Bad Fish Habits

[CyberTrip]

My two Tinfoil Barbs have made a really bad habbit lately of eating their fecal matter off the sand in my 55g tank that's being cycled. They didn't do this before in my other tank with gravel. I think the reason is they couldn't really see it with the gravel and the sand is black. They'll swip to the bottom of the tank and stir up the sand to make the fecal matter float then they eat it.

Is this normal? I'm sure it's probably not going to hurt them because they've been doing it for a while but the problem is they make a mess and now there's always crap floating around. Eventually I'll get the second AquaClear 70 but for now I have to work with one.

 

[Gumby131]

ewwwwww thats sick
are you feeding them enogh

 

[CyberTrip]

I used to feed them once a day with cichlid floating pellets. since i moved them in to the new tank and saw them eating their own poo i started feeding them twice daily. they still do it. weirdos

 

[aquarob]

No, your fish arent retarded. It has to do with the instinct to feed. Its uncontrolable. Kinda like blinking our eyes for us. If you go shark fishing, ask the captain to show you the old shark trick about eating itself. Basic version is this: Catch a small shark, slit open its belly, pull out the guts, drop the shark back into the water, watch it eat its own guts. I dont suggest doing this personally, but I have seen it done, and yes, they really do eat their own guts, even while they are bleeding to death. The instinct to feed is that strong.

 

[1HungryGoldfish]

I pick my nails a lot. It's sort of the the same thing, except it's my nails and not my intestines. And I'm not bleeding either. Well, most fo the time.

Pl*cos are trouble when it comes to this kind of problem. I have a pleco I feed algae wafters and large flakes which end op on the gound. If his diet is one or the other, it's OK. But in combination his poos are very long, about 20 inches on a 6 inch fish. Very weird. sometinmes it goes in the fitler and al lis well. other times the fish nibble in it, kind of like your fish when it's on the ground. I have since increased filtration and now it breks off before it gets long adn ther are no more gross problems.

 

[CyberTrip]

Hopefully I can decrease this problem by adding undergravel(sand) jets and adding another AC 70.