Bug Bites. Are mine defective?

I bought a food called Bug Bites over the weekend. The tropical formula, which is supposed to feed the fish at all tank levels, as they are advertised to slowly sink. I bought the small ones. I had read good things about this food and wanted to move away from Tetramin flakes.

Well, they all sank like a rock. Just like a fish pellet would. And I distributed them on the surface, not underwater.
And I had a couple rummynose large enough to grab one and swim around with it in its mouth, but the majority of my fish could not handle them. They were picking at them as they lay on the substrate, so I can only hope the pellets break down into an edible product they will eat. Before my Corys pig out on them.

I then tried crushing them in my fingers, but that turned them into fry food and the particles were largely ignored.

I thought this was supposed to be a good overall food, but after using them once I'm wondering if they are for me. Or maybe mine are too big and do not slowly sink, making them defective for the small tropical formula. Should I return them? Or is there some trick to feeding them I am not aware of?

 

That is strange, I have used bug bites tropical for small fish, it floats to start with then gradually sinks. The pieces are very small, I have given it to fry of about 1/2".

 

That is strange, I have used bug bites tropical for small fish, it floats to start with then gradually sinks. The pieces are very small, I have given it to fry of about 1/2".

Thank you for your reply.

I also Googled Fluval and was surprised they had a phone number listed. And they answered it!
The person on the other end said he uses them, too. And to turn my filter pump off. They will sink quickly if there is surface movement. And yep. I tapped them out right in front of the water nozzle like I always do to distribute the food throughout the tank. So there is that.

He also suggested the micro granules. I didn't even know they had a micro size. But after looking it seems Amazon does not sell those.

It's always something...

 

I am surprised the small ones are too big though...

 

Maybe my fish just need to get used to them?
Or maybe if the pellets start at the surface and slowly sink they will soften up and my fish will more readily eat them.

I'll try a couple different things and see if I can find something that works.

 

My Betta absolutely loves them and would eat only that if it was up to him.
In another tank the Tiger Barbs also love them and swim frantically to catch every single one of them before they hit the bottom.
In my community tank nobody likes them, not the pearls, not the rummy and not the Bolivian either. That community loves the Hikari micro pellets, they go after them like crazy. The bottom dwellers like the shrimp wafers and the Bolivians steel a tbig piece and runaway to their corner with it in their mouth to eat it when it gets softer. The pearls favorite are tubifex worms but they will eat anything EXCEPT Bug Butes. LOL

 

Having to turn the filter down doesn't sound right... It's a risky bussiness, in case you forget to turn it back, and shouldn't be a part of daily feeding. I do turn off my filter if I feed some fancy frozen or live food that I feel too greedy to see being sucked up into a filter , but I don't feed that kind of food everyday...

 

Thanks Ellebrius .
I'll do a tank by tank study. And I sure won't put in the full amount I think I need until I see who all will eat them.

And tank #2 seems to eat them.
I put them where there was little water movement and they do sink much more slowly. And my Glass Bloodfin Tetras, which are approximately the same size as the Rummynose in the other tank, had no problem eating them. I'm going to say what I suggested above, slowly sinking makes them more edible because they soften up.

And I tried not to do too much of a crush between my fingers and added some more and the pencilfish in that tank took notice of them. Especially the ones at the surface.

I did not expect a learning curve for feeding fish


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Having to turn the filter down doesn't sound right... It's a risky bussiness, in case you forget to turn it back, and shouldn't be a part of daily feeding. I do turn off my filter if I feed some fancy frozen or live food that I feel too greedy to see being sucked up into a filter , but I don't feed that kind of food everyday...

I agree.
There are areas in that tank with very little water movement. I'll just have to get in the habit of not feeding where I usually do.