Feeding zebra loaches

Question
Chris, thanks much for your quick response. I'm a bit concerned about overcrowding, but I don't
see any evidence that the fish are gasping or hanging out near the surface. Could it be that the
plants are producing enough oxygen that this number of fish is OK?

Incidentally, I think the
"square inches of surface area" formula makes more sense then the "gallons" formula does. My
"tall" tank has less surface area - about 300 square inches - than a normal 30-gallon tank, so
should support fewer total inches of fish.

Also, most of my fish are young and about half their full-grown size. My guess is I have about 40
total inches of fish. If they start to show distress later, I'll catch some and sell them back to the
local pet store. (Would there be clear distress signals short of death?)

I would get a bigger tank, but this tank perfectly fits an opening between my dining room and
family room, so it is very tempting to keep a 30-gal "tall" tank there. Given all that's going on in
my family, I can't see setting up another tank in addition...

-Dan
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Followup To
Question -
Hi,

I have a 30-gallon "tall" tank with the following fish:

11 neon tetras
5 head-and-taillight tetras
3 zebra danios
5 otocinclus catfish
3 flying fox
2 cory catfish
1 spotted plecostomus
2 zebra loaches

I've been operating the tank for 2 months, but it's actually been
up for about 2 years - a friend cared for it, with only a few of the
fish, while I was away for a year, and over the last couple of
months I've been restocking it. For the health of the plants, I'm
injecting CO2 using a Nutrafin bubble ladder at about 1 bubble
per second with a yeast CO2 generation system. I'm using an
Eheim ECCO canister filter. The pH is neutral and there's no
ammonia or nitrite.

A couple of weeks ago I bought 3 zebra loaches, because it
seemed to me the snails were getting out of hand - there were
maybe 2 dozen of them or more. One of the loaches died shortly after
being transferrred to the aquarium, but the other 2 are fine. Now
there are only a few snails left, and I'm wondering whether the
loaches will get enough to eat. Should I supplement the
vegetarian flake fish food I give them twice a day with something
for the loaches? If so, what would be good? I have some freeze-
dried tubifex worm cubes, and about once a week I've been
putting in about 1/4 of a cube, squashed against the tank wall.
Should I be increasing the frequency of feeding them worms and
using less of the flakes? I've also been putting in one sinking
wafer per day for the bottom feeders, and an occasional algae
wafer, but it seems to me the loaches haven't been eating those.
Answer -
Hi Dan;

You may have to start supplementing them with worms or something, but there is a more serious
concern here as well. Your tank is WAY overcrowded. The safe maximum number in any tank is
one inch per gallon of tank water. Right now, the adult size of the fish you have is over 70
inches. Yikes! Make a 25% water change twice a week to keep these guys alive until you can
decide what to do. They are all going to grow to adulthood before you know it. Avoid overfeeding
and hopefully everyone will stay healthy for awhile longer. You are using a great filter and the
water chemistry seems okay for now.

Sounds like a good time to shop for a 70 gallon tank! Or, get a 55 and keep some in the smaller
tank too.

If the loaches get a bit nippy with the other fish you may have to move them out. They do eat
regular fish food, but a little extra protein like FD tubifex will help. Maybe a tiny bit every couple
of days would be good.

Have fun and let me know how things go.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more
information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!

Answer
Hi Dan;

You are quite right on all counts. As the fish grow, you will have to find new homes for some of them. Just make frequent water changes and watch for aggression and picked fins. As the fish get overcrowded, some of the more aggressive members may revolt and try to "drive out" others. The result is obvious in a closed environment like an aquarium......death.

You may never see any of them gasping or showing stress other than being beat up. You may see the water get cloudy and the gravel get pretty dirty though. Sounds like you really have a handle on it and are aware of the possibilities. Keep up the good work!

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!