Tetra Eating Behavior

[NeonBlueLeon]

Hey Forum,
 
Just a quick note, this isn't a discussion about tetras' diet.
 
So I have had rummy nose tetras for nearly a month now, and I have just bought a group of seven juvenile neons.  I've noticed that their behavior at feeding time is unique from other fishies I've owned!
 
I love, love livebearers and have raised goldfish with my dad.  I've noticed during feeding, they swim right up to the floating flakes/pellets and chomp away at everything on the surface (including my fingers).
 
Tetras however have noticeably different behavior.  I have observed (by no means of any scientific experimentation) that they are less likely to linger at the surface and chomp as my livebearers do.  They swim up to the floating food and take a strong swipe at it with their mouth, then back off.  They do this repeatedly until the food actually sinks.  Then as the food is sinking, they happily begin to chomp away at it.  Additionally, as soon as the food hits the aquarium floor, they leave it!  Such wasteful buggers!
 
When I feed non-floating foods, like brine shrimp.  They do not hesitate to wolf it down as they are sinking.
 
Has anyone else noticed this behavior?  My rummy noses have been in their tank for over a month now so I'd say they are pretty comfortable.  I have recently purchased neons and they are currently in quarantine, but I have observed identical feeding behavior.

 

[Boyden]

From an angling point of view I know that smaller fish tend to want to spend less time near the surface where they are exposed to birds etc. so the tend to feed in the manner you've described.
 
Do you have some pics...... or better yet a video?
 

 

[Chad]

You can tell a lot about how a fish eats by the location of its mouth. a guppy, a betta, molly etc. have mouths toward the top. This means they eat more from the surface. Fish with mouths on the bottom, like cory tend to eat from the bottom and fish (like tetra) with more middle positioned mouths tend to eat from all over but are best at getting food from the water column.

 

[Supraman]

My black skirt tetra don't waste any time, as soon as I drop in the flake they are right at the top till there's nothing left. I've even witnessed them chomp on one another when one gets in another's way. It's like a mini feeding frenzy it's quite entertaining to watch.

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

From an angling point of view I know that smaller fish tend to want to spend less time near the surface where they are exposed to birds etc. so the tend to feed in the manner you've described.
 
Do you have some pics...... or better yet a video?
 

 
I'll try to get a video tomorrow during feeding time since my QT doesn't have a light.
 

You can tell a lot about how a fish eats by the location of its mouth. a guppy, a betta, molly etc. have mouths toward the top. This means they eat more from the surface. Fish with mouths on the bottom, like cory tend to eat from the bottom and fish (like tetra) with more middle positioned mouths tend to eat from all over but are best at getting food from the water column.

 
Astute!
 

My black skirt tetra don't waste any time, as soon as I drop in the flake they are right at the top till there's nothing left. I've even witnessed them chomp on one another when one gets in another's way. It's like a mini feeding frenzy it's quite entertaining to watch.

 
I suppose if they get comfortable in a tank, they won't perceive danger at the surface and just go for the food
 
By the way mods, I didn't see a "tetra" forum section!

 

[TallTree01]

I have neons and they have the exact feeding routine yours do. I feed pellets. One bright spark neon tetra always grabs a pellet and drags it down where all the neons have a munch on it. If the pellet reaches the bottom they go
" yuck! It's dirty now just leave it for spike to hoover up ".
And leave it for my bristlenose to suck up.