DAMN FUSSY FISH!

Food, feeding and diet.
User avatar
Jon_D
Posting Legend
Posts: 1363
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2019 21:51 pm
Location: Teesdale
Has liked: 657 times
Been liked: 774 times
Contact:

As special treat this morning, I decided that instead of giving the fish a usual breakfast of crumpled flakes and high protein tablets, I would treat them to bloodworm and Daphnia, well soaked in tank water; I thought "Well, to heck with the cost, they deserve the treat"! Normally when I sprinkle the aforesaid crumpled stuff on top of the water, they fight each other to grab the juiciest flakes. Not this time! Instead they rushed as usual