hillstram loach, horsefaced loaches, a clown loach ( i know, he would be happier with buddies, but not until I get another tank) and one botia modesta . I feed twice a day , morning - zooplankton because the clown loves it and tetra prime for everybody else. Night - shrimp pellets, algae wafers, bio blend for bottom feeders, plankton pellets and tetramin variety wafers. Twice a week I feed frozen bloodworms,brine shrimp, or mosquito larvae. In the summer mosquito larvae. I feed fresh veggies very infrequently , mostly because I don't have a source.

I don't feed my loaches any live foods. Frozen Bloodworm's/Brine shrimp/Daphnia...etc are sufficient for mine. I also feed mine with a wide range of commercial prepared foods and the odd cucumber. Once a day with a mixture each time, although they do get frozen foods 3 times a week.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone!

As far as disease-free snails go, My mother has quite a large colony in her aquarium which came from the Malaysian Trumpet Snails that I had in the past. They seem not to have caused any problems in the three aquariums they've been kept in. Nevertheless, thanks for the advice, because this had not occurred to me.

-Chrys

I have Clowns, YoYos, Kuhlis, and Dojos

The Clowns are spoiled. They get frozen Brine Shrimp, Bloodworms, Flake, Algea Wafers, Bottom/shrimp pellets, and the occassional veggie, plus whatever "pest" snails I pull from my other tanks (all disease free). No, not all at once I trade off every couple days so they get plenty of variety. The YoYos are with the Clowns, so they get the same thing.

The Kuhlis get mostly bottem feeder tablets, along with the regular fish food, bloodworms and any Ramshorn snails small enough for them to eat.

The Dojos get a bit extra stuff. I keep them with my Apple Snails, so they get more veggies, plus snail "cookies", flake food, and anything I feed the snails.

I also feed a variety: flake, shrimp pellets, algae wafers, veggies, frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp. I sometimes give them home-grown grindal worms, which they seem to like rooting around in the substrate for. I don't feel comfortable feeding live food if I can't control the quality.

My clown get flakes in the morning and bloodworm at night. I cant seem to get them to egg other food beside some cucumber once a week. And they dont seem to be interest in any shrimp tablet I toss down.