aquatic mouse

Hi. I have 6 Harlequin Rasboras and 2 Guppies (1 green cobra and 1 fancy blue guppy) right now. My Harlequin Rasboras don't seem to be eating much. My Guppies are kind of forceful in their eating. They grab the flakes and end up making the flakes float to the bottom of the tank. I'm using "TetraColor Tropical Crisps" and "Tetra Min Tropical Flakes".

Are the Harlequin Rasboras not eating much because they don't like the food or are the guppies making them uncomfortable?

Thanks for the help!

TFA101

your harlequins might be intimidated by the such forceful guppies. Guppies can grow slightly larger than harlequins, but without intimidation, the harlequins are little torpedos when it comes to their food (and i should know).
A solution in this case would be kinda difficult. Do you have only one aquarium? If so, I'm not sure about any possible solutions for this problem...

COBettaCouple

Guppies can be pretty pushy little buggers too, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was the issue.

sirdarksol

Try feeding at two ends of the tank. Feed one end, let the guppies get going, then put some food in at the other end.

I've even seen this behavior within a species. One of my mollies kept her tankmates from eating by being too aggressive.

aquatic mouse

Thanks everyone!

Feeding them on 2 different ends of the tank works pretty well. The harlequins are eating much more now.

sirdarksol

Very good to hear.

COBettaCouple

Glad that's working and the ever-hungry gups aren't getting the harlequins food.