Loaches at the Asian Supermarket

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shookONES

Casper... the not so friendly ghost
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Jul 12, 2005
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Totowa, NJ
I wandered out of my local Whole Foods and into a not-so-local Asian supermarket the other day. While browsing the seafood department, I found a bin full of decent sized live loaches. I was wondering how these would work as live feeders? IDK exact species, but I'll post a video later today for clarification.
 
I've never even seen loaches at Asian markets before.

I'm guessing since you want these as feeders they must be fairly cheap. How much are they selling for and what's their size range?
 
I've never even seen loaches at Asian markets before.

I'm guessing since you want these as feeders they must be fairly cheap. How much are they selling for and what's their size range?

Yup exactly. IDK price as nothing was written in English, but I'm planning on doubling back this weekend to load up on a few things. A figure a bag of loaches would put smiles on my fish's faces. They were decent sized, 3-6".
 
Live fish from an Asian market may put more than a smile on your fishes face. Live foods from anywhere, always come with a risk.
 
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I've seen live and frozen dojo loaches offered for sale but that's it.

I'm curious as to what species are being offered.
 
I've seen live and frozen dojo loaches offered for sale but that's it.

I'm curious as to what species are being offered.
The Asian market near me has a plethora of frozen freshwater fish,lots of which are common in our hobby.I have seen frozen loaches but no live ones yet and I am also curious as to which species they had there.I remember browsing a small produce store in Chinatown and being blown away by the tank full of live barramundi.
 
I'm pretty sure they were Weather Loaches, Misgurnus Anguillicaudatus. These don't have the pectoral spines like clown loaches right? I'm gonna grab a few this weekend and see what happens. Feeding video to follow :)


The Asian market near me has a plethora of frozen freshwater fish,lots of which are common in our hobby.I have seen frozen loaches but no live ones yet and I am also curious as to which species they had there.I remember browsing a small produce store in Chinatown and being blown away by the tank full of live barramundi.

I remember fighting with the workers at fish markets when I was younger when I would show up with buckets and want to take snakeheads and barramundi alive haha.
 
I've seen live loaches in Korean supermarkets as well... they looked olive colored and were in chilled/cold water. Maybe that slowed the loaches enough for handling.
 
I've seen live loaches in Korean supermarkets as well... they looked olive colored and were in chilled/cold water. Maybe that slowed the loaches enough for handling.

Yup this was at a supermarket right across the GWB in Palisades Park. I'm getting mixed opinions amongst fish friends: some say parasite city and others say its a staple diet overseas.
 
I have never had a problem buying any live fish from those places,they didn't care as long as money was made.Being crowded and kept in cold water,most of the fish in those tanks are in rough shape and won't last much longer after they are bought.
 
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