Feeding 5 Striped Barbs With "live" Food

Live is better than frozen which is better than freeze dried - same as with human food 

Live has a risk of 'bugs' coming in with the food, from disease to parasites.
Frozen has less risk, especially if you find a brand that's been gamma irradiated. Thaw in a tub of tank water before feeding it.
Freeze dried has little nutrition left in it.It also absorbs water and bulks up quite a lot. If it is put in the tank straight from the pack and the fish eat it within seconds, it can absorb water inside the fish and swell up causing damage. Always soak freeze dried food in a little tank water before feeding.

You can also cultivate your own brine shrimp to feed them. There are plenty of kits available for this. And a lot of people cultivate their own daphnia.



As a side issue, loaches are carnivores; yours will do better with a meat/fish based sinking pellet. (And a few more loaches of the same species as they are shoaling fish).

I find frozen bloodworm seems to be enjoyed by the majority of my gang, and is quite easy to use.

 :)Thanks so much all, that is really helpful info'. The fresh, frozen dried order makes perfect sense. But like Hampalong I don't like the look of the little bags in shops. I'm going to look into growing my own. Could be fun but I'll seek out some frozen ones next time i'm in my local shop.
I am intending to get a few more fish. Then  current inhabitants are the survivors of a leaking tank a while back. They've been swapped into two V small tanks for a while and then into the 245. Not all of them made it sadly.
Interestingly I got the loach form Haslemere Aquatics and specifically asked if they were OK as solo fish and was told yes. I have had a few people tell me otherwise since so I'll seek out a couple of mates for him/her. I think I may also stick to my independent shop in future and avoid the big boys.

Get at least 5 more loaches, preferably more if you have room. In most schooling fish, including these, keeping 2 or 3 usually just causes fighting and bullying.

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/ambastaia-sidthimunki/

”Ambastaia spp. are gregarious and appear to form complex social hierarchies. They should be maintained in groups of at least 5 or 6 specimens, preferably 10 or more. When kept singly they can become withdrawn or aggressive towards similarly-shaped fishes, and if only a pair or trio are purchased the dominant individual may stress the other(s) to the extent that they stop feeding..”