Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 (edited) I like to feed my Bolivian Ram a sinking pellet. She has come to recognize that the aquascaping tongs bring her food to her. But within a minute or so of feeding the pellet, the tetras swarm in and steal it from her, then fight all over the tank with it. Now, I do feed the tetras flakes first to try to distract them. I also give the ram a new pellet if they steal it, but I'm wondering if there's a better way to feed her so that she doesn't feel like she has to fight them off? She kind of does a little charge at them when they are being jerks, not hurting them or touching them or anything, but warning them. They don't care and they steal the food anyway. Any suggestions? 5black neons 5 pristella tetras 1 bolivian ram 1 mystery snail 1 nerite snail Edited August 3, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Can't suggest much; most tetras from ember to cardinals to serape to ... are vicious always hungry marauders.... I do try to get them to after flakes while i feed my cichilds bug bites and this mostly work since they can't really swallow the bug bites very well... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrencher_Scott Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 I got rid of a bunch of Red eye tetras for the exact same reason. That's my suggestion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumplkrum Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 I have food mixed together (flakes and small pellets). I just dump it in at the same time. The feeding is heavy enough that the Ram gets what it wants and all the smaller fish are too busy eating closer to the surface. There's a healthy clean up crew of loaches and snails for whatever hits the bottom. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 30, 2022 Author Share Posted June 30, 2022 We did ok with Repashy the other day. And I saw her eating an algae wafer which I believe was too big for a tetra to swim off with. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isaly Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 My serpae tetras are the most ferocious feeders. Most of the near misses involve these guys. The larger black neons will come out and join the frenzy, the smaller ones wait in the val for the food to drift to them on the current. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 (edited) On 6/30/2022 at 9:25 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: But within a minute or so of feeding the pellet, the tetras swarm in and steal it from her, then fight all over the tank with it. Do you mean that the ram chews on the pellet or there is multiple pellets in general? If it's the first one I think the best thing to do is to use smaller pellets. The Xtreme stuff might be perfect for you. Some will float, some won't and that let's all the fish eat at the same time. Vibra bites might also be a good thing for the ram to eat too because of it's size. My amanos do the same thing and the general thing I do is to just put a very small amount of food in after the fish take off with it. I drop it in the specific location for that fish and where it's at in the tank. Edited July 1, 2022 by nabokovfan87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 1, 2022 Author Share Posted July 1, 2022 (edited) @nabokovfan87 I give her Hikari gold cichlid mini pellet, and I don't think there is a version smaller than that (in that brand). It's too big for her to swallow so she pecks at it and she also picks it up and swims backwards with it. If the tetras steal one, I give her another one. Edited July 1, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 I followed @sumplkrum's suggestion and put all the food in (flakes & sinking pellets) at the same time. Also switched to Xtreme Krill flakes which the tetras really love. The ram seems to have a better time, having multiple pellets to work with while the tetras are distracted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 Awesome to hear. I can't believe we've gotten this deep in the thread and you haven't shown off the ram! Next time you're at the shop see if you can find some of the hikari sinking (I think they just call it micro pellets) or vibra bites I highly recommend. Vibra bites is a lot like the xtreme krill flakes but they sink. Very small size and very easy for just about everything to eat. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) On 7/7/2022 at 3:29 PM, nabokovfan87 said: I can't believe we've gotten this deep in the thread and you haven't shown off the ram! Ha. I know, right? What was I thinking? Here she is. And a snail eating a green bean. Edited July 7, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 I have some red phantom tetra's with my guppies, corydora's, and pleco and I try to feed by level. I do the slow sinking pellets first. wait a bit, and then add sinking stuff for the bottom feeders. I haven't had issues yet.. but your right they are food ninja's 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 This is what I feed her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) She looks good. Hopefully some of the pink, red, orange, yellow, and light blue hues come in soon for you with the feeding adjustments. I miss having my ram. On 7/7/2022 at 12:51 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: These are the ones I was talking about. Some fish just don't like them, so I've switched to using vibra bites.https://www.hikariusa.com/tropical_folder/micro_pellets.html These I've used before too to target feed bottom fish.https://www.hikariusa.com/tropical_folder/sinking_wafers.html To give you an idea those say mini size and it's 3.0-3.4mm The biggest I comfortably want to use for any of my fish is 1.0mm (1.5mm was too big for barbs) Edited July 7, 2022 by nabokovfan87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 On 7/7/2022 at 3:51 PM, nabokovfan87 said: She looks good. Hopefully some of the pink, red, orange, yellow, and light blue hues come in soon for you with the feeding adjustments. I miss having my ram. Yeah, I feel like she had better color when she was in QT. She has the most adorable little personality. I love how they shift into reverse when checking things out. I feed her pellets with aquascaping tongs a lot because it's fun. She is not really afraid of hands in the tank, turkey baster, tongs, etc. A very social little fishy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) On 7/7/2022 at 12:54 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: A very social little fishy. Very much so, very underappreciated. Imagine a world where bettas don't suffer the way they do and we all have little 10G ram tanks. I'd be fine with it. Edited July 7, 2022 by nabokovfan87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 On 7/7/2022 at 3:51 PM, nabokovfan87 said: These are the ones I was talking about. Some fish just don't like them, so I've switched to using vibra bites.https://www.hikariusa.com/tropical_folder/micro_pellets.html To give you an idea those say mini size and it's 3.0-3.4mm The biggest I comfortably want to use for any of my fish is 1.0mm (1.5mm was too big for barbs) I'd need to find a sinking version though. She doesn't like coming up to get food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) On 7/7/2022 at 12:55 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: She doesn't like coming up to get food. They will sink. some will stay up for the tetras some will slowly sink, and there will be some that goes right to the bottom. Here's a clip of someone feeding. Cory has some of vibra bites or I can record one if you want to see it. In the video Cory says rams didn't eat it. Not sure if that's bolivian or German blue or both. Maybe someone who has some can clarify. Hikari Vibra Bites</a> Review - Aquarium Co-Op" width="200"> Edited July 7, 2022 by nabokovfan87 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 On 7/7/2022 at 3:55 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Very much so, very underappreciated. I went to a bunch of stores to find a Bolivian ram after seeing them in a video and how they behave - shy, yet social. Their movements are deliberate. Stop, look at something, if it's interesting approach. If not, move on. Swimming in little spurts, just checking things out. They do well in a community tank. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 A segment in this video features Bolivian rams. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) Here you go @nabokovfan87 I also shot some xtreme krill flakes to her with the turkey baster. (She ordered Uber eats.) She liked those. You are right; we should try to find a smaller pellet. Edited July 7, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 On 7/7/2022 at 4:53 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: You are right; we should try to find a smaller pellet. Can you crush them with your finger easily? Just take whats there and crush it with a glass or something and see how that goes. On 7/7/2022 at 4:53 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: I also shot some xtreme krill flakes to her with the turkey baster. (She ordered Uber eats.) She liked those. LOL, love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 Ha. We had the same thought. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 The rams like to sift too, so smaller things like that you'll see a different bit of feeding behavior too. 😍 the other thought I had was to just presoak some and let it get softer for the fish to be able to chew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 Well here is a demo of the tetras being jerks. Seems like the crushed pellet still sank ok though. She thought it was very chewy! 🤣😍 So maybe I could toss this in at the same time as the krill flakes. I think the tetras will go for the flakes first which will buy her time. On 7/7/2022 at 8:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said: the other thought I had was to just presoak some Agreed! 😳 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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