Tiger barb overeats
I have a question concerning my tiger barb. I have a rather old, single tiger barb in my community tank. Unfortunately I am rather worried as it eats so fast and so much that it it is totally bloated afterwards, gasps for air and later on goes into hiding, completely colorless! Sometimes I think it will eat itself to death, but it always survived until now. Is it possible that it overeats and will "burst", or why does it eat that much until it almost collapses?
Hello,
many barbs, including tiger barbs, very much tend to overeat. Sometimes it might help if you feed several smaller portions distributed over the day, and to distribute these portions to several different feeding places in the tank.
It is advisable to either use food that takes up water within seconds or - especially in case of granulated food - soak the food in some water so it cannot expand within the stomach/intestines of the fish. This will avoid intestinal fissures.
Best regards
sera GmbH
Dr. Bodo Schnell