Tiger Barb feeding with new tank

[Baldrick]

I'm in my 2nd day of cycling my new tank right now with two Tiger Barbs. They were recommended by the folks at PetSmart. One is tormenting the other, but that's another thread...

I bought TetraMin Granules and TetraMin Flakes as well as some Freeze Dried Bloodworms. The fish won't go to the surface to grab the flake and they ignore the worms even as they sink.

When I feed these guys, a lot of the granules are hitting the botton even though I'm adding tiny amounts. I know you want to keep the excess food down to a minimum while cycling.

Will the fish clean up the excess food in the gravel? Am I worrying too much?

Any ideas on the best way to feed these guys?

Thanks.

 

[sarcare]

Ok, first things first. Tiger barbs really need to be in groups of AT LEAST six, not because they are schooling, but because they are agressive little fin nippers--they don't do well by themselves either. They are entirely capable of harrasing other fish to death, so I'd get a few more if you want the two you have to live.

Second thing--tiger barbs are pigs. I call mine pigs on fins, and their tank the trough. Basically they will eat anything and everything that goes in their tank, including your hands. Also they always act like they are starving--don't be fooled they will eat until they explode--literally. They will pick food of the bottom, steal food from other fish, and eat until they die. So if you get a little in they will pick through the gravel to find it--which is why they have a tank of their own in my house--they tortured the corys.

Third thing--it is very hard to keep tiger barbs in a community tank that is less then 55g, and then they need to be in large groups--and even then it is iffy. Also I've heard they get suprisingly big, so my nine barbs in a 20g will be upgraded in a while.

 

[Bigbob55]

Thats unusual that yours aren't eating well, like sarcare, its hard to get them to stop eating! They even try and eat up all the bottom feeder pellets, untill the crawfish gets them to go away.

Sometimes only a few will be OK, but they really need 6+ to be happy, healthy fish. After a nasty Ich infestation, I had 2, but they were roughly the same size and one wasn't really "dominant" so it was ok. But they exitedly accepted 5 new tank mates.

Either take them back in exchange for some smaller fish , or something like a gourami that does well by itself, or buy 3-4 more tiger barbs.

And probably feed them every other day. They're not big fish, they dont need that much food.

And they take a while to get big. The ones I've had for 8-10 months aren't that much bigger than when I bought them. I've seen full grown ones at the LFS, which are pretty big, but I think they take at least 2 years to reach that kind of size.