Feeding kuhlii loaches

[Morrgan]

Yesterday I bought 5 kuhlii loaches for my 26 gal, as company for 12 harlequin rasboras. They all disappeared once I'd released them into the tank. In the evening I decided to try these "chips" I'd bought for them. I know you're not supposed to feed them the same day they're introduced, but I just wanted to see if they'd be interested and was going to remove it if they didn't show up.

Well, I dropped half a chip into the tank and only a few seconds later all 5 of them came out! They all started nibbling on the chip, but it only seemed to grow bigger. The chips apparently soak up water and expand. Anyways, after about 15 minutes these 5 tiny loaches had dragged the chip in under a mangrove root and I don't know if they ate it or not. What do you think? The brand is Sera vipachips. Is this good for small kuhliis? The jar has an image of one on it among other fish, but my tiny ones didn't seem to get anything out of it. Am I just being too hasty and worry too much?

Apart from these chips, I only have some flakes and frozen bloodworms to feed them. Any other good suggestions? Do they take cucumber or zucchini, for example?

Heh, they're really cute little fish, by the way. They're only about 2 inches long, but already they've made a mess of the pretty, flat fine sand in the tank with their digging. It's all "hilly" now.

 

[JamesTasker]

My guess is that the chips are fine. I don't think kuhlis need that much food and your lucky, mine don't even come out to eat when I put in food until about 11pm. I feed mine bottom feeder pellets, they like flakes and frozen bloodworms but they don't eat vegetables IME. They probably got through the chip eventually!! If you are worried about uneaten food polluting your tank you might just want to put in half or less of a chip - this is what I do because i can never be sure whether it will get eaten by them .

 

[Morrgan]

Ok, thanks. I don't like cucumber and only use zucchini rarely, so I wouldn't have wanted to buy some just to check if they like it. I think I'll use only a quarter of a chip in the future, at least until they grow bigger. Hadn't realised that the chips expand before I put one in, it became about twice as big! Might also go looking for some pellets (shrimp maybe?), I guess they'd grow bored of just getting the same chips most of the time.

 

[animallover]

Heh, they're really cute little fish, by the way. They're only about 2 inches long, but already they've made a mess of the pretty, flat fine sand in the tank with their digging. It's all "hilly" now.

I know what you mean, I have one and he hides all the time, I see him once in a blue moon.