Feeding Tips For A Beginner

[mr nelster]

Hi all.

I am a relative beginner after upgrading from a UFO 350 corner tank with a few mollies in it, bought a year ago with a very simple one stage filter and a heater.

I now have a 180L Juwel bow fronted planted aquarium set up and will try to give as much relevant information that I can think of.

It has been running for about 10 days now at zero ammonia and nitrite, with nitrates hovering between 5 and 10ppm and pH at 7.5 approximately. I use the API master test kit, so I am quite confident with the accuracy of the readings. I have tested the tap water for nitrates after reading somewhere that it was useful to know and I get the same reading, so I assume the plants are doing their job?

The current tenants are:

1 x 5" Rainbow Shark (inherited from the tanks previous keeper)
3 x Clown Loaches
5 x beautiful Lemon Tetra
1 x Clown Pleco (I think, the receipt stated only "tropical fish" and I looked at a few different pleco/bristlenose!)

I had a few Mollies in there which I have now placed in a smaller 30L corner tank, not just because their non stoppery was driving me mad, but mainly because they were eating everything that was put in the tank instantly. The algae wafers went in minutes with everybody except the Lemon Tetra and the Pleco they were actually intended for, getting in on the action.

And that is the general concern of my post. I feel I have spent most of my time concentrating on the nitrogen cycle and have neglected thinking about the under or over feeding issues. I am not sure as though I have seen the Tetra eat at all since they arrived (48 hours) and the same goes for the Pleco, though I'm not as worried about him as I know he is there but rarely see him. I assume I would if he was starving?

So the advice I would like is on the most suitable feeding regime I can implement on store bought products? I am aware that I can stick wafers in for the Pleco and supplement with veggies, but I am not sure as to the best staple for the Tetras, Rainbow and Loach. The store felt that flake was fine (as does most of the wiki type information I have found on the web) with other bits as supplements/treats, but the Loach and Tetra dont seem interested in it floating.

I would also like to up the Lemon Tetra count to ten and the Loach to five? In a couple of years I will be upgrading to a 420L tank, before the Loach get too large. Does a 420L sound acceptable for this community as the Loach mature? The shop assistant told me that the three Loach I bought wouldn't be too big for 4 or 5 years.

Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[LoachLover!]

Variety is key. I feed mine their staple flakes (even then they get several types), Frozen, live and freeze dried food (i.e Bloodworms, brine shrimp etc), veggies, pellets, algae wafers etc.

Loaches are generally pigs. Mine love everything! Veggies are great for the pleco and the loaches will enjoy a nibble as well. When I say veggies, I am thinking cucumber or zucchini (Or something simular) blanched and then left in for around 24 hours. I find that all my fish love this! Frozen foods will be taken gladly, so I recommend getting some frozen food as just about every carnivorous (Or omnivorous) fish will enjoy these! So I feed three types of frozen food, with each one fed once a week. The fish love this!

Algae wafers and catfish pellets are taken gladly by most fish.

How big are your current clown loaches? That will determine whether or not your tank is suitable for the next couple of years. Some may disagree, but I personally think that will be fine for now, but that is if you're 100% certain you will be upgrading.

I hope this helps

 

[mr nelster]

Thanks for the reply.

So is there a way to approach the flake that the Clowns and Tetra will prefer, perhaps sinking it or similar?

The Clown Loach are about an inch and a half long, though I have had them for only a few days. The guy in the shop asked me if I minded the slightly bigger ones and I said I didn't as I inherited a 5" Rainbow shark with the tank and was worried about small thin bodied fish (probably irrationaly!).

He is actually very annoying at the moment with a lot of chasing of the Loach going on. The Rainbow has an ample cave formed from rocks with three entrances. I think this may be a mistake as he seems to have all round vision of anybody near the rocks. And as the Loach seem to enjoy nibbling on the rocks it is becoming a little frustrating. As beautiful as he is , I would not have chosen a shark for the tank, but hated the thought of the previous keepers stated intention of leaving him to die! Now the Clowns seem to hide vertically in the plants, amusing but not what I envisaged and not the frenetic clowning behaviour they exhibited when I first put them in. Any ideas? I thought perhaps removing one of the two pieces of bogwood and forming a cave for them at the other end of the aquarium and closing up the top entrance to the sharks cave? If I have to re-home the shark then so be it, as I can watch the Clowns and the Lemon Tetra for hours on end when he doesn't play up. Watching them being chased becomes stressful!

 

[tribalbrit]

Clowns should take flake straight off the surface. mine go mad for it. Also frozen blood worm, tubifex cubes, daphnia and fresh veg, mine love cucumber. Don't feed them for a couple of days, when you do just put a bit of flake in at a time.
Sharks always chase clown loach, mine did it all the time until I increased the size of the shoal, sharks spoilt for choice now so it doesn't seem to chase them as much if at all.

 

[mr nelster]

Clowns should take flake straight off the surface. mine go mad for it. Also frozen blood worm, tubifex cubes, daphnia and fresh veg, mine love cucumber. Don't feed them for a couple of days, when you do just put a bit of flake in at a time.
Sharks always chase clown loach, mine did it all the time until I increased the size of the shoal, sharks spoilt for choice now so it doesn't seem to chase them as much if at all.

Thank you for the reply.

That makes sense, as when the Mollies were in there it wasn't half as bad. He has chased the Loach far more since they were transferred.

How about your opinion on the rocks? Will the Clowns prefer their own cave or shall I leave them with the plants and bogwood to hide in?

Thanks.

 

[tribalbrit]

The more hiding places the better also buy another 3 loach.

 

[mr nelster]

The more hiding places the better also buy another 3 loach.

Thanks, I will do.

 

[mr nelster]

Why can I only add a pic up to 100K? I see others have uploaded videos and pics?

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to upload them to a hosting site, like Photobucket or Flickr, then paste the IMG code into your post

 

[mr nelster]

You need to upload them to a hosting site, like Photobucket or Flickr, then paste the IMG code into your post

 

[mr nelster]

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My Rainbow Shark

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My Lemon Tetra

 

[Easy]

That is a gorgeous tank ! Also I'm no expert but I did have a small clown loach for about 2 weeks and at first he would not eat , it took several days before he took a flake. I read online that they love snails but never tried feeding them.

 

[mr nelster]

That is a gorgeous tank ! Also I'm no expert but I did have a small clown loach for about 2 weeks and at first he would not eat , it took several days before he took a flake. I read online that they love snails but never tried feeding them.

Thanks.

I was very lucky and was given it for free by an aquaintance that could not cope with looking after his fish.Some small snails that seem to have arrived with the plants have disappeared thanks to my clowns!

 

[Easy]

That is a gorgeous tank ! Also I'm no expert but I did have a small clown loach for about 2 weeks and at first he would not eat , it took several days before he took a flake. I read online that they love snails but never tried feeding them.

I was very lucky and was given it for free by an aquaintance that could not cope with looking after his fish.Some small snails that seem to have arrived with the plants have disappeared thanks to my clowns!

+1

 

[Ruskull]

Great looking tank! I love my Lemon Tetras too, and that Shark looks awesome.