Tinfoil Barb growth rate for my way of feeding ?

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benn371

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 11, 2013
76
2
8
Nagercoil, KanyaKumari, Tamil Nadu, India 629001
Hi All

I've bought a pair Tinfoil Barb in my 112 gallon tank which I have them now for around 2-3 weeks and yeah they're very active all the time running here and there. I now feed them Taiyo food pellets and Taiyo bloodworms, I've seen many videos in youtube and forums that they get big around 12 Inches around one year. My question is now I feed 'em twice a day Monday -Saturday (Since I go to work) and thrice on Sundays. For this kinda feeding I would like to know what would be the growth rate of these fishes ? I do weekly partial water changes around 35 % and have a Dolhpin C1600 External Canister filter. Now they're around 3-4 Inches.
Do you thing that changing the brand of the food helps him in his growth rate? If you owned what was your fish's grow rate is and whats the feeding habit and water changes you do.


Thank you. :)
 
#1 power feeding can shorten fish lives because of fatty livers, so take it slow, they will get there with high quality foods, lots of water changes, and lots of room.

Tinfoil barbs really pack on the weight and size once they hit the 3 inch mark i've found.
 
I only feed mine once a day during the work week and no food on the weekends. They only get NLS. Like was said above, overfeeding is not good for fish.
 
I've never seen anyone say they reach 12" in one year. I've seen many people suggest that they grow fast up to 6-7", then slow down. Reaching 80-85% of wild adult size in 1 year in an aquarium seems questionable.

However, mostly I see that they recommend a group. Tinfoils live in shoals, so when you have 2, one will pick on the other. At least 4, but more like 5-6 is a minimum, as a consensus opinion. If yours stay healthy and grow, good job.
 
Redearsunfish said:
i'l tell you this, i've never had success with them. You need a big, big tank and a school, like posted above. They are so skittish.
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Mine have been fine. They eat like freaking pigs. I've got 6 in a 125 gallon. They are always together in a tight little group. They don't like being alone at all. I think 6 is a minimum with how these guys school.

And right now, they're only about 4", and they use the entire 6 foot length of the tank. You need a large tank for these guys since they are skittish, swim fast, and bolt from one end of the tank to the other. By skittish, I don't mean they hide. They race around very fast.
 
I've noticed they calm down at around 8-10". I've got about a dozen of them in an outdoor pond and they just cruise effortlessly around the pond. They used to be in my 125 and they are very active and easily scared. And they really do pack on a lot of weight.
 
Mine are a little over a year old and they are at like 7 inches they are super healthy and get fed every day a variety of food from cichlid pellets, freeze dried blood worms, algae tabs, and frozen foods as well. They don't get all of these each day of course. They will eat anything and everything. But reaching that big in a year just doesn't seem realistic, or healthy for them at all. I have two and at first they were skittish but they have 2 silver dollars they they are with constantly and ever since getting them, even though they are much smaller they are calmer and freak out less. I don't hear them hitting the sides of the tanks anymore at night because someone in the tank scared them. But that could also be because of their size and age now.
 
I'd argue that tinfoil barbs, along with silver dollars, though fantastic fish, are hard to keep unless yuou have a very large tank, and keep them in groups of 5 or more, and you have both ends of the tank planted with tall plants, fake of course. Otherwise these beast will endlessly slam into the tank walls.
 
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