I think that they are compatible, but I figured I would check. Also- what do loaches eat exactly? I was told they eat the old food off the bottom of the tank, but that cant be healthy. Any help would be great!

poop! and the ocaisional shrimp pellet as a treat which mine loves . I have a golden dojo and they do fine in coldwater, but first they need to be acclimated to the current temp. of your tank beacause they are sold as tropicals and thus they put them at high temps. which dojos hate , good luck! on your

really? they eat poop? allrighty! lol this one was in with the goldfish, and i floated the bag in the water and turned the heater up a degree or two since my tank is really cold since thats the way mopy likes it. and when i put him in he freaked out and hid in the cave. He hasnt been moving alot since then, but does he really eat poop? its not that i dont believe you,lol, im just finding it hard to imagine living on poop. Is their anything i should do for him.

they loooove shrimp pellets feed 1 pellet once a day they like all shrimp pellets but mine likes wardleys the most

Loaches like food that fall to the floor of your tank or they will even come up to the surface for food . I thow an alge wafer or some Formula two Frozen food in for my goldies and my dojo Loach eats on that . Loaches dont eat poop at least mine dont they eat the left over food that the Goldies leave on the floor of your tank and in the gravel.
At first your loach will seem shy and hide but he should get use to his suroundings in a few days and come out . But in general they do like caves to hide in and play around. Hopes this helps good luck with your Friend

He has a cave, he rarley goes in it, except when hes scared. All he does is sit on the bottom of the tank. i havent seen him eat or swim (except for when i scared him) he just sits there along the side, and every hour or so when i walk past the tank he will be a few inches over to the left or right. Hes really boring. I thought they swam around and stuff. Maybe he is getting used to the surroundings, but the way my tank is, there isnt much to get used to, and its in a spot that unless you are going to the tank or the closet you dont walk in front of it. its kinda in a corner. My goldies are constipated, so they are on a very small pea diet at the moment, so hes getting a flake of food hidden in the cave once a day, and he wont touch it. Even though he has been in there with it. Maybe he just needs time. I just figured hed adjust as fast as the other one

Some take more time than others . He is probably getting some pea droppings from your goldies . when I first got mine it took about a week for me to notice that he was eating and active .At first I thought he was sick and not getting feed but now when I put food in the tank he is right there for it. As long as your water is pristine you should have no problums . Dojos do real well in cold water my tanks run 69 degrees and every one is happy with that . He probably swims around when you are not looking and goes back to his secure place and thats were you find him every time . They are very quick and before you know it they have done a lap or two around your tank.

My tanks is 67-68 degrees. He hope fully swims around, because i checked them last night and the is in the exact same spot sitting the exact same way this orning. Hes breathing, so thats a good sign. Thanks for your help!

How is your loach doing?

My two loaches, Pussywillow and Cattail, love ProGold goldfish pellets, and homemade gel food. They just go crazy over the gel food!

BTW, mine have become very extroverted, and are right out there waiting for the food with the goldfish. The one I think is female, seems much more social than the male

Both of my dojos are extremely social. One just sat around the tank, until I added a friend, and now the lazy one is zooming all over, and having a grand ole time =o)

Mine just eat the same things that the goldfish eat. I bought them shrimp pellets, but they don't like them, so the goldfish have to eat those LOL.

I wish I could find a golden one!

Jessica

Loaches can often be very unhappy and insecure on their own - they really do prefer to be in pairs or more. Mine have always been much more active if they have a buddy.

They do sit for long periods without much activity, especially during the day. Mine love to drape themselves across the top of the power filters and snooze. Even so, once they've settled into the tank (which usually takes a few days) they should certainly be zooming around, checking things out and rummaging around for food on the bottom a few times a day. When full-grown, they are quite capable of pushing large-ish goldies aside at mealtimes if they wish to! They can also be handfed at the surface, and in fact they seem to enjoy this very much. They LOVE sinking goldfish pellets, spirulina algae flakes and absolutely adore all live foods, especially frozen bloodworms and krill. (They do not feed on poop by the way). I just feed my goldies as normal and the loaches leap out and rapidly vacuum up whatever makes it to the bottom of the tank (although they will cruise in mid-water hunting for food too).

They love to have caves and nooks and crannies to lurk in and will usually come and explore your hand if you put it in the tank when cleaning. The one thing you must be wary of with loaches is that they are incredibly nosey and great escape artists. Keep the tank securely covered at all times and make sure there are no holes or spaces they could squeeze out of. Also be careful when cleaning the tank that they do not investigate the gravel siphon and get sucked up in to it. I have lost one poor little fellow before because he leapt to his death one night when I forgot to cover the tank.

Hope this helps.

Great advice from the previous poster

I, too, lost a dojo loach when he escaped from one of my tanks on his first night with me. I had thought that I had thoroughly escaped proof the tank, but there was a small opening around the filter and he managed to slither out

Yay kokos is back! lol

So i got my loach a friend. And for the first while they were swimming around together and huddling together in the flower pot or rock cave, but i think the new one is sick. Probably since my little gf is constipated so i cant just let food float in the tank, and i hand feed my big gf. I took the loaches out and put them in a rubbermaid container with some peas and fish flakes (the little one used to love peas) But they wont eat, and there slowly getting more lethargic every day. The new big one very much so, he lies slighty tipped over alot and only swims when he simply must. the little ones just acting slower then normal. Im worried, ive grown attached to their ugly little wiskery faces. But no matter whut i do they wont eat anything. Help?

