A Helpfull Little Trick

[LetsBeFriends]

About 2 months ago i had an idea, but first the problem.

My black banded leporinus is in a 75US gal tank with 2 pictus catfish. The BBL by nature occupies the lower to mid rang of the tank but does often hide, the pictus catfish on the other hand occupies roughly the same space in the water column but are often under rocks or doing whatever it is fish do when we are not looking But to make a long story short the BBL was getting most of the food before it reached the bottom of the tank, and I was getting tired of putting my hand in the tank all the time to place food where it needed to go. I needed a way to get the catfish to come out.

I noticed that the BBL would get excited as soon as I approached the tank as if to say "I know food is coming" (as most fish eventually do) so I thought if he can do it so can the pictus. So every time I put food in the tank I would lightly tap on the glass hood. After a while the pictus got the hint, now whenever I am about to feed them I lightly tap on the glass hood and they come running.

Just a neat little trick that I thought I would share. Let me know if it works!

 

[Tolak]

Oh it works alright! This is an old breeder's trick, tap on the front of the tank right before dropping food in. What do kids do to tanks in a shop? Tap on the glass!

Besides getting the fish accustomed to this tapping, the fish rush front & center, anticipating food. The kid gets excited, increases the likelihood of a sale. The more fish the shop sells the more they buy from the breeder.

 

[KittyKat]

I do this with all my tanks, that way the least amount of food goes to waste.. but also, because of this, the plecos have figured out how to go after flakes and floating pellets.

 

[Vin Swords]

lol.. i do this too..

 

[coldcazzie]

Me too - for the same reason (not that my loach needs any encouragement from me to grab flake from the surface the greedy oik!)

 

[RustedKnight]

Hmm i may try this to encourage my bumblebees to the front.

So to get them accustomed, tap on the glass before feeding? How hard do you need to tap the glass for the whole tank to hear/feel?

 

[KittyKat]

I tap twice very, very lightly. The fish can probably hear when you're talking in the room, so you can imagine what a tap will sound like.

 

[heatwave]

The fish can probably hear when you're talking in the room, so you can imagine what a tap will sound like.

We should be careful what we say then eh

 

[the_lock_man]

All I need to do is to close the cupboard door, and my lot are there, front & centre. I'll swear one of them mouthed "GET ON WITH IT" at me last night.