inherited skinny loaches, what food?

[kelly82]

ok, so my dads yoyo loaches that are now in my tank are super skinny, i mean they are more or less heads with their bodies skinnier than the width of their little faces. they havent grown since hes had them, and never took care of his tank,they are around 1.5-2 inches long each. i dont know what to feed them on for the best. they seem to want to eat everything i put in there but dont know if they are getting enough as the other fish in the tank are fairly fast. they do sit and eat the algae tabs i put in for a treat for the other fish, and they seem to love the tubifex worms that actually reach the bottom. is there anything i can buy which will be best for them to grow and thrive on?

[BettaFishMommy]

to get them back to a good weight i would try frozen bloodworms. maybe try feeding just after you turn the lights off so they get their fair share.

[kelly82]

well ive just fed them some frozen brineshrimp as thats all i had, it sunk quite quickly and the loaches were all over it so hopefully some full tummys tonight. i will buy some frozen bloodworm asap, thanks for the advice ;)

[fishorama]

How long did he have them? Loaches are prone to "chronic wasting disease", often caused by internal parasites, sometimes bacteria. You may want to worm them. I've used fenbendazole flakes from http://www.angelsplus.com/FlakeMedicated.htm for new loaches in quarantine. Since they eat well that would be an easy safe treatment for them while you fatten them up.

If you do order them you might get them some earthworm sticks too. I haven't tried Angels plus but all my loaches love Ken's so I bet they'd love them too. I've read good things on several of their foods. Can't go wrong with bloodworms as BFM said. I try to feed young small loaches 3-4 times a day.

[kelly82]

hes had them probably 6 months or more. im not entirely sure, he had 1 and then decided to get him some friends so bought 4 more. the original 1 is slightly bigger than the others. the rest of the fish he bought over were also incredibly skinny so it isnt just these guys who were suffering. they are so active in my tank, in his they sat under a piece of driftwood mostly motionless, since they came here they have been mooching about pretty much non-stop. i am feeding little and often and feeding different foods too.i was considering worming them as a precaution anyway, i use kusuri wormer plus will this work?

[fishorama]

I forgot you're in the UK, yes kusuri is a good product from all I've read. Go for it & good luck luck to your "step loaches".

[kelly82]

:thm: thank you. will update to let you know how they little guys are doing. they are so lively its awesome.

[kelly82]

:thumbsup: just a quick update, the loaches are doing fabulously well, i still havent gotten the kusuri yet but am picking it up at the weekend. they are eating like pigs, have all put on weight and are growing like weeds! their colour has really come up too, they were always a light brown washed out colour with faint markings in my dads tank, now they are really vividly marked, extremely energetic, an awesome addition to my tank :thumbsup:

[jackiomy]

Congratulations. I recently inherited a tank with some loaches, a large catfish and pleco, a rainbow shark and four pitiful little corys. When I got a good look at them I realized that the corys were little more than a skeleton with skin! They are in my bottom dweller tank now and you can't tell them from the originals. It makes me feel good to know they are doing well. The big ones are still in their original tank and are starting to put weight on also. I am still worried if I am feeding them right and enough. I have never had any big fish so I am learning as I go, they do like green beans though. LOL I am glad yours are doing so well too. :)

[fishorama]

Kelly, that's great to hear! Yoyos should grow fast their first year so yours are making up for lost time. It'll be cool to watch their patterns change from the yoyo to all over reticulated. Congrats!

[kelly82]

:jaw-dropping: the change in these guys is astonishing! all 4 are now around 3"long, the biggest maybe a little more, they are getting nice and chunky and are looking more loach shaped, and their colours are amazing. the biggest one on particular has really started losing the YOYO patterns and is quickly getting a more reticulated pattern, i swear its changing by the day. i treated the whole tank with the kusuri as an all round precaution so i know they are parasite free. they are fed on frozen bloodworm, frozen brine shrimp, freeze dried tubifex worms, tropical flake, cougette, and they also nibble at the algae tablets i drop in from time to time. they are out day and night and ive yet to see them rest! they are really energetic, and my dad came to visit last night and asked where his 'loachy things' were. when i pointed them out he actually didnt believe they were the same fish :p: thanks to everyones help and pointers to get these guys healthy, i wouldnt be without them now :grinno:

[BettaFishMommy]

awesome to hear! and lol @ 'loachy things', too funny.

[fishorama]

Wonderful! Now you know why I'm a loach addict! 1 thing though, I'd skip feeding tubifex in any form, they can harbor nasty parasites & diseases. I don't even trust irradiated or freeze dried. A nice carnivore pellet like Hikari or (I think) King British would be a better option. My fish like anything earthworm flavored too. Congrats on a great save!

[kelly82]

ye i had to giggle a bit when he said about his 'loachy things', he really didnt know much about fish, and never seemed to want to learn. they are my 'loachy things' now :rofl:

ive heard about problems with live tubifex worms but thought that freeze dried were fine. i wont buy any more then, shame as my fish love them, but frozen bloodworm seems as much of a favourite so will stick with that instead.

i will have a look around for the carnivore pellets, i like hikari foods more than king british, not sure why but they seem to be higher quality and i have great results with them with my goldfish so il have a look when im next in, if i cant find any il go for the king british ones instead.

thanks for the advice.

[swinneyw]

keep feeding them they will gain weight