Is this a common Cherry Barb feeding behavior?

volkl23

volkl23

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Feb 20, 2007
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I am really glad I discovered this forum. Looks like a lot of knowledgeable folks here! I just got myself a 20 gallon starter tank and filled it with a few cherry barbs (2 females and 3 males). I am feeding it tetra min tropical fish crisps (essentially a thicker flake). My parents had fish before and whenever they fed them, the fish would all go up to the surface and nibble on the food. I thought my cherry barbs would do the same thing. Instead, they NEVER go up to the top and only seem to feed when my power filter water sends the flakes violently down with the current. I see a lot of wasted food as the majority of it falls to the gravel. Am I doing something wrong?

I even gave it a few dried bloodworms and the same thing happened. They never noticed it on top and only discovered it when the filter water sent the blood worms sinking. I don't think I'm over feeding either, because when I was arranging some of my plants and some food got uprooted from the gravel, all my barbs went crazy for them.

Any of you guys have any input?

Also, since I have your attention :), I was under the impression that cherry barbs were quite docile. It seems there is 1 alpha male that just chases EVERYONE. There is even one male that seems to have a few slits on his fins (dorsal fins aren't one piece, but have multiple slits in them) most likely from the alpha male chasing him every where. Is this also normal? Funny thing is that the alpha is the smallest of the whole school!
 
Eventually they will figure out that the food is on the surface, just give them some time. Until then, make sure you remove all uneaten food ASAP so it does not rot and give you parameter spikes.

There will always be a dominant male that chases around the other barbs. It's just their nature, don't worry about it.
 
Mine never really came to the surface. Neat little fish, if kinda lazy lol
 
my tiger barbs are exactly the same. they dont go to the top especially when the lights are on. it seems to be that they are scard. after a week of feeding them without the light on, they seem much more confident feeding from the surface.

you can try doing that for a start.
 
hacknet said:
my tiger barbs are exactly the same. they dont go to the top especially when the lights are on. it seems to be that they are scard. after a week of feeding them without the light on, they seem much more confident feeding from the surface.

you can try doing that for a start.
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How long have you had the barbs and do they still do that (not feed from the surface)?

For the people that have barbs that don't eat from the surface, do a lot of food get wasted? I would estimate that my cherry barbs only get 35-40% of the initial food when it sinks. They do scour the gravel surface later for food though.
 
my barbs are almost 2 weeks now and they only started eating from the surface after a week or so... they normally eat the food that falls to the bottom.

cheers!
 
I have had 8 tiger barbs for a few months now. Saw very similar behavior, they would hide in the plants, stay at the bottom, etc. when fed.

They are now 'conditioned' (trained?) so that when someone comes to the tank and opens the lid, food will follow. When the food is put in the tank, it is literally devoured in 30-60 seconds! They attack the food on the surface but leave 'crumbs' to fall to the bottom. They also eat pretty much whatever they can find on the bottom, which is why the corys are fed at the same time.
 
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My Cherry Barbs figured out the food source fairly quickly. The first couple days all of them would shoot off after a pellet once the current forced it down, but now they usually grab the pellets at the top. Always funny to see the alpha try to grab a second pellet ony to loose the on in his mouth. They still haven't figured out that my opening the cover means food, and it usually takes a minute for the first one to notice the pellets, but as soon as one is eating, the others get in on it FAST!
 
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