What's The Best Food For Black Kuhli Loaches?

[wodesorel]

I was just wondering what foods are good to feed kuhli loaches. I know I'll be buying frozen food this week, but I want to make sure I get something that's good for them. Are bloodworms a good place to start? Are frozen better than freeze dried? I'd prefer to go with freeze dried, but somehow I doubt they're as nutritious as frozen. Will they sink to the bottom of the tank okay?

Right now they're on a diet of shrimp pellets, bottom feeder pellets and the occation dead ghost shrimp (which is they're favorite by far!), and can pick at the snails veggies if they want to. I'd like for them to get more variety in their diet, because I'd like for them to live as long and as healthy as they can.

Thanks!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Freezedried foods will take too long to sink for the khuli loaches to have a chance at eating them, however, frozen foods do tend to sink quite well. I feed my khuli loaches and other bottom dwelling fish a real variety of foods, this is what i feed them in general;

Cooked prawns
Cooked mussels
Cooked cockles
Cooked squid
Scraps of raw fish
Cucumber slices
(these foods need to be weighted down)

King British catfish pelets
JMC catfish pelets
TetraPrima complete sinking food
TetraTabimin complete sinking food
TetraPlecoMin Algae enriched food
...And a variety of other algae wafer brands

Frozen Krill
Frozen Bloodworm
Frozen Daphinia

I used to feed my fish tubifex, but it has been known to come from areas with raw sewage and live tubifex has been known to pass parasites onto fish, so i don't feed my fish it anymore.

 

[wodesorel]

I'm from Ohio, USA. I honestly don't think I've ever seen prawns, mussels, cockles, or squid in any store in my area! Man, you must have some really nice dinners!

I'll look into catfish pellets at the lfs, though I haven't seen any before. I think I'll start with the frozen krill this week and if it goes well I'll get some bloodworms later on (I'm watching the spending - my video card is fritzing out!). I guess they really like any kind of seafood, hunh?

I never liked the smell or feel of tubiflex worms, and I remember from when I was really little none of the fish would eat them anyways. Good to know I was right to stay away from them! Thanks for the info!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I'm from Ohio, USA. I honestly don't think I've ever seen prawns, mussels, cockles, or squid in any store in my area! Man, you must have some really nice dinners!

I'll look into catfish pellets at the lfs, though I haven't seen any before. I think I'll start with the frozen krill this week and if it goes well I'll get some bloodworms later on (I'm watching the spending - my video card is fritzing out!). I guess they really like any kind of seafood, hunh?

I never liked the smell or feel of tubiflex worms, and I remember from when I was really little none of the fish would eat them anyways. Good to know I was right to stay away from them! Thanks for the info!

I strongly recommend the TetraTabimin complete sinking food and TetraPlecoMin Algae enriched food as well if you can get hold of it- its expensive, but its good quality stuff and all the fish in the tank love it . TetraPrima complete sinking food is also very good if you have any fish that find it hard to get a bite to eat at feeding time competing with other fish for food, as it doesn't sink too fast so allows middle or bottom dwelling fish in the tank to get a good chance at eating it.
The catfish pelets also seem to be a particular favorite of the khuli loaches too .
If you feed your fish scraps of food, make sure you freeze it before hand as raw fish meat can pass on parasites- i know this from a gruesome experience i had a long while back i bought some salmon steaks and decided to give some of the raw leftovers to my fish, only to notice a juevinile tapeworm wriggling out of the flesh . Freezing the flesh is a sure fire way of killing any nasty that may be lurking in the fish meat.
Although most parasites are species-specific, i would generally advise getting cooked or frozen things like prawns or cockles if you feed them to your fish too just to be on the safe side .

Khuli loaches are omnivores, so they need a bit of everything in their diet, so as long as you feed them a mix of veg and high protein based foods in their diet they will thrive .

 

[wodesorel]

I might start saving pieces of cooked shrimp, and we eat frozen fish a lot, too.

I'm heading to the lfs on Thursday and I'll look for the Tetra products as well.

I know all too well about the dangers of parasites in fish - I am a sashimi queen! Salmon is always the riskiest fish (besides fugu, of course!) to consume because of the risk of tapeworms. But it's also the yummiest! Any raw fish can harbor any number of parasites. I've always figured that if I was infected, at least I have insurance and will understand what is happening. I've been tempted to give my cats and my bettas some, but I've always been too afraid of what would happen if they become infected. I never thought to freeze it first, though. Duh!