Help! How do I feed my tetras????

[boozybears]

Hi guys! Yesterday I bought 5 beautiful cardinal tetras but they haven't eaten anything yet.... that's because my other fish are all piggies and ate everything so quick nothing sank down for the little guys.


What do you all do to make sure the tetras get to eat too? Is there any special food I should be using? Right now I have the regular flakes, dried bloodworms and shrimp brine... all which float on the surface.

Thanks for your help! I really don't want my little guys (the 'posse') to starve.

Val

 

[mike45]

I think they are just adjusting to the new tank. When I added fish to my tank, usually they would be shy for maybe 12-24 hours, then they would start swimming around and eating.

 

[tstenback]

i agree with mike45. Cardinals take a while to get comfortable in their new tank. Dont worry if they are healthy they can go a few days without food. But they will be just like the other piggies you have in very short order.

 

[BigSteve]

♂ Some tetras just cannot compete with other fish at the surface for floating food. The Tetra company has some flakes called "crisps", which float pretty good but the surface fish really have to tear at them , and can't possibly eat a whole flake at once. So you get some fair sized pieces that start sinking, and give some other fish a chance. I also use some sinking tablets and/or pellets which some of the fish prefer to nibble at on the bottom rather than fight other fish at the top. And of course the sinking tablets are a must for catfish.

 

[Tenko]

Mine tend to be a bit hesitant to come up to the surface so while the rest of feeding at the top I hold a pinch of flakes under the surface for a second or two then let them go. They soon sink down to the cardinals and they can feed as much as they want then. If you do that, don't put too much in though.

 

[cometcattle]

I tried the tetra crisps, none of my fish ate them, their like cornflakes.

My neons get TetraMin Tropical Granules, they sink quick. I've used it for 5 years.

If you have a HOB filter, submerge some regular flakes in the path of the water coming out of the filter, it will shoot the flake down to your cards.

 

[Richard]

what i started doing every few days was to cut a tublefex cube into quarters

get a needle and cotton tie a loop in one end of the cotton and fix a weight to the end

then push the needle through the long way on the cube slide it the the desired place on the cotton then go through the side also which secures it in place

repeat this for the other three quarters having them at different heights on the cotton

alow enough length on the cotton to hang over the tank 2 allow easy removal once they have finished

only thing left chuck it in the tank and being at the 4 different levels all the fish can get in and eat actually great fun to watch lol

Richard

 

[boozybears]

Thanks everyone for all your replies. I will try some of the methods you suggested if they don't start eating when I feed the whole tank. Otherwise I might be trecking back to the store to get some sinking food..... but then I'll be tempted to buy some more cardinals.... they're just soooo pretty!! lol

Val

 

[Becca]

First off, please forgive me if this sounds condescending. It's not meant to!

Tetras are normally middle feeders and - from what I've seen with my assortment of tetras - can, and will, go days without eating. I just make sure to throw in a pinch of sinking flakes, crumbled up pretty finely. If the tetras are hungry, they'll grab them as they float down.

Usually when I add new tetras, or any new fish, for that matter, it takes 'em a day or two to adjust to the tank. During that period they're pretty much not interested in any food I toss in.

Hope this helps.

 

[boozybears]

Hey Becca... don't worry.. it didn't sound condescending at all! This was actually the first time that I bought fish on complete impulse, based on cuteness ) I knew nothing about tetras so any and all info is extremely helpful to me! Thanks for taking the time to reply!

Val

 

[petitericeball]

oh the 1st day i got my neons i fed em brine shrimp and they gulped em down

 

[Becca]

boozy:

Tetras are great. I love mine. I've got 2 Bleeding Hearts (which are rather inactive and just keep to themselves), 1 Longfin, 1 Priscella, 1 Red-Eye and 1 Silver Tip. All of them vary in size a bit, from about 1 - 2.5 inches...and each of them doesn't really seem interested in food at the top of the tank, they really seem to take notice when they're able to chase the food down and gulp it in. I've even seen the Bleeding Hearts grab entire pieces of Bloodworm in their mouth, retreat to a corner and spit most of it back out to nibble off small pieces. Kinda funny watching them eat...but kind of gross at the same time. I mean, how'd you like to see me eating nachos by biting off a piece and spitting it back out?

 

[Sky042]

My cardinals (RIP) all ate mostly from the middle they'd wait for another fish to take a bite from a flake and then it'd start to sink and they'd nail it. Perhaps if the food is gone too quickly you're not feeding enough.

 

[boozybears]

Hi Sky.. I've thought about that but I would hate to feed them too much. I always laught when I read to feed only what can be eaten in 3-5 minutes. To do that I'd have to empty half the bottle of food! My guys are animals when it comes to eating! The entire surface of my tank (25 gallon) can be covered in bloodworms and they're gone in under 30 seconds! Not too much sinks to the bottom so I think I'll have to hold some under the filter flow just for my tetras.

Thanks
Val

 

[Becca]

Boozy,

I can't believe I didn't mention this before, but here goes:

I have a combination of Mollies, Danios, Tetras and Cories. Between the three, that leaves me with surface feeders, middle feeders and bottom feeders. When I feed my fish, I find that the Mollies and Danios are always first up to grab their portions. I prefer to feed my fish freeze-dried Bloodworms with the occassional flake. What I've noticed is if I add food that is primarily floats (Bloodworms) the Tetras don't get much to pick from. So, here's what I've done - and it seems to work quite well for me:

I've lowered the amount of bloodworms I introduce into the tank - leaving just enough to allow the Danios and Mollies to be preoccupied. Then I add a few finely crumbled flakes and gently push them under the surface of the water. This usually causes them to sink and the Tetras start nipping out their food. As for the Cories, every 2-3 days I add a few sinking wafers to the mix for them.

This appears to be working, the fish don't seem to be starving at all, unless of course, you ask my Mollies who constantly beg for food. Much like you mentioned, I could dump an entire bottle of food and I'm quite sure they'd eat it all up and still be hungry.

Hope this helps!