Fish Cant Get To Food...........

mattlee · Jan 9, 2011

this may be a simple fix but my brain isnt working today...... my floating pellets keep circulating around the tank and settling behind the spray bars where the fish cant get it. the fish are a little skittish so arent going mad for food until the coast is clear but by this time its got stuck against the back wall of the tank behind the 2 spray bars....

any ideas? :unsure:

does this even make sense :lol:

Curiosity101 · Jan 9, 2011

Is it permenantly floating food? Ie. they have to fetch it from the surface. Or can you pre soak so they sink relatively soon after being put into the tank?

The only alternatives I can think of to that are:
Change spray bar direction
Turn of filter when you feed (dangerous cause it's very easy to forget to turn it back on)
Feed something else/feed it after they realise there is food in the tank

star4 · Jan 9, 2011

I had the exact same problem in my frontosa tank, I just lowered the spray bar under the water line, but tilted it upwards so the water breaks the surface.

mattlee · Jan 9, 2011

Curiosity101 said:
Is it permenantly floating food? Ie. they have to fetch it from the surface. Or can you pre soak so they sink relatively soon after being put into the tank?

The only alternatives I can think of to that are:
Change spray bar direction
Turn of filter when you feed (dangerous cause it's very easy to forget to turn it back on)
Feed something else/feed it after they realise there is food in the tank

its pretty much a full time floater. it does sink in time but quite a few hours and goes a bit soggy and its not accepted as well by the fish.....

the spray bars are from a rena filter and are quite hard to fit anywhere else without cutting them up but i need them the length they are now for the tank upgrade the fish will be getting......

turning the filters off as you say can be a dangerous game and im sure i will forget about them at some time

mattlee · Jan 9, 2011

star4 said:
I had the exact same problem in my frontosa tank, I just lowered the spray bar under the water line, but tilted it upwards so the water breaks the surface.

star this is how its currently set up. i have 2 spray bars on the back wall of the tank about 3 inches under the waterline pointing upwards to aggetate the water surface. the pellets go straight to the front of the tank with the flow and then creep around the sides and finally coming to rest in a big line in the area that the flow doesnt reach coming from the spray bars at the back. for the fish to get them would involve swimming right infront of the flow and through it to get past the bars.