FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Can anyone tell me what they feed their tiger barbs? I feel like im not giving my fish all their nutritional needs. They get brime shrimp and flakes everyday and i feel like theres more they can eat.

And i actually just read that brime shrimp (freeze dried) is " like twinkies for fish" so i know it cannot be health for everyday consumption.

I am also inquiring because i just got my sixth green tb after a death and can see how much color he has compared to the others...can that have anything to do with their diet??

THANKS FOR ANY HELP

tigermom

It sounds like some frozen bloodworms might be a good addition to their diet. I think live/frozen food is supposed to enhance color...

Dietarily tiger barbs are pretty easy,true omnivores capable of taking just about any food, they take most commercial flake and granular foods, and are partial to live wormy foods. Keeping a little frozen livefood in the diet is a good thing though, tiger barbs are quite susceptible to periodic dropsy due to organ compression if they get too fat, and the odd bout of constipation.

So although you can give them bloodworm they can get too fat if given it daily. A nice way to feed barbs is to give them flakes one day, and then livefoods the next, it gives them a chance to purge food types and avoid constipation. Basically the key is variety and not overfeeding. Keep them slim and vigorous.This is particularly true of blue or green selectively bred variants of tigerbarbs, who often suffer poor gastrointestinal health.

Basically you sound like youve instinctively done the right thing, but a little more variety never hurts.

Maybe its just me, but my TB wont even go near the frozen bloodworms anymore. In fact, they dont even chase live brine shrimp anymore. Its almost like theyre trained on flakes! I just feed them the flakes, and occasionally some crisps. I have a snail in there that eats the leftovers.

As for the diet, if they are seeming hungrier, feed smaller amounts, more times a day(ex. instead of 1 3pinch feeding, try 3 1 pinch feedings). I was told that tis regulates their digestive system. As for color, there are different color enhancing flakes out there with "natural pigments"(what are these?) that are supposed to color the fish. I have also read that a diet with spirulina is going to enhance their color.

As for my 20 tall, i balance the diet with Bloodworms and algae tabs. That way they get both the protien and the veggie matter they need.

The Brineshrimp diet must be expensive! I find them at 1.00 a scoop!

So in essence, you should add maybe some more veggie matter to your diet. I think that might work. If they are getting too fat, lay off the freeze dried and frozen foods, and also, the live foods too! Tiger barbs dont really need a special diet or nutrition plan, as long as you cover the basic needs, such as protien, crude fat, etc.....


><> ~=!Vote Today!=~ <><
-----> View My Dragons <-----

I used to feed mine a wide range of products like Flakes, Granules, Brine Shrimp sticks, frozen Bloodworms & Blackworms. I would vary their diet daily, as they eat most foods & aren't fussy at all.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

try chopped (frozen) spinach for a change;
all barbs are plant eaters in essence.
Theyll love it!

(I'd avoid cream spinach, by the way ... )

Thanks all!!

Everything you all suggested I went and bought if I didn't already have it. I got the bloodworms and Granules and they love it. I've never actually seen them so excited to eat before. GobyFan2007 I love the idea of changing up the feeding, I've been using that idea and it seem like they find feeding more interesting and exciting so thanks a lot. I'm going out tomorrow to get the spinach and to find Blackworms because my LFS didn't have them. Overall the food suggestions I feel have really helped, hopefully with more time it will help there color but it might have to do with what I'm addressing in water quality.

THANK A BUNCH,

tigermom

Gobyfan, the "natural colourants" are usually just a dose of beta carotene, the same stuff they used in "sunny D" that turned all those kids yellow a few years back. LOL.

Its not harmful, but it tends to bring out the pigments in fish, making reds, yellows, browns and blacks deeper, doesnt usually do much for the blues and greens though.

My fish love the tetra crisps too, they all look great on them.

I feed my TBs on pellets, tubifex worms, blood worms and they also share the vegetables with the giant gourami. Look pretty healthy and active.

I feed my TB's frozen bloodworms about every 3 days. Well, I say I feed the TB's, but almost every fish in the tank goes INSANE over the bloodworms when I dump them in. It's a mass feeding frenzy and they will seriously clear out every single worm in less than a minute!

Listen! Do you smell that?