Anyway to stop one fish from hogging all the food?

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May 17, 2007
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I have one fish, a bumblebee, that eats anything and everything I put in the tank (he even tries to take bites out of the plastic test kit when I'm collecting water). My nieces were over once when I was feeding them, and they named him Fat Boy because he ate so much.

When I feed the fish, I have to use a lot of food so the others can get a few scraps. This has led to Fat Boy being twice the size of the next largest fish in the tank. And he always has a bulging belly after feeding time, while the other fish barely get enough.

Is there anything I can do to keep Fat Boy from hogging all the food so that the others get their share without me having to dump a truck load of food in?
 
chances are if he is eating as much as you describe he is not going to be able to keep it down and the others will get it anyway. try observing him for several minutes after feeding. ill bet he tosses most of the food he gobbles down. what other fish do you have in the tank? don't over feed no matter what you decide to do. if left to their own devices the others will get their share when they get hungry enough.

J.
 
Unfortunately I've tried that once. The other fish don't make it over to the other side before he does.

But that does give me an idea... Next feeding time, I think I'll be waiting with a net and try to scoop him up. I can keep him in the net while I feed the other fish.
 
:iagree: that is the best solution you can do right at this moment...or maybe just get a 20-30 gallon and set him up in there and have all the room he needs for himself...and then so he can have all the food to himself....
 
So then you won't have to try and catch him everytime with a net in order to feed the others....:)
 
jptsr1 said:
chances are if he is eating as much as you describe he is not going to be able to keep it down and the others will get it anyway. try observing him for several minutes after feeding. ill bet he tosses most of the food he gobbles down. what other fish do you have in the tank? don't over feed no matter what you decide to do. if left to their own devices the others will get their share when they get hungry enough.
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I do watch them after they eat. And he does keep it down. That's how he's got to be twice as big as the next largest fish. The other fish usually 'chew' the tiny pellets. They'll suck it in, spit bits out, then suck it back in again. And sometimes the other fish will nab a bit or two of the others dinner. But I've NEVER seen him do that. I swear he just swallows everything whole.
 
mee-mee said:
...or maybe just get a 20-30 gallon and set him up in there and have all the room he needs for himself...and then so he can have all the food to himself....
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I live in an apartment. I wish I had room for another tank. I could probably get away with a 10 gallon. Maybe even a 20 gallon, but that would definitely be pushing it.
 
Maybe get a 20 high...instead of a 20 long...or just a 20....the high would give him a little more room to swim up and down....we have our 80 along the back of the wall divider from the kitchen and the 29 by the window...a little of rearranging the furniture had to be done also...but if you can pull it off, do it...what size tank are all the fish in right now...:) we live in an apartment also...
 
mee-mee said:
what size tank are all the fish in right now...
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That's another issue (hopefully unrelated). The tank is a 30 gallon. I have 3 bumblebee's and 2 demasoni's. I didn't know what I was doing when I got them. I bought them at PetsMart. PetsMart said they would only get up to 4 ½ inches, and needed a 20+ gallon tank. So I thought my 30 would be plenty big.

Then after I got them, I start reading up on them on the Web - wish I had known to do that before I got them. After reading up on them, I was hoping it would take them around a year to outgrow the 30 gallon. But it's not looking like that.

I like them. They are a fun fish, and I've learned a lot since I've got them. But I've also been having thoughts of returning them and getting something more suited to a 30 gallon until I can both make room and afford a larger tank, since I don't think they are going to make it a year in the 30 gallon like I originally thought.
 
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