Red tail Botia Loaches

[Qdanita]

I wanted to add these to my cichlid tank add wanted to know how many to add, do they have to be kept in schools? also they eat a lot of live food, but I have malawi Cichlids who are herbivores so I dont want to add live food to the tank because they might eat it. Will the botias be OK with only veggies?

[Rbishop]

Most profiles I have read say they require a bit more protein and some live brine for the best coloring, as noted in other post.