My tank doesnt have a cover, it didnt come with one, they dont ever go near the top that i have seen, i will keep a closer eye out tho.

You will have to keep a close eye on the water quality in your tub. Loaches are quite sensitive to water quality. Have you tried them with something like shrimp pellets. Mine seem to really like those. They also love the homemade gel food.

Also, in the tub, you should try and make it a comfie as possible with hiding places and some fine gravel to burrow in

Please keep us posted.

oh there back in the tank now. Forgot to say that. I only put them in the tub for a day to see if theyd eat. I allowed time for rest and relaxation after the tramatic process of catching and being placed in a different area, i used water from the tank, and the tub was a dark, non see through plastic with a cover.I put in 6 sinking pellets and 3 mushed peas, but they never touched it. they just huddled together in a corver and after about 16 hours, they went back in the tank. they refused to eat.

the big guy is really sickly. i just checked on him and hes gotten worse since yesterday. they were both curled up in the rock cave and i looked in and he was on his side, i lifted it up to check on him and the little one swam out to the corner and he tried to follow but onlly managed to turn around before settling down again.

It sounds like the big one was sick when you got it. I don't if you can do much, other than hope that he/she pulls through.

Is your original loach still eating?

nope, he seems to want to huddle up with this guy most of the time. he used to eat alot, loved peas, hed even take a snap at the gf when they stoled one from him. He wont anymore tho.

Come to think of it when i got the big loach his gills were all bloodshot... i thought it was stress, and when i put him in Qtine he got better and was swimming happily, its only in the past week that hes beenliek this. as i said when i first got him the 2 loaches would swim around the tank happy as clams

I wonder if it is stress now. He has been through several moves, and maybe he is just very stressed.

maybe, but hes been left alone for the past 3 days, other then my putting food right beside them. im worried. he looks like hes on his last leg. is there anything i can do to minimize his stress? Would the dark tub help?

ok the loach is REALLY sick. He lies on his side, his gills flapping madly, then he boltsacross the tank, writhing in tight little circles, beating his head of everything, like hes in so much pain he cant take it, then hefalls to the bottom of the tank, and the whole thing starts all over again. The other fish are fine, just alittle stressed becuase of how crazy this fish is acting. Whut do i do?

It sounds like it could be a parasite. I wouldn't think a bacterial infection would cause that kind of reaction. I don't know what to medicate with, though. I have never treated loaches.

I keep a general parasite medication on hand. I have checked the package and it doesn't say not to use it with scaleless fish. It is Parasite Clear by Jungle and it is a "scattershot" parasite remedy for when you don't know what you are treating for. I have had good success with it in the past with goldfish.

It might be worth a try. It is readily available at most pet stores, and probably nooppee.

Please keep me posted.

i will have to go get some tomorrow. Im seriously suprised hes still alive, i though he would die last night. his tail is ripped apart from writhing out so much, the other loach is in a corner breathing very rapidlly and very sressed out, every time the big one flips out (for lack of better terms) the little one hides. the gf have become bored and stay out of its way. He looks like hes reallly suffering, he wont eat or anything, i dont want him to die, but i dont want him to suffer like he is.

If he survives long enough, give the Parasite Clear a chance. I saved a goldfish that I really thought was a goner. He was on his back on the gravel, with large ulcers on his body. He is still alive now. It is worth a try.

Good luck and keep me posted.

I couldnt find any at nnnnnn. I will have to go look at the other one tomorrow. I am amazed he is still live. He is really in a state now.

I put him in a large clear plastic container and and put it in the tank with no cover, because he was hitting the rocks when he flipped out, and he has bruise-looking marks on him, so now he can take his seizures or what ever they are, without hurting himself, and the other fish can see him and the little loach was laying up next to the side before. I swear there just like people, its like he knows his friend is sick and isnt going to make it. I feel terrible.

If i find this stuff and treat him, should i treat the whole tank or put him in the rubbermaid tub with a airstone? The other fish are fine, and i dont want to give them unesseray medicine, i did a 35% water change today and he was lying on his belly for a while after i did it, but now hes back on his side, his gills are barely moving now, and his wiskers or a pectoral fin will quiver every once in a while, but i really have to take a good long look at him to make sure hes alive.

I dont want him to keep suffering like this, i feel terrible.

I'd probably treat the whole tank, since he has been in there with them. I haven't had any problem with Parasite Clear affecting healthy fish or stressing them. It didn't bother plants, either. It does say that it will affect shrimp and crabs, though.

I got mine at PetsMart, BTW.

nnnnnn is the only 'pet store' we have here. i am going to the one that sells fish today, hopefully they can help.

He died this morning. Im sad, but kinda releived hes not suffering anymore. I couldnt find any parasite stuff that said could be used on scaleless fishes.

Hi,
I am sorry, but I am glad that his suffering is over, too.

Here is a really good mail order site for aquarium supplies. They are in Canada, and ship to both Canada and the U.S. http://www.mops.ca

This is a link to Parasite Clear, sold through this site.
http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/sk...b276+1107972671

I think it is a good idea to have something like this in your fish medicine chest, "just in case".

He held on for so long, i was debeting on wether it wouldve been better to get some clove oil.

I am going to go get some meds asap, bbecause if anything happened to any one of my fish again, i need to be more prepared. thank you for all your help touch of sky, and everyone else!

Yes, it is a good idea to have a bit of a supply of meds on hand. Things always go wrong at the worst time, it seems.