ado_84 Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 .thought id say a pic i took a couple weeks ago.. i had about 70 barra in a four foot growing them out a bit for my aquaponics. seemed they liked eating each other.. a 5cm fish eating a 4.5cm fish.. quite surprising. this happened multiple times.. but could never be sure if it was the same culprit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mag-98 Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 Wow! I knew they were cannibals, but didn't think they did that so young and with fish of similar size. Just like Mouth Almighties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cod Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 Suprised you didnt know this as you in aquaponics, barra and cod will do this. So yes, they would be eating each other if they are 4.5cm to 5cm, spliting them up into size groups will help but wont stop all. they *******s to grow lol, usaully loose 25% to cannibalism, more if not sized into tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
none Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 (edited) If kept well fed they will not cannibilise each other at that size - only if they are hungry. They are kept with up to 10mm size difference at aquaculture facilities without issue. They are however well fed. Fish will choke unless they are able to spit the smaller fish out. You may have to remove it from the predators mouth if it happens again. I'd just recommend feeding them a suitable sized pellet, feeding an appropriate amount and more regular feedings. Feeding Barra is nothing like feeding Africans (quantity wise). Edited December 15, 2014 by none Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donny@ageofaquariums Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Yet another reason why I prefer jade perch for aquaponics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaholic99 Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 There is an aquaculture technique called 'sated feeding' which essentially is feeding fish until they can't move anymore. This accelerates growth rate as fish don't expend much energy, minimises growth rate/size differences and reduces predation. Use a belt feeder for continous feeding. It is much harder in practice than it sounds but that's how your fish keeping skills improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
