Greedy gold barbs

Hey all, first post on this forum, I have a 30 gallon tank(UK gallons) stocked with 8 gold barbs, 1 opaline gourami, and 6 black phantom tetras, I've had these gold barbs for 2 plus years now, since they were small fry, and now they've grown into absolute eating machines, all max size, the trouble is, the second I open the lid of my tank these fish quickly dart up to the top in a frenzy, now the tetras are adult size, all ranging in sizes of 1.5-2 inches and the gourami is also fully grown, the problem is the second I put food in these barbs splash about and absolutely devour everything before my other fishes can react, not only this, but the thought of feeding makes them so crazy that sometimes, since they hang around at the bottom, they see the tetras above, think its food and try to eat it, so they rush at them full speed, realise the tetras arebt food then dart back down, now I know what your thinking, so long as theres no harm done , it's fine, but this is rlly stressing out the tetras I feel, because now, instead of enjoying feeding, they cower in the side of tank, scared of the gold barbs, these barbs are peaceful otherwise , they dont nip fins at all and when not in feeding mode they completely ignore the tetras, the gourami is larger than the barbs so they leave her alone as well,(yes shes a female). I was hoping if anyone else can relate to this and what I could possibly do to calm them down a bit

 

Have you tried sinking pellets? Get the Barbs towards the bottom somehow, so you can sneak some flakes to the tetras? Or maybe use a turkey baster to give some food to the tetras? You know when the golds are acting like piranhas?

 

Have you tried sinking pellets? Get the Barbs towards the bottom somehow, so you can sneak some flakes to the tetras? Or maybe use a turkey baster to give some food to the tetras? You know when the golds are acting like piranhas?

gd idea, will def keep in mind for the future

 

We've three Golden Barbs in our quarantine tank. There's also five danio's, three rose barbs, two cardinal tetras and two guppies.

We don't use flakes as the Golden Barbs, who have never eaten in their life, just pillage them. We do have a small tablet food which we break into quarters. It sinks to the bottom and allows all the fish to get stuck in. It contains mealworm, garlic and shrimp. It's called Tropical Tabs by AquaCare (noting we are UK side of the pond). It's hard to break it into smaller amounts, so maybe a pellet food may be worth considering?

AiYn'U

 

I have greedy cichlids, just as greedy loaches, and some slower fish.
some things that work for me.
I open both sides of lid, stand at one end were the greedy fish follow me, then put food on both sides of the tank at the same time. I might have to splash the water on the greedy side a few times if they finish eating and start to go to the other side.

Flake food breaks up, I dont know about your fish, but in my tank, there is always some left for everyone.

You could use floating food and sinking foods at the same time,

 

That's a good idea you have for your cichlids there m8, trouble is, cichlids are intelligent and will follow you around, however these barbs dont react to me movement, rather they react to when I open the lid to feed the fish, and they associate that with food, the trouble is tge tetras are very skittish, and will only eat if they feel the coast is clear

That's a good idea you have for your cichlids there m8, trouble is, cichlids are intelligent and will follow you around, however these barbs dont react to me movement, rather they react to when I open the lid to feed the fish, and they associate that with food, the trouble is tge tetras are very skittish, and will only eat if they feel the coast is clear

EDIT:thx for the suggestions m8, feeding them mix of flakes and pellets now, barbs are distracted by the flakes allowing tetras to efficiently eat the pellets, the advice is much appreciated, thanks lad.