I just got a gold dojo, and I have two questions someone might know.
1. Are they effective in eating algae?
2. Do they just eat fish food? I've never actually SEEN mine eating.
Thanks in advance!

They do a whole lotta NOTHING for algae. They're lazy unless they're playing. And yes they'll eat pretty much anything you give your goldies. They're omnivores. You just got him though. And Dojo loaches are nocturnal, so he may be more comfortable if you fed him at night. Mine feed with the lights on, but they're used to the tank and have been there a while. Yours may still need to get more comfortable with his surroundings. And they know there's food pretty much as soon as it hits the water.. so so if you don't see him come to life within like 10 seconds of dropping the flakes in the water, he's probably just not comfortable yet.

Yeah, I haven't seen him eat, but he is pretty comfortable, it seems. He's swimming around in the airstone bubbles with the rest of the healthy fish.

Congrats on your New Dojo! If you get him a buddy,you may get to see him be a lot more visual & sillier! They love playing with a friend. Sandy's right about the Algae eating-the only thing that they may like about algae ,is the color! Mine are in with my Pig Face Goldies who inhale everything in site.In order to make sure my Dojo's eat enough,I throw the main food in the middle of the tank,and a couple pieces in the corner's where the Dojo's have learned to look! They're a blast to watch-Enjoy him!

Thanks! I'm planning on getting him a friend, a non gold one so I can tell them apart. I've named him Dennis. I've been adding a little extra food just for him. I'm sure he'll be fine.

Heh.. yeah all four of mine are golden.. but one has brown spots on him. So he's the only one with a name. I just call the other ones Gold, Golder and Goldest. Whichever one I happen to be looking at.

Yeah, that would work. What's the identified one's name?

Heh. His name is Reese.. as in.. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. All my fish are named after food.. cept the other three loaches.. and my bettas. Can you tell I might have a weight problem?

My dojo has learned that if she swims up under my Fantail's chin while she is trying to eat, and gives a bonk with her head, Mopy will drop the food so she can eat it. Usually he zooms around the tank sucking up the food at feeding time, and gets into mad battles with the shubunkin over the vegtable clip. Trust me, after a while of sitting back and only getting left overs, your loach will be a feirce competator in the battle over food.

I love my loach's antics, if you have plants in the tank, he will climb them. Not swim to the top and sit, but climb up them like a snake. My loach is always in the top of the plants, a few inches below the surface, ready to pounce if food arives. I looked into the tank yesterday and Loachey was sitting on her fins (notice how they do that? i love it) with her tail way up on the glass, doing a little handstand. I cant beleive some of the places she sits. lol

Good luck with your loach ryukingirl, i love mine!

Thanks. He's really starting to swim around a lot. He doesn't spend much times just lying around anymore. I've noticed his gills are so small and almost invisible that I can barely see them moving. He scared me a couple times!

If I get one spotted dojo, would it get along with my gold one. It might have to be a little bigger than mine though.

What is the difference between a dojo loach and a kuhli loach--except the obvious coloring?? Does any one know?

Hmm. I've never even heard of a kuhli loach before. I'll check up on it.

PS I am planning on getting a bristlenose or rubbernose pleco tomorrow. Will it be all right with my dojo?

Just out of curiosity, what are the rewards of having any of these fish that all of you are talking about? The only thing that i know about them is when I see them at Petsmart, they are spazzing about all around their tank...it's actually pretty hilarios to watch!

What kind of reward do you need? They make me smile. Thats all I need.

Rewards like...do they clean the tank? Do the goldfish and dojos play together...ya know things like that. But I'm with you...they crack me up!

Well they do clean the tank of excess food that the goldy's don't get. But as for algae, nope. And yeah they play with the goldys. They play with everything.

I just got a friend-- spotted dojo-- and a rubberlip pleco. I just now introduced them. I also got the cutest black and orange oranda, the biggest in the whole tank. I'll see if I can post pics.

Whatcha gonna name all of them?

I don't really know. I'll look at how they act and look a little closer at what they look like. I'll let you know or I may post and ask opinions.

Okay, the oranda is Moses, the spotted dojo is Cisco, and the pleco is Dale. I'll see if I can post pics soon.

congratulations with your new oranda He sounds lovely I can't wait to see pics of all of them