Do red tail sharks take well to target feeding?

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

I don't usually mix fish that have different dietary needs, but I might make an exception in this case.

For those of you who have tried it, how well do red tail sharks take to target feeding (eg: you hold the food and they come to you to eat, or you have the food in tongs and they come to eat)? Never tried it when I had them.

Considering having one of these 50/50 omnivores in an otherwise carnivorous/insectivorous/molluscivorous tank, so you can see what the dietary conflict is. I imagine if they do take well to target feeding, vegetable flakes/pellets, small pieces of vegetables, and dried seaweed would all be target-feedable things to give them their 50 percent vegetables with?

 

[Midwater]

If you have got loaches in the tank, they are not pure carnivores. They will eat some vegetable matter.

I would not use seaweed. IMO freshwater fish should not eat seawater plants.

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

If you have got loaches in the tank, they are not pure carnivores. They will eat some vegetable matter.

Funny, no loach I've ever had has eaten straight vegetable matter. They just ignore it, I've spoken to the pet store as well and the loaches they have for sale aren't big on it either (multiple species).

It's true that some loaches do eat some vegetable matter (as reported on Wikipedia, Loaches Online, and Seriously Fish) but mine/the pet store's cases are not unique. Redshark1 also has loaches that don't touch vegetable matter, for instance.

I wonder if it has to do with how much vegetable matter is available in the catch location of the loaches - some fish have different dietary morphs of one species depending on how much of a certain type of food is available.
A catch location low in aquatic plants and plant detritus would be easy to see/catch loaches, and if the pet store is getting its loaches from suppliers that (understandably) catch their loaches in locations like that, it's easy to see why vegetable matter is shunned.

I would not use seaweed. IMO freshwater fish should not eat seawater plants.

Let's get a freshwater vs seawater version of the aquatic versus terrestrial plant matter threads! ?

 

[celebrist]

My yoyo loaches enjoy zucchini

I don't think a red tail shark would be open to target feeding but mine did graze on zucchini as well as bio film

 

[Deadeye]

I had a rainbow, very similar species, and it was not picky or shy at all. If it’s food is in the tank, it will find it.
Fwiw, it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have fish of different diets in a tank, as it reduces overall competition.

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

reduces overall competition

I get where you're coming from, but this can be mitigated by scattering food around (and especially into places where slow eaters can get it before fast eaters of the same diet find it).
Whereas having fish with different diets frequently results in stuff like this happening: https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/pearsei-need-help-asap.715626/. No bueno.

The target feeding is what I think is most practical to feed just 1 fish (more practical than just dropping in food and waiting for the red tail to find it). If they don't take well to it, I probably will not get one.

I'm grateful for the advice anyway.

 

[cockroach]

I hand feed most of the fish in my 75gal daily. The yoyo loaches, clown loaches and red tailed shark are by far the most personable. The red tail shark swims all over my hand and in between my fingers. Took him a while to warm up but now there are now issues. Even during cleaning it hangs out in my hand.

As for diet. My loaches have zero issues with eating straight vegetables and regularly help the leporinus and anostomus devour heads of bok choy, lettuce, some zuchini, cucumber, and other kitchen scraps. I think it is an issue of getting them used to a very varied diet. All my fish except guppies rarely, if ever, eat the same food 2 days in a row. Making a homemade food is also good for this.

With loaches finding a way to get food to slow feeders can be a real issue. Loaches are fast, agile, scent hounds and ruthless in pursuit. The red tailed shark however has no problem getting food or standing up to the loaches as they have an aggressive streak that makes them top dogs in tanks. If you have no other "grazers" in the tank, the RTS will keep busy removing biofilm. Mine even go upside-down and feed of the film on the surface so I don't think you need to worry too much about them keeping up.

If you do need fish to get veg in a mostly carnivore tank, then drop in the veg and leave it overnight. Haul it out the next day. The carnivores should ignore it. I have kept zuchini in tanks for 3 days until it was mushy and then the fish finished it and the bacteria on it.