That's typical. The barbs will feed voraciously and get the ATF's attention. Eventually the ATF will get hungry and attempt to get food from the barbs. He'll fail. After a while of failing, he'll begin to feed as aggressively as the barbs. It normally takes 2-3 weeks.
So you want your new African Tiger Fish to eat pellets?
- Thread starter Chicxulub
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That's typical. The barbs will feed voraciously and get the ATF's attention. Eventually the ATF will get hungry and attempt to get food from the barbs. He'll fail. After a while of failing, he'll begin to feed as aggressively as the barbs. It normally takes 2-3 weeks.
Tittt
so I just picked up a few gatf (I think). They are 4-5” and 3 silver dollars that are 2-3”. The tinfoil barbs are much bigger so I thought they might outcompete first food at that size.
I have a couple slightly bigger silver dollars that I can add to the tank, I’m just wondering if 5silver dollars would be too many for 3 gatf at that size? Right now the sd are petrified of their own shadow. I wonder if adding more would help them be more confident.
so I just picked up a few gatf (I think). They are 4-5” and 3 silver dollars that are 2-3”. The tinfoil barbs are much bigger so I thought they might outcompete first food at that size.
I have a couple slightly bigger silver dollars that I can add to the tank, I’m just wondering if 5silver dollars would be too many for 3 gatf at that size? Right now the sd are petrified of their own shadow. I wonder if adding more would help them be more confident.
Hot damn I forgot this thread existed. Lawdy my writing style changed after I went back to school in 2012-2014.
Anyway. I never had luck with $'s as dotbers for ATF. The whole point is to give the ATF a group to school with and to learn behaviors from. Tinfoils are ideal because they're big, dumb, fearless trash cans for pellets.
$s are skittish, flighty and can be picky eaters sometimes when small (well, at least compared to the barbs). If your teacher fish is flighty and won't eat, that's the behavior your ATF is at risk of picking up. There's also the very real problem of the $s not looking so much like an ATF other than the color, so they may not school as well. Tigers have very good eyesight.
I don't like $s for ATF teachers. You may have luck, but if I were you I'd take them back for a credit and get some barbs. If the lfs only has huge mongo sized barbs, check out a box store. They almost always have barbs that are at an ideal sacrificial size.
And keep that in mind- these fish are the sacrificial cathode for your GATF. There's a real chance you'll lose some.
I have a question, after 4 dyas of getting my new 4" VATF i broke him onto tilapia and shrimp cuts, Im starting to notice him get excited around when hes supposed to eat and when i dangle cuts of shrimp or fish he come right up to the glass and tries to attack them and watches closely as i drop them in for him. I want to start incorporating pellets into his diet as well. Should i keep going on my personal methods for this (stuffing the frozen food with pellets etc) or would i be better of adding 2 tinfoil barbs, i know my lfs has some. My only fear is throwing off the mojo or personality i have building in my VATF. I would much rather leave it as jus him in the tank with his giraffe cat.
What you're doing is working well. The next best step to get them onto pellets would be to take some of that nasty fish juice that's in the shrimp bag or the filet bag and soak the pellets in that so that they smell like the stuffies used to eating. Over about a week use less and less of the juice, and he should be able to go over to the pellets fairly easily.
Okay I will try that, right now its only him and the giraffe cat. my lfs has a couple albino Tinfoil's around 2.5"-3". would it be smart to get 2 to improve his feeding competition and aggression? or do you think I should stick with just him and the giraffe.
He seems to hang out down near the bottom of the tank near the giraffe cat under his driftwood if hes not feeding, I had 4 pbass in there when i first got him and he schooled with them but they started to beat on him so I removed them
What you're doing is working. Don't change anything, other than what I suggested, as it can throw off his progress in learning to not take live.
I'm starving my 10" VATF with a 6" ray. It's been 4 days since I got the VATF and he haven't ate. My 6" ray is currently feeding on Hikari sinking carnivore pellets. Will be my 6" ray be OK during this training?
I would imagine it probably would, but ymmv and I can't guarantee that it will
