hustler Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 What do you guys figure is the best type of food to pump up clown loaches? I recently got 3 around 8-10" and they are very lean..... I would like to get them chubby and happy right away. I was told shrimp pellets So i will be trying those for sure but what else can i give them in large quantities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkN Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Mine are all happy and fat eating nls pellets with the occasional shrimp pellet. But when I had some skinnies nothing worked better than good old snails. They go crazy for them, I have hundreds of MTS and would throw dozens in at a time and they loved them and helped them bulk up and grow really fast. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted October 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 What NLS do you feed them? I have a can of mega fish but no one likes to eat it lol not even the red tail cat.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boydo Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 (edited) The 2mm or 3mm sinking pellets from NLS will provide excellent results with your loaches. I feed it exclusively to my shoal of 23 4-7 inch clown loaches and they are healthy, active and very colorful. I would stay away from shrimp pellets, etc they have a high inclusion rate of starch's and carbs that would defiantly fatten your loaches up, but they wouldn't look great or be very active. Just like if you ate 4 loafs of bread day you'd get fat and sluggish. Heres a video of feeding time: http://www.youtube.com/user/ShineAquatics?feature=mhw4#p/u/16/X5vVBUHR3KY Edited October 6, 2010 by boydo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted October 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Wow boydo thats awesome I think ill have to do some shopping for more loaches..... What dimention is that tank? Do you have any pics of how the spray bar is set up at all? Does it cause much back pressure to your pump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boydo Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Wow boydo thats awesome I think ill have to do some shopping for more loaches..... What dimention is that tank? Do you have any pics of how the spray bar is set up at all? Does it cause much back pressure to your pump? That is a 550 gal its 9.5'L x 2.7'W x 3.4'D. I have several pumps and the spray bars don't restrict the flow just defuse it. This helps the water roll in the tank in such a way that waste and debris are carried to the overflow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 The loaches below were 6+ inches when that photo was taken, & raised on an exclusive diet of 1mm & 2mm NLS. I've taken clown loaches that had their ribs showing, and brought them around within 30 days of eating NLS. The goal shouldn't be to "fatten them up", but to get them healthy. They will fill out soon enough on a quality diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sicklid Posted October 6, 2010 Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 By the sounds of it, the best answer to most questions about food is NLS. My fish love it too.. ...and they look great. I ada tank yars ago with a snail problem until I introduced clown loaches ....problem gone.......BTW those 6 inchers look great..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted October 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2010 Its kinda silly,,,, I never really wanted clowns.... all my years keeping tankmates and aro's I never bothered with loaches. I got the 3 now from a trade as a bonus...... And im in love with them I want more...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 (edited) Are those wild caught specimens, or tank raised? BTW - you might be interested in this. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=29019 Yours would have been originally collected in Sumatra. Edited October 7, 2010 by RD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratos Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 Are those wild caught specimens, or tank raised? BTW - you might be interested in this. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=29019 Yours would have been originally collected in Sumatra. I wonder if yours are ones I shipped to Alberta hobbyists? I have imported and shipped out dozens of them, though they never look as skinny as that when they come in. I have some more coming in the month, will upload photos when they arrive. So far I have been bringing in the Summatran ones, working to bring in some guys from Borneo in near future. I'd recommend you give yours a jumbo piece of plastic PVC pipe to hide in, maybe try to do target feeding. In my experience clowns burn up a lot of calories and need a morning and evening feeding to stay in good shape. RD, by tank raised do you mean captive bred? It was my understanding that all clown loaches were wild caught, with no confirmed captive breeding yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayfong Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 What NLS do you feed them? I have a can of mega fish but no one likes to eat it lol not even the red tail cat.... That's odd, my indo dat, giant red tail gourami and exCichlasoma bocourti all ate it. Even my red hook silver dollar when one of the big guys missed a pellet would grab one and eat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 An RTC will eat dog dirt if trained to do so. lol Sorry Theo, poor choice of words. I meant tank raised, as in they have been "in country" for some time. They appear to be either recent imports, or nutrient deprived fish. Having said that, CL's are indeed now being bred commercially in captivity (Florida for sure, and I think Czechoslovakia as well), using hormones to induce breeding. BTW - color wise, the Borneo clown loaches are FAR nicer than Sumatran, although they cost a bit more at wholesale level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hustler Posted October 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 I figured they were from sumatra, Im not sure if they are recent imports or not but they are eating prawns like crazy I feed all my fish twice a day super worms and prawns and i try the pellets every other day and its just the barbs and silver dollars that really eat them. Ill be trying smaller sized NLS so i hope that becomes the loaches staple. I will be keeping an eye out for the borneo's for sure they look amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 If you're feeding SW & MP twice a day, getting anything to go for pellets isn't going to be an overly easy task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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