Dinnertime troubles

[TammyLiz]

Hey, I'm having trouble with my rostrata at feeding time. They are in a 55 gallon tank with 5 gouramis and 8 barbs. I have been feeding flakes and freeze dried bloodworms this week, and last night I gave them all some brine shrimp. The problem is that the loaches are so busy chasing the other fish around at feeding time that they get nothing. Those gouramis and barbs are all very good at ignoring the pecks of the loaches and finding and eating every scrap of food. I thought the brine shrimp would be a good idea to maybe get them started, but they did the same thing, even though the shrimp go straight to the bottom and wiggle on the substrate. The gouramis especially were very good about squeezing through all the plants and eating every last one. Augh! Am I feeding the wrong things or what? The other fish are not underfed, I have probably even been overfeeding since I got the loaches, hoping they won't finish it off before the loaches calm down. What should I do?

[Graeme Robson]

Can i ask what time of the day/night you are feeding them?

I only feed my loaches once a day at 9pm/10pm. Then sometimes when lights are off. Personally, i find that freezed dried bloodworm's just float around (this was over 5 yrs ago, since i last used them). What i and a few people here like doing is placing some Frozen bloodworm's into a container with your tank water and just let them defrost, and then apply. They should sink no problem.

Graeme.

[TammyLiz]

Since I have set the tank up I have fed smaller amounts at 10am and 9pm, but I would have no problem with switching to a single feeding time. The smaller ones seemed to work better with the gouramis and barbs but I don't want to starve the loaches.
I am certain my other fish will also prefer the bloodworms to the flakes. I don't really want to be feeding a whole tank of fish frozen bloodworms when they would otherwise happily eat flakes and freeze dried as their main staple. The loaches have no qualms about going to the surface at feeding time, the problem is getting them to eat something since they're so busy chasing. And once things start to sink from getting caught in my filter output, the other fish have no qualms about going down to the bottom to feed. They would happily gobble up the bloodworms at the bottom. If I add the flakes first and then the defrosted bloodworms once the other fish are occupied eating, do you think the loaches would eventually catch on and eat instead of chasing the other fish? It was quite a frenzy before I got the loaches, and now that they are there it is mayhem in the tank when I feed. All but the loaches are aware that I have food before I even open the lid of the tank, coming to the glass to greet me.

[Graeme Robson]

I don't really want to be feeding a whole tank of fish frozen bloodworm's when they would otherwise happily eat flakes and freeze dried as their main staple.

Of course not. I was only addressing the friezed dried Bloodworm's.

I often feed the Barbs and other "dither fish" firstly with crushed flakes and daphnia/cyclops/brine shrimp..etc, while the Bloodworms defrost, then i add them shortly after. No problems for me for many a years with that method.


Graeme.

[TammyLiz]

Hmm...maybe the fact that you wait a while has something to do with it? My barbs and gouramis are all such pigs, they would keep on eating once I added more food, no matter how much it was. They will really stuff themselves to the max and keep going. I've even seen one of my barbs with a big flake trailing out of his gill because he was already so full and ate it anyways. The reason I said I don't want to feed the whole tank with bloodworms is that they would eat them no matter how full they were already. But waiting until they are done eating and onto something else might help, so they're not still in that frenzy. I'll try that. Hopefully the loaches will be able to forget about the other fish and just eat.

[Jim Powers]

You might try what I do. I take a length of 3/8" rigid plastic aquarium tubing cut to allow me to easily reach the bottom of the tank. I stuff defrosted bloodworms into the end and then put a finger over the other end. Did you ever, as a kid, use a drinking straw as a siphon and draw liquid into it by putting it into the liquid and releasing your finger? Its the same idea. I draw the bloodworms into the tube and distribute them along the bottom. This is particularly good in tanks with current as is the case with mine. You can place the worms were you want and the loaches get them. I have several loaches that actually eat out of the end of the tube. It also keeps the other fish out the way, since I also drop worms onto the surface. It works for me.

[mikev]

Tammy,

This actually may be a non-problem. Most loaches take some time to settle in and the behavior for the first 2-3 weeks is not indicative of the future. In my case, some loaches excessively hid (Clowns, Kuhlis), some were excessively aggressive (Schisturas and possibly SpB), some may do both at once (Kubotais). There are good chances that your Rostratas will stop wasting their time on chasing Barbs in a couple of weeks....or once they get really hungry.

hth

[JonGuerriero]

You might try what I do. I take a length of 3/8" rigid plastic aquarium tubing cut to allow me to easily reach the bottom of the tank. I stuff defrosted bloodworms into the end and then put a finger over the other end. Did you ever, as a kid, use a drinking straw as a siphon and draw liquid into it by putting it into the liquid and releasing your finger? Its the same idea. I draw the bloodworms into the tube and distribute them along the bottom. This is particularly good in tanks with current as is the case with mine. You can place the worms were you want and the loaches get them. I have several loaches that actually eat out of the end of the tube. It also keeps the other fish out the way, since I also drop worms onto the surface. It works for me.

I do essentially the same thing using a turkey baster that I bought for $1.50 at a kitchen store, it works great!

I also used to keep tiger barbs as dither and they really are pigs! I, like Graeme, just fed them a little bit before I fed the loaches.

Happy loaching

[TammyLiz]

Tonight I fed at the top first and then dumped in the bloodworms a minute later. They ate them but some of them got sucked up by my filter. Yuck! So tomorrow I might try one of those ideas to get it down to the bottom just to keep them away from the filter intake. The barbs gorged themselves on way too much food. They ate as many bloodworms as the loaches, or more. I definately can't let them eat this much every day! Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it. I will get it figured out.