How do I get my fish on pellets?

BRS

maxemorris

Community Member
Review score
+0 /0 /-0
View Badges
Joined
Mar 19, 2022
Messages
71
Reaction score
25
Review score
+0 /0 /-0
Location
Gainesville
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I’ve been feeding my melanurus wrasse, tomini tang, and pair of clowns frozen mysis shrimp for months now (since I’ve gotten them)

They will only touch pellets or flakes if they’re coming down right infront of their faces, and they’ll only eat one or two bites and become uninterested.

Any tips for getting them on pellets? My old clowns used to destroy them.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics

ChiCity

2500 Club Member
Review score
+4 /0 /-0
View Badges
Joined
Sep 18, 2016
Messages
4,400
Reaction score
4,685
Review score
+4 /0 /-0
Location
funky town
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I’ve been feeding my melanurus wrasse, tomini tang, and pair of clowns frozen mysis shrimp for months now (since I’ve gotten them)

They will only touch pellets or flakes if they’re coming down right infront of their faces, and they’ll only eat one or two bites and become uninterested.

Any tips for getting them on pellets? My old clowns used to destroy them.

put an auto feeder on the tank for the pellets and don’t feed any frozen…
their hunger will eventually lead them to start recognizing and gobbling up the pellets.

sounds cruel, but when they’re spoiled on fresh foods… it’s hard to convert them right away.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics

LeftyReefer

2500 Club Member
Review score
+0 /0 /-0
View Badges
Joined
Jun 17, 2020
Messages
2,531
Reaction score
2,812
Review score
+0 /0 /-0
Location
Saginaw
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
withhold all food but the pellets.
At some point, they will become hungry enough to eat the pellets.

I recently QT'd a few new fish and put them into my DT a few days before I was set to leave for a 10 day vacation.
I'm only able to feed my DT with my remote pellet feeder when I'm gone. So my tank was going to see nothing but pellets for 10 days while I was away. The new fish I added weren't eating pellets when I left, but were when I got back.... so at some point during those 10 days, they decided to start eating pellets rather than continue to go hungry.
 

G Santana

Hospitality Elf
Review score
+0 /0 /-0
View Badges
Joined
May 20, 2020
Messages
8,321
Reaction score
45,276
Review score
+0 /0 /-0
Location
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/this-little-pigg
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My tangs and algae blenny would not DO pellets for months. I kept feeding them what they would take and SLOWLY they started to nibble on pellets.
First to take them was my Purple Tang, then the algae blenny and last was the Yellow Tang. Now whenever pellets go in the greedy PT chases the YT into a corner then goes for the pelets.

My other fish won't touch pellets.
 

Natural_Reefer

Active Member
Review score
+0 /0 /-0
View Badges
Joined
Apr 8, 2022
Messages
256
Reaction score
195
Review score
+0 /0 /-0
Location
SF Bay Area, CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
As mentioned by others, stop or cut back on feeding frozen and hopefully they will start taking pellets.
Also, soak the pellet in Garlic might help!
For those whom questioned why change if frozen are working just fine (and more nutrious)? I had to train my fishes to eat flakes and pellets because I leave the house at 6AM and don't get home til 7PM weekdays so I just want them to be fed a few time during the day and frozen when I get home. We also go on 2 weeks, 10 days vacation couple times a years so automatic feeders with Flakes and Pellets are a must.
 
Corals.com
BRS

Polyp polynomial: How many heads do you start with when buying zoas?

  • One head is enough to get started.

    Votes: 27 10.6%
  • 2 to 4 heads.

    Votes: 145 57.1%
  • 5 heads or more.

    Votes: 65 25.6%
  • Full colony.

    Votes: 10 3.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 7 2.8%
Aquarium Specialty
Back
Top