Starving Tiger Barb

[slingham64]

I've got a 10 gallon tank with 4 platies, 2 molly's and a loan Tiger barb. For whatever reason he gets along great with the other fish but I have a slight problem. When it's time to feed, the platies an molly's all wait on the surface for me to drop the flakes, and I watch and the tiger barb rarely if ever gets any, because when it was just him in the tank, he would just wait for the flakes to fall to mid level before he'd eat them. How do I remedy this problem? I don't have a seperate tank to put him in for feeding.

[Glasstapper]

You could try loading a turkey baster with some food and shoot the food toward him. Tiger barbs really do best in schools for many reasons other than to just keep their aggression down. Keep an eye on him and keep trying to make it a point to get food where he likes to take it from. You can always remove uneaten food later.

[Chrona]

My cardinal tetras wouldn't eat from the surface at first, so I just crushed up a few flakes in the food bottle cap, swirled some tank water in it, and poured a little at a time so that everything is eaten before it hits the gravel.

[slingham64]

You could try loading a turkey baster with some food and shoot the food toward him. Tiger barbs really do best in schools for many reasons other than to just keep their aggression down. Keep an eye on him and keep trying to make it a point to get food where he likes to take it from. You can always remove uneaten food later.

Yeah, I've written in the general forum about how his aggression is really wierd. There were initially were 3 Tiger Barbs but due to my tank not being cycled, I lost all but this one. I didn't feel right getting rid of him so I kept him. When I added the platies an molly's, he went right for the platies to nip at them. I immediately seperated him by putting him in a fish bag like you get at the LFS for about 20 minutes. I released him about 20 minutes later and for the past 2 weeks he's been an angel basically. He gets along great with the group and hasn't caused any problems. I'm just concerned he's not getting the food that he needs. I'll try the turkey baster idea, sounds like it might be the way to get him some flakes. The molly's love to eat, they'll eat my fingers if I put them in there haha.

[gm72]

I have some fish that exhibit this type of behavior. I work around this by putting a pinch or two of food on the surface then taking another pinch and submerse my fingers (with the pinch of food in there) in the water. Rub my fingers together and the food starts to drop. The surface eaters are busy and my mid to low-level eaters are happy too!

[kimmers318]

Another thing that might work is to try some sinking food. All of my fish will pick at the tablets, wafers and pellets that I drop in for bottom feeders, he might too.

[roulfi004]

I've got a 10 gallon tank with 4 platies, 2 molly's and a loan Tiger barb. For whatever reason he gets along great with the other fish but I have a slight problem. When it's time to feed, the platies an molly's all wait on the surface for me to drop the flakes, and I watch and the tiger barb rarely if ever gets any, because when it was just him in the tank, he would just wait for the flakes to fall to mid level before he'd eat them. How do I remedy this problem? I don't have a seperate tank to put him in for feeding.

As a rule of Thumb:
-Fish that have a mouth pointing up, and usually aligned with their backs (such as guppies, mollies, platies) are Top Feeders and will be happy with flakes
-Fish like the tiger barbs that are "symetrically" shaped, their mouths are in the middle are Middle Feeders and will eat flakes, but mostly when it sinks.
-Fish with mouths pointing down like catfish and loaches are bottow feeders and need sinking food

So, it is nomral for tigers to wait for food to drop. And as others indicated, you can add at least 3 Tiger Barbs to make them happier or sink food yourself.

In general they have a much healthier appetite: My green tiger barbs will dash to the surface, grab the flake, and immediatly run back down in a blink. I think when the fish are happy and adapt to the aquarium, their appetite increase

[slingham64]

As a rule of Thumb:
-Fish that have a mouth pointing up, and usually aligned with their backs (such as guppies, mollies, platies) are Top Feeders and will be happy with flakes
-Fish like the tiger barbs that are "symetrically" shaped, their mouths are in the middle are Middle Feeders and will eat flakes, but mostly when it sinks.
-Fish with mouths pointing down like catfish and loaches are bottow feeders and need sinking food

So, it is nomral for tigers to wait for food to drop. And as others indicated, you can add at least 3 Tiger Barbs to make them happier or sink food yourself.

In general they have a much healthier appetite: My green tiger barbs will dash to the surface, grab the flake, and immediatly run back down in a blink. I think when the fish are happy and adapt to the aquarium, their appetite increase

He died from Ick a couple weeks ago anyways. But the info is definately much appreciated.

[xoolooxunny]

Yeah, I've written in the general forum about how his aggression is really wierd. There were initially were 3 Tiger Barbs but due to my tank not being cycled, I lost all but this one. I didn't feel right getting rid of him so I kept him. When I added the platies an molly's, he went right for the platies to nip at them. I immediately seperated him by putting him in a fish bag like you get at the LFS for about 20 minutes. I released him about 20 minutes later and for the past 2 weeks he's been an angel basically. He gets along great with the group and hasn't caused any problems. I'm just concerned he's not getting the food that he needs. I'll try the turkey baster idea, sounds like it might be the way to get him some flakes. The molly's love to eat, they'll eat my fingers if I put them in there haha.

That's funny! I laughed at the idea of putting him in time out! I never heard of that!

[Chrona]

I tried the same thing with my aggressive molly. I must have made her even madder because she went right back at it with greater vigor. And over time, she learned of the spots in the tank I couldn't get to :rolleyes: