new to this and tropical fish

[walah]

i have had my tropical tank for about 3 weeks and have 5 neons 5 zebra danios 4 red eye tetras and 2 pakistan loaches. The other fish are eating well on nutrafin max (flakes) and i bought nutrafin max sinking food for the loaches but the dont seem to be eating it. They seem to hide and be still until i turn off the aquarium light. Is this normal for this type of fish?

 

[EddieW]

Hi Walah,

I got three yoyo (pakistani) loaches a couple of weeks back and they are active all day. They don't seem very interested in the sinking foods that I have for my other bottom feeders, but are quite happy hoovering up any of the other food that reaches the bottom.

From what I have read they do best in groups of three or more so you may want to get another one or two. Also how long have they been in the tank? Mine took a day or so to settle down and they were amongst the first to go in so they didn't have much competition for territory. They do like places to hide away at times and providing areas of cover in the open spaces, such as pipes, caves, etc. can encourage them to come out a bit more.

Mine seem to be as happy when they are playing follow the leader through the pipes as when they are off on their own foraging away for food. There are a couple of pics of my loaches here.

HTH, Eddie

 

[CFC]

Do you have any plants in the tank?If not try getting a tube with a less bright output most species of loach and catfish are more active in the early morning and evening so try to simulate the light from these times.

How big is the tank?16 fish sounds like a lot of fish to have after just 3 weeks,have you tested for ammonia and nitrite?Poor water quality can cause fish to behave strangely and be shy.

 

[walah]

hi,

the tank is 30 inches, the pet shop said this amount of fish would be ok as they are small fish!?! the other fish are behaving normal and the loaches also seem to be acting better than this morning. Maybe they are eating i just havent seen them, i expected them to be straight at the food and soon as it hits the bottom as the other fish are hungry little fish and eat the food straight away. the tank has 2 fake plants and a little dark bit made from slate and a pot thing they can go in to escape....is this ok?