Feeding A Ruby Shark

[aquacube3]

Hello guys, Have had my aquacube 30x30x30cm for 2 months and have 8 baby danios, 6 green tiger barbs and 1 baby ruby shark. We have another tank coming this week twice the size and no desire to get any more fish for a while as we are new to the game. All the fish seem to be doing fine but the ruby shark doesn't seem to eat any thing apart from algae - which I am guessing there isn't much of at the moment. The others feed well on flake food but they also tend to eat his wafers too. I have tried advice found on the internet about putting the wafer in when the lights are off but then I don't know if he's eating either! Was thinking about some bloodworms but i'm not sure if he's just timid? I even tried wilted spinach leaves last night but nothing! Any advice please? x

 

[waterdrop]

Guess you could try a small amount of freeze-dried bloodworms or tubifex.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Anna Robinson]

You should be alright if you are putting in a small piece of sinking wafer after lights out. Normally there is enough light in the room to see if the fish is feeding or not, even with the lights out. If he is active and doesn't look thin, then he's probably OK.

 

[Hiya70310]

I have a ruby shark, I'm not so sure how old she is. She is pretty yong I'm sure. She is about 2in. Ruby sharks are scavangers and they eat mostly algea and left over food off of the substrate, decor and glass. When I brought mine home from the LFS she wasn't interested in the wafers or flakes. She was content with what she scavanged.
After my fish got on a schedule, I feed mine once a day right after I turn the lights on in the mornimg, she started to go for the food.
I personally crush my flakes and soak them in a little tank water before I give the food to the fish. I do this for everything except algea wafers and peas. Also I heard it is better for their tummies.
I tried lettuce with my shark before and she completely ignored it however I introduced par-boiled and shelled peas and everyone LOVED it. They went crazy over it. I also give them blood worms but not often because I have read on the forum that they are more like a treat and shouldn't be given more than 1 to 2 times a week. The shark likes the blood worms too. But as I said it took her alittle time to go after the algea wafers and flakes as soon as I placed them in there.
Tropical fish are able to go quite some time without food. At least 2 weeks I've heard so don't stress.

 

[aquacube3]

I have a ruby shark, I'm not so sure how old she is. She is pretty yong I'm sure. She is about 2in. Ruby sharks are scavangers and they eat mostly algea and left over food off of the substrate, decor and glass. When I brought mine home from the LFS she wasn't interested in the wafers or flakes. She was content with what she scavanged.
After my fish got on a schedule, I feed mine once a day right after I turn the lights on in the mornimg, she started to go for the food.
I personally crush my flakes and soak them in a little tank water before I give the food to the fish. I do this for everything except algea wafers and peas. Also I heard it is better for their tummies.
I tried lettuce with my shark before and she completely ignored it however I introduced par-boiled and shelled peas and everyone LOVED it. They went crazy over it. I also give them blood worms but not often because I have read on the forum that they are more like a treat and shouldn't be given more than 1 to 2 times a week. The shark likes the blood worms too. But as I said it took her alittle time to go after the algea wafers and flakes as soon as I placed them in there.
Tropical fish are able to go quite some time without food. At least 2 weeks I've heard so don't stress.

I really appreciate the advice - thank you so much! I will try the peas tonight and introduce the bloodworm in a couple of weeks as the tank has only just cycled fully. I have noticed that the ruby shark (bob!) is getting used to the routine now and although she is far from being fat, her colours are strong and she's forever chasing the barbs around so fingers crossed that she will be ok! As there are 15 growing fish in the tank I do feed them a little in the morning and then at night so they don't get constipated but even though the wafers go in when the lights have been off for a while they still know it's in there somewhere! I love the idea of soaking the flakes first - will do that tomorrow as the danios are so greedy that left overs very rarely get to the gravel at the bottom!

Thanks again for the advice and look forward to seeing Bob get bigger!

 

[Hiya70310]

I'm glad you found the post helpful.
I'm new too and it feels nice to give alittle advice rather than asking all the time. However I still have plenty of questions to ask.
Hope you have a gravel vacuum as, i'm sure you do, the food that the fish don't eat will need to be removed.
The peas, I mashed them up then put them in. This makes the water cloudy for a minute but it clears.
If you find a better method let me know
thanks