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What do you guys feed your cherry barbs

Keetchy

Member
Joined
8 Nov 2019
Messages
439
Location
Milton Keynes
Do any of you guys keep cheery barbs. If so, what do you feed them?

I'm hoping there's not an underlining issue but I have had some in my small tank for about 2-3 weeks now and I feed JBL flakes, same as what I feed my main tank. But the barbs never go to the top to eat. Then I tried some sinking granules but they don't touch that either. I didn't know if there was a certain type of food they like that I can try feeding them
 
I feed mine Tetra Pro colour multi crisps. They love them. S,ow sinking and they follow them down. I also feed the blood worm. They also go for Vitalis shrimp food as it sinks.
 
I used to feed mine a mix that included bug bites. It can sink fairly quickly but the cherry’s rarely gave it the chance.
 
Thanks. I'll give them a try. I've also added slow sinking bug bites but I get a lot of it that doesn't sink and the stuff that stays on the surface just gets left there until the surface skimmer sucks it all up
 
Mysis, bloodworm, daphnia, and flake. I buy the frozen blister packs although you cant beat live food. When i feed the flake i never just sprinkle on top but dunk it the water so some of it gets down to the bottom feeders quicker.
 
Are they the only fish in the tank? It's quite unusual for them to not be ravenous pigs so I'm guessing they are a little shy. Try adding the food and then stepping back to the other side of the room and slowly watch them. I doubt it will be the food choice as they generally eat anything once settled in.
 
I never had any issues with them eating, they seemed to go for anything (frozen/live brine, bug bites, bloodworm, flake etc)

My experience with them is that they are more bottom to mid/bottom level fish so don't expect them to come to the surface for food

As cherry barbs are not fish I would associate with being picky eaters I would be keeping a close eye on the tank, checking the water parameters etc just to check something else isn't impacting the lack of appetite
 
When you feed it hold your fingers under the water and slowly release it. Should all sink pretty quickly that way.

Cheers
Ah nice tip. Thanks. I'll give that a try when I feed them next
Mysis, bloodworm, daphnia, and flake. I buy the frozen blister packs although you cant beat live food. When i feed the flake i never just sprinkle on top but dunk it the water so some of it gets down to the bottom feeders quicker.
Yeah school boy error there. I usually just sprinkle on top. I'll start dunking under water before letting it all go next time. Thanks.
Are they the only fish in the tank? It's quite unusual for them to not be ravenous pigs so I'm guessing they are a little shy. Try adding the food and then stepping back to the other side of the room and slowly watch them. I doubt it will be the food choice as they generally eat anything once settled in.
Yeah I have 5 of them and an albino bristlenose. I do usually sit there watching them to see if they eat. Lol. I'll go sit on the sofa and watch next time
I never had any issues with them eating, they seemed to go for anything (frozen/live brine, bug bites, bloodworm, flake etc)

My experience with them is that they are more bottom to mid/bottom level fish so don't expect them to come to the surface for food

As cherry barbs are not fish I would associate with being picky eaters I would be keeping a close eye on the tank, checking the water parameters etc just to check something else isn't impacting the lack of appetite
Yeah they are definitely no way near as "aggressive" as my fish in my other tank when it comes to feeding time. The others go straight to the top of their tank whenever anyone walks near the tank. These guys in the small tank don't even flinch even when I have put food in the tank. I'll definitely keep an eye on them. Apart from this there are no other signs of the tank being unhealthy, but i will check water params tonight
 
Yeah I have 5 of them

Shoal fish often grow in confidence as their numbers increase. If you have spare stocking capacity, taking their numbers into double figures might increase their boldness.

Also your tank is fairly sparse at the minute with little in the way of cover, so that may be making them more nervous - hopefully once your recently added plants start to grow in and provide them with some more cover, their confidence will grow with it.
 
They'll eat when they get settled in and get hungry. I have rummy nosed tetras and 5-banded barbs and the rummys always used to score all the flake food at the top. Now the barbs get in there and fight for it with the best of them - no problem.
Cool cool. What size tank is yours? Just wondering what else I can put in with the barbs in a 60 litre tank
Shoal fish often grow in confidence as their numbers increase. If you have spare stocking capacity, taking their numbers into double figures might increase their boldness.

Also your tank is fairly sparse at the minute with little in the way of cover, so that may be making them more nervous - hopefully once your recently added plants start to grow in and provide them with some more cover, their confidence will grow with it.
Ah yeah that makes sense. Let's hope the plants grow quickly then. Lol. As for double figures for the barbs, I only have a 60 litre tank so that's why I only got 5. I don't think I can have much more than that
 
Cool cool. What size tank is yours? Just wondering what else I can put in with the barbs in a 60 litre tank
45 litres. The barbs and rummys have some friends in a half-dozen each of otto catfish, amano shrimp and zebra thorn snails. The tank is pretty heavily planted and everyone seems pretty happy. There's a recent video here: Current setup - Fireplace aquarium. I tried to introduce the community to some new friends with yellow goldenback shrimp (a variety of red cherry shrimp, but the barbs tore them apart! 😲
 
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