How to get a fish to eat pellets? Feeding advice?

[Idoc]

He totally is haha
I first saw this fish when I was like 10 and knew I had to have one someday!

You'll have to see if it is compatible to also keep a purple firefish. They are also beautiful. I have an exquisite firefish, but don't think the extra cost over a purple is really worth it. It looks like a purple firefish but with a little more yellow body... which shows as white anyhow under my blue lights!

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree I would avoid pellets by and large. They’re not generally all that nutritious.

 

[Crested]

I agree I would avoid pellets by and large. They’re not generally all that nutritious.

Other than mysis, what do you recommend?

 

[4FordFamily]

Other than mysis, what do you recommend?

Red and green nori, mixed frozen foods microwaved, strained, and drained with selcon, zoecon, and vita chem. LRS, live blackworms.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What else do you feed them other than mysis? Ever try bloodworms?

No bloodworms for me as if uneaten really fouls the water

 

[eatbreakfast]

I agree I would avoid pellets by and large. They’re not generally all that nutritious.

Pellet foods have come a long way the last few years. If you look at most reputable brands the first ingredients include: krill, salmon, squid, fishmeal, nori, some even include probiotics. They can be part of a well rounded diet. They may not be a perfect food, but nothing is.

No bloodworms for me as if uneaten really fouls the water

Any uneaten food can foul the water. Bloodworms won't foul any more than mysis.

But it still warrants caution when feeding bloodworms. Their exoskeleton is high in chiton, which can cause intestinal blockages.

 

[powers2001]

Just getting the fish to eat anything is the first step. IME live food works best. Then once they eat something try pellets.

As for enticing picky fish about eating I never put garlic solution directly on the food. Garlic is a terrestrial food and shouldn't be given to marine animals. The experts say marine fish can't even digest it. However the scent of a couple of garlic oil drops in the display tank water does wonders to make fish hungry and they don't have to eat it. I like to put just a couple of drops of garlic oil per 25 gallons about 5 minutes before I feed. You can see scared fish come out of the rocks all hungry with the scent.

Another thing I do with finicky eaters is give them a purchased bag of brine shrimp a couple days after putting them into the display. The actual movement and smell of live food entices the fish to eat. I've had good luck with brine coming from Florida through Liveaquaria but I don't know what's available in Canada. The last time I ordered brine shrimp from LA they came in the bag as mushed up soup. All the shrimp were in pieces and parts and there wasn't a whole shrimp in the bag. I was refunded but no one could tell me what happened. Previous bags were teaming with life. It was winter and that may have something to do with it and there could've been mishandling of the box. Anyway when I get the shrimp out of the shipping box I acclimate them to tank water and keep an airstone going in the bucket. I add a whole dropper full of Selcon and a second dropper-full probably wouldn't hurt into the bucket with the tiny shrimp. They eat the liquid and gut loads them with Omega's and vitamins and provides the fish with nutrition since the brine shrimp don't have much nutrition without it. I let the shrimp sit in the bucket with the Selcon overnight. The next evening I turn off the return pump, powerheads, put the heater in the display, and oxygenate the display with just an air stone since any kind of pump will chop up the shrimp into soup. The bubbles should be turned down fairly low when the shrimp are in the bucket and in the display. I then dump the shrimp into the display the second evening when the lights go off and the hundreds of shrimp spread out and are everywhere in the tank. They will even spread out into the caves where new timid fish will hide overnight. By morning all the shrimp are gone. Oh yeah I forgot to say I put in garlic oil into the tank when I pour the shrimp in. This method works well.

Only one time it didn't work for me and that was for a Bicolor Angel which are notorious for poor acclimation. Before I started using this method I tried to acclimate Bicolors several times and wasn't successful. I only tried one time with the brine shrimp and a Bicolor. If I try a Bicolor again I'll do the brine shrimp twice in a row a couple of days apart.