What food can i give to my 2 clown loaches?

[chikistar]

howdie all hows everyone? i have a question, right now all i feed my 2 sweet clown loaches is the shrimp sinking pellets, i just put like 2 pellets in the morning and it lasts for the whole day because i see some little bit left obver in the gravel but i have a question, i read that loaches love veggies but im not sure what kind i should try to give them and how to give it to them, can u guys please recommand me from your expirience what veggie to give to them and how i should serve it? and do i need to take it out with my hand after they finish it?

[gm72]

Try a variety of veggies and see what they prefer. I think you will find most will like blanched zucchini. Definitely vary the diet more than what you are now, good thinking. I use a variety of foods myself, between NLS wafers, Hikari wafers, shrimp pellets, spirulina wafers, and algae discs.

[chikistar]

i dont have zuchinni in my house right now but i do have cucumber, lettuce but i think they dont eat lettuce right ? because letuce floats, so let me get this stright, i make a little pinky-finger sized cucumber cube and put it near them? and they will most likely eat it? when they are dont i need to take it out of the tank so that it doesnt make too much mess in the tank or just leave it there? regarding these algae waffers and discs, i never tried any of these, should i buy these? do they love it? btw do i need to take the algae waffer/disc out after they finish eating or i can just leave it there?

thanks

[gm72]

If there is leftover food then you most likely are overfeeding. With the cucumber, try it. Blanch it a little bit then weight it down with something. See if they like it. Lettuce--try it! They might like it. Stick it in the microwave for about 15 seconds on high, put it in the tank and weigh it down as needed.

I would definitely get some additional types of food for them as well.

[chikistar]

thanks but what do you mean by "weight it down" ? how do i make it so that the cucumber sinks because im preety sure it will float unless i put some big piece, and why is it needed to microwave the lettuce?

thanks

[gm72]

Weight down a slice of the cucumber with a rock or something. More than the cube of which you speak, but the cube would just float around.

Microwaving the lettuce, I have found, makes it more appealing to the fish. Softens it up a little, too.

[chikistar]

i have a question, if the piece of lettuce will just float around, how will the loaches eat it ? and will i need to remove the piece of cucumber from the tank after they finished eating so that it doesnt make too much mess in the tank?

[chikistar]

sorry i had a typo, i ment to say if the piece of LETTUCE/Cucumber will just float

[jbeining75]

Place it under a rock that is laying on the bottom. Stuffe the corner of the lettuce under or the piece od cucmber. They will eat from it.

[Lady Hobbs]

Mine love watermelon, banana (stick a piece on a fork), zucchini and summer squash (blanced and it will sink), algae pellets, shrimp pellets, flake food, cukes, green beans, romane lettuce...........just about everything. Orange slices are another. Mine will not eat pea's but about everything else.

[chikistar]

ok i see, and do i need to take out the cucumber after a while or it wont cause too much ammonia?

[Mvjnz]

I have given my pakistani loaches peas, cucumber and algae wafers. They love them:)

[chikistar]

how did u serve it to them Mvjnz? pleass tell me in detail

[Mvjnz]

Canned or cooked peas, just give them a squeeze so the skin comes off, then put it in the tank whole. Messy stuff tho.

Cucumber you just cut a thick slice of and skewer it with a teaspoon or something else to make it sink. They'll work on that for a while.. They'll most likely only eat the soft bits in the middle. This isn't messy at all, you can leave it in there all day and it won't mess up your parameters at all.

[chikistar]

oh sweet ,so i can just cut a small slice of cucumber and just put it in the tank right? and i should take it out after a few horus right? btw if they dont show interest i shouldnt feed it again? oh and today i bought spirulina discs, in the directions it says to serve 1 disc per day, so now i have 2 food types for my fish, i have the shrimp sinking pellets and this new spirulina discs, so what would be the best way to feed? 1 spirulina disc and 1 shrimp pellet disc every morning ? i have 2 panda corys and 2 albino corys and 2 clown loaches.

[chikistar]

i have a question, do i need to remove the daily spirulina disc from the water after a few hours or just let it be there?

[Mvjnz]

Depends how good your filter is and if your tank is cycled. If the filter is good and the tank is cycled, it doesn't matter if you leave it in there for a few hours, but if it's a new tank, you'll need to remove it pretty quickly. Could do a test after a few hours just to see how it goes.

As for the cucumber, you can leave it all in there until they lose interest. If they don't want it the first time, try again the next day, sometimes they need to get used to the idea before they will try it:)

[chikistar]

my filter is very good ,its an aquaclear ;) and my tank is indeed cycled, regarding the disc, i just removed it, in the morning ill put a new one and remove it at night if they dont finish, i have a question tho, so like i said i have 4 corries and 2 clown loaches, i think the way i should feed is 1 spirulina disc and 2 shrimp pellets every morning, is that the rigth way to feed these guys? no other fish are in the tank

[chikistar]

ugh guys i dont know, i dont see them eating from the spirulina disc , so i might feed the disc maybe once or twice a week but no more?

[Bobo the Clown Loach]

Mine go crazy for raw (unmicrowaved) spinach and apple. Of course they also get hikari shrimp discs, algae wafers and shrimp pellets. From what I've seen of mine, they aren't picky eaters.

[robnepper]

I use a Veggie clip. The lfs will usually have them. They are just a plastic alligator clip with suction cup. simply stick it to the inside of your tank and presto. No reaching to the bottom or any thing like that. Saves on washing dishes too. As for algae wafers, I put mine in at night and they are gone in the morning. If I did find some left over though, I would remove it and cut beck the portion size.

There is an excellent thread in "other catfish", I think, on how and what to feed cories. A must read for all Cory keepers. Some one correct me if I'm wrong on the thread locale.

[Bobo the Clown Loach]

Speaking of different foods, I just tried a piece of banana. They weren't too crazy about it but the otos are going nuts so they'll finish it with some help from the snails.

[chikistar]

can u please tell me more about the Veggie clip? im not sure what u mean , ill buy it but im not sure what u mean.

[Bobo the Clown Loach]

It's a plastic clip with a suction cup attached to it, you clip the veggies or fruit in the clip and stick the suction cup to the side of the tank. I picked one up for 1.50 It's worth it.

[Lady Hobbs]

It's a clip like you put on a bag of potato chips but has a suction cup to it so it will stick to the glass.

Go with frozen or fresh veggies that have no been processed. If you don't have a clip, stick it to a fork and let it sink to the bottom.

I blanch my veggies and they will sink but raw is fine, too. Banana needs to be removed after an hour or it gets really mushy. The other veggies can remain for several hours but the uneaten removed. Spirula pellets remain in the tank. If you have some left, don't feed them more until it's gone.

[chikistar]

thanks alot for the info, i understand about the suction cup that sticks to the aquarium window but how does the cup cliped where im supposed to clip the veggies looks like? any pics of this tool you guys can provide so i know what to look for in my LFS? or exactly what i should ask for , "veggie clip" ?

thanks

[Bobo the Clown Loach]

http://akamai.edeal.com/images/catalog3684/folder24579/img3041091med.jpg

that is a veggie clip.

[chikistar]

aha i see, so when i go to the petstore i just ask them for a "veggie clip" yea?