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so i bought a couple of black kuhli loaches and some sinking shrimp pellets to feed them. ive had them for a few days now and i havent seen them eat once. i know theyre nocturnal so i turn off the tank light and thats enough to get them out after about half an hour or so. why are my loaches not eating?

Hi,
First, they are a very "Skittish" fish. They need time to acclimate to the tank water chemistry, and any tankmates. They also need to locate places for them to hide in, or under, or behind. The tank should be heavily planted. They look like worms and as such are appetizing to many fish, and.. to birds who might be flying across the surface. They have to have places where they feel protected. A heavily planted tank, expecially one that has plants growing to the surface and across it is ideal. Or, large broad leaf plants such as the amazon swords.
Depending upon what you read, they are primarily carnivores and will need some variety of worms as well as the shrimp pellets that you mention. Do not put of the shrimp pellets, or any other sinking food in the tank and leave it. If it is not eaten by morning, remove it, else it will begin to polute the water.

Here is one of many sites describing the needs and care for that fish:

http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/sept07/kuhliloach.htm

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

thank you. im afraid i dont have any plants in the tank but there are places to hide under some decorations. theyre perfectly comfortable with all of the other fish in the tank. they actually dont really react at all when another fish is near them or even makes contact with them. considering they havent died its probably safe to assume they are eating so im not going to worry about it. so far theyre very active and seem healthy and stress free. although i really dont know how to tell for signs of stress in a kuhli loach... so far i really love the little guys. theyre still very young which is something i always try to get when i buy new fish. its fun to watch them grow up lol.

is it normal for black kuhli loaches to always swim against the side of the tank? they dont burrow, they dont hide, they just swim in circles against the glass.