Tinfoil Barbs Feeding Question

[cybortech]

Hello,

I recently bought 3 Tinfoil Barbs which have now destroyed my plants that i had growing in my 260 Vision.

Is this normal behavior or am I underfeeding. The fish are fed once a day usual Flake, bloodworm or Brine shrimp once a week plus veg once a week.

I know they grow quite large but do they need to be fed more than once a day?

Is there any way to stop them attacking the plants they are the usual beginner plants Cabomba, Straight Vallis, Amazon Sword.

Thanks.

 

[max11180]

seems pretty normal really IME.. plastic is the way forward!!
Quite common to see one mine swimming round with a length of plant in its gob.. looks like an old man swallowing down spaghetti!

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

I just had to add some input into this thread as I have two tinfoil barbs and they are absolutely one of the greatest fish I have ever had! I made the same mistake with my barbs near plants and it wasnt long until I just went out and got plastic plants. (over time, with a little algea growth and what not, they can look very realistic!)

Anyways, my experience with these tnifoil barbs is that they are opportunistic feeders and can and will eat anything you drop in the tank, at any time. This can be bad however, since they can eat themselves into sickness and even death. The trick of feeding more will not really solve the problem of them chewing up your plants for this reason, I am sorry to say. Also, I have found that purchasing multiple food types (I prefer frozen foods which I thaw by placing the food into an old butter container or plastic bowl in hot water till it is all seperated (this also helps keep the mess down)), including one that I found which is a multipack of brine shrimp, blood worms, and vegitation. I rotate through these foods more on a whim than anything, but I can honestly tell you that my tinfoil barbs are so colorful! They have the most strikingly red fins and they are getting better everyday! I also love to feed them a 'slow sinking' pellet food because they act more like a couple of sharks in a feeding frenzy! (I use this to impress my friends when they happen to be over at feeding time).

More to the point, I feed my tank with the tinfoil barbs only one time a day in order to avoid over feeding and to keep my barbs from over indunlging! THe plant issue is a problem and you may need to consider alternatives like plastic plants or my favorite plan...get another tank so you can enjoy both at the same time!

 

[cybortech]

Tommy thanks for the reply,

You say you feed them once a day how much do you give them in one feeding? I have a mixture of other fish with them but I find I am now feeding more but also once a day. They get a mixture of flake and pellets at the same time maybe 20 pellets and a sprinkle of flake. The food is gone in less than 2 mins. But I still feel this may still be to much.

Would you agree?

 

[Neo8223]

hehe i have the same problem with my 3 tin foils. They have destroyed all our plants and re-arrange the tank all the time. Although this contradicts with tommys thread, we actually feed them twice a day and A LOT! We can get away with this as we have two plecs, 4 clown loaches and 1 red finned shark to feed off the gravel. Nitrite levels and ammonia levels are also checked once a week and are practically non-existant in the tank. However, we too have given up with the living plants idea. Although we do occasionally put the overgrowth from my other tank into that tank for the fish to have a treat.

A very good tip tho that did work was to use lettice. Give a few leaves a good wash and drop em in the tank. The leaves are a lot easier to chew on than most of the other plants so the barbs will go for that instead (in theory.) This will slow down the rate of them eating the plants but will never stop it. These fish eat as if the last supper comes 365.25 times a year!

 

[cybortech]

These fish eat as if the last supper comes 365.25 times a year!

Neo
Thanks for the info will try the lettuce. Great quote.

Rgds
Cybortech.

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Like you, I also have other fish in my tank. Here is what I do, usually. I will feed 2 frozen 'squares' of shrimp (brine or mysis), 1 'square' of frozen bloodworms, and one 'square' of a freshwater multipack (another frozen food that is a variety of things, including veggies. It is made by the san fransico bay brand). I will do this on about 5 of 7 days a week. On the other days, I will feed a mixture of flakes that float and slow sinking pellets for my tinfoil barbs. (When I do this, I like to turn my filter off for a couple minutes so that the fish have a change to eat before it all gets swirled around the tank). In my tank, I have some great fish to watch eat, including bala sharks (which make a sort of 'barking' noise when they eat from the top of the water) and my tinfoils, which just 'fly' around the tank gobbling everything up. Hardly anything ever hits the bottom (which is why I feed my algea eater and eels just after I turn out the lights and then I use a net to get the food to the bottom without trouble from the other residents).

In my opinion, if your fish are doing fine and growing, you are feeding ok. You will certainly be able to tell when your fish are starving since they would be just like a human and lose a lot of weight. I have read a TON of articles that have said NOT to rely on the 'two minute' rules printed on many fish food containers. If you really look closely at a variety of foods, more than likely you will notice that every brand has a somewhat different time-line as to how much food your fish should eat daily (e.i. some say two minutes, some say up to 5 minutes.) The best judge will be your fish's appearance, meaning growth rates and color. Keep in mind that many fish will learn to act just like a dog and may seem to appear hungry every time you walk past your tank. I know that my fish, which are located by the door, swarm to the top of the water when ever I leave or come home. At first I felt like I was being mean by not feeding them when they appeared hungry but this type of thinking just left me with a very overfed tank and bad water parameters in the long run.

Good luck with your tank and remember that good nutrition is really in quality and not always quantity.

 

[cybortech]

Like you, I also have other fish in my tank. Here is what I do, usually.

I will feed 2 frozen 'squares' of shrimp (brine or mysis), 1 'square' of frozen bloodworms, and one 'square' of a freshwater multipack (another frozen food that is a variety of things, including veggies.

Hi thanks for the reply again,

I kinda feel after reading your last post that i now may be underfeeeding I feed a pinch of flake and 10-12 pellets per day plus one square a week of brine shrimp then alternative week one sachet of bloodworm plus Veg once a week.

Now not sure if I am feeding enough.

Thanks again.