Sinking Pellets I've Used Get Stuck In Tiger Barbs' Mouths

[k2snowboards88]

I have both clown loaches and tiger barbs in the same tank. I have been feeding them frozen food 2 times a day. Thats getting a bit pricey for me though. I want to start feeding them 1 meal of frozen food and 1 meal of processed food a day. The problem is that both kinds of food I have tried get stuck in the tiger barbs mouths and it takes them nearly a half hour to chew it down and swallow it. It looks painful and I don't think its a good idea to keep feeding them these foods. The foods i have tried are Tetra Tropical Granules and Omega One Color Small Pellets. There must be some kind of processed food that can feed both of these fish without choking the barbs. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[dcarmor927]

are your tiger barbs really small? i used to have tiger barbs in with my clown loaches too lol...i fed them TetraMin tropical flakes and Spectrum Thera+A (by New Life) sinking 1mm pellets (they also make .5 mm if you want smaller)...the barbs usually went for the flakes and the clowns for the pellets but they both could take the other without problems...hope this helps

 

[saz326]

My tetra like the sinking pellets too. They do look like the food is stuck in their mouths, but they are just simply trying to hold onto the food so no other fish can get it. They slowly chew it and then go for a second pellet a few minutes later.

Even if you feed a flake food at the same time, if the fish prefer the pellets they will go for those again.

Just trust the fish. They will soon spit the food out if it is giving them trouble.

If you are really worried, get some larger sinking pellets. The fish will then nibble on them rather than getting the whole thing in their mouths.