3 replies to this topic

[loopsnj64]

I am new to keeping natives (but fairly experienced with tropical fish) i have a 30 gallon tank that i plan to keep captive bred orange throat darters and shiners (which i will go and catch, quarantined for disease of course), now i recall reading that in a situation like this, the shiners will greedily eat any food before it gets low enough for the darters to eat, so what would i do for this, i know that feeding them different food would work, until the shiners get a taste for the darters food.

[Michael Wolfe]

Flake first at the surface for greedy shiners. Then dump in thawed frozen to send it quickly to the bottom.

Some folks also try to mix flake with a feeding tube for the darters. Really anything to get the food down to them while the shiners are distracted.

[mattknepley]

The shiners are going to tear up any flake you but in there. Literally. They are some of the most actively enthusiastic eaters around. But they're slobs, so lots of little flake shreds will be getting to the bottom. If you are lucky enough to have darters that will eat flake, they'll get some. Especially if you use big flakes like what comes from Ken's Fish. (BTW, he makes the only flake my darters will even try. The earthworm flake is great.) Any of your standard "get the frozen to the bottom" tricks should work. In a riffle tank the current itself may do a good enough job moving food through the various levels of the water column to keep the shiners from getting it all before it finds its way to the lower levels. My Cyprinellas and Notropis have preferred to feed from the surface and midlevel of the water column. What the current "gets low" the darters will get. And so far, with the exception of Carolina Fantails, every darter species I have kept will have many individuals who learn to eat from the surface, too. Or hang out on tank furniture that is towards the surface and pick off goodies zipping by there.

[predatorkeeper87]

The shiners are going to tear up any flake you but in there. Literally. They are some of the most actively enthusiastic eaters around. But they're slobs, so lots of little flake shreds will be getting to the bottom. If you are lucky enough to have darters that will eat flake, they'll get some. Especially if you use big flakes like what comes from Ken's Fish. (BTW, he makes the only flake my darters will even try. The earthworm flake is great.) Any of your standard "get the frozen to the bottom" tricks should work. In a riffle tank the current itself may do a good enough job moving food through the various levels of the water column to keep the shiners from getting it all before it finds its way to the lower levels. My Cyprinellas and Notropis have preferred to feed from the surface and midlevel of the water column. What the current "gets low" the darters will get. And so far, with the exception of Carolina Fantails, every darter species I have kept will have many individuals who learn to eat from the surface, too. Or hang out on tank furniture that is towards the surface and pick off goodies zipping by there.

Mine have learned to hit the mid level of the tank for food on its way down, I have a greenside darter that has learned to sit on the circulation fan because the current naturally pushs food in that direction lol.