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How do loaches know if I drop in 1-2 Hikari Algae Wafers?

They don't go for it right away.

My loaches tend to ignore the algae wafers all together. I normally feed them something a little more meaty like Hikari sinking wafers or Wardley shrimp pellets. They tend to find these pretty quickly after they hit the water and gobble them up in no time. I also feed them blood worms occassionally and tubifex is always a treat.
Good luck!

do eels eat these wafers???????? it says it is for bottom feeders!!

I don't know if eels eat these. I am totally new to this stuff.

On the label it says for Plecos and other Algae eaters. Its a sinking Algae Wafer. And also it says good for feeding bottom dwellers.

Arg! hope this works.

I also saw a different package for loaches. But it doesn't mention anywhere on the bag about algae.

Which is right?

Last edited by manix at 30-Sep-2004 23:44

Any of the 'bottom feeder' foods (wafers, etc) my loaches (dwarf, queens, kuhli) will eat along with my cories, otos, and BNs. My paradisefish, beltedbarbs, platies, and some of my cichlids also have a big interest in the wafers Because of that I break the wafers into pieces. It's funny to see one of them swimming around with a piece in their mouth. The queens will take their find to a 'safe' place in the tank, like a cave or under a plant.

What kind of loaches do you have, and are they relatively new to the tank? Some tend to eat after lights out, and if by chance they're new they may still be shy in the tank. You may want to try feeding them at night and see if you can find the wafers in the morning.

As long as it's fish-safe food I wouldn't worry too much about what the labels say as long as the fish eat it...they obviously don't read labels and don't care

My bottom feeders also enjoy peas and broccoli

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

They are Hillstream Loaches. I got them 2 days ago.

My 2 common plecos seem to know when I drop in an algae wafer. Sometimes they go for it right away. Sometimes they wait for it to soften up some. But none ever go to waste. The blind cave fish and tiger barbs also enjoy a few bites of the algae wafer. But shrimp pellets really seem to be a staple in my tank, the fish love them.

i have a bristlenose and feed him those algae waffers. when i first got him ignored then for two days. now he waits in the open at feeding time for when they drop to the bottom. i tryed him in king british plec tablets aswell which he ignors. On the other hand my hillstream loach in my other tank loves the king british plec tablets but ignors those algae waffers.

Hillstream loaches usually won't eat algae wafers (depending on the species). I fed algae wafers to the fish in my 29g (cories, ottos, 2 hillstream loaches, rainbows, neons, and a dojo loach) and they all munched on the algae wafers except the hillstream loaches. My hillstreams (one of the Beautiforia genus I believe) stayed on the glass mostly and wouldn't touch algae wafers.

My hillstreams have since passed away, (wrong temp, stress, etc) but they were a lot of fun while I had them. Keep them in a cold tank (65-70 F) with plenty of algae, and they should be fine. Make sure they have enough territory (they're territorial towards eachother) too.

HTH

Well so far it has been more than a week. They loaches are doing fine. They are searching for food at night, and sometimes during the day. I don't notice them to be territorial. They are always together looking for food. If they are territorial I have enough hiding places for them.

So I guess I have a okay environment so far.