My Clown Loaches Need Bulking Up!

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Angler

Angler

Polypterus
MFK Member
May 8, 2007
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I have 5 clown loaches. The biggest seem fine, but the smaller ones look a little skinny. They are healthy, but I would like to get a little more bulk on them. I have had them for a while, and they may even be a little skinnier than they use to be.

I feed a good variety to my fish- Hikari pellets, two kinds of NLS, frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, krill (which they don't really touch) and etc.... They never seem too excited about the food I give them (other than the brine shrimp and bloodworms)

I want to find a food that they love and will pig out on so that they put on a little weight. Any suggestions on something different, or should I just feed more brine shrimp and bloodworms?
 
I use a variety of foods. Mussels, snails, and fish eggs are a great way to bulk them up!
 
They probably have a common clown loach disease. Many believe it's caused by parasites (this is unlikely from the standpoint of people with medical educations) and have treated their fish with anti-parasitic medications with limited success.

I've treated dozens of loaches and caught early enough and with the correct antibiotics and dosing regimen, the success rate is very high.
 
We wormed all ours with gel tek when we first got them. That's a pretty common procedure with me and wildcaught or farmed fish (that seems to be most pet store fish actually..) since they pretty often seem to have internal parasites

Other thing is you may not be feeding them enough. Clown loaches, especially juveniles (you didn't mention how big yours are btw :)) are EXTREMELY active and require a ton of feeding.

I'd also lay off the brine shrimp. It holds little to no nutrition and won't really do anything for bulking them up either. While you think you're feeding a lot, if it's brine shrimp you will have to feed a lot more than you think to give them the right amount of food. If you replace the amount of brine shrimp you're feeding with bloodworms you will probably see improvement, and you won't be removing anything detrimental from their diet by doing so.
Also, IME, feeding brine shrimp makes it harder to get fish onto other foods since it tastes so good to them although holding no nutritional value.
Have you tried white worms? A lot of fish like those also.

I also agree with ewurm, all the foods he listed are high in protein and good food sources for many species of fish, especially loaches.
Also give them some slices of zucchini to snack on, they love that ;). Not necessarily just for the diet aspect but they seem to enjoy having some veggie matter to munch on throughout the day as they get hungry.
 
Look at Worms blog on bulking
 
Thanks for the info guys. I am going to try mussels soon. Ewurm- How often should I feed mussels? How often should I feed bloodworms?
 
Angler;1424404; said:
Thanks for the info guys. I am going to try mussels soon. Ewurm- How often should I feed mussels? How often should I feed bloodworms?
Click to expand...

I feed bloodworms 4 times a week and mussels once a week right now, and it's working great. All of my loaches have packed on an inch in the last 2 months and have gotten noticeably more stocky
 
Live or frozen blood worms?

It's easier for me to use frozen and not have a cup of live worms in the fridge.
 
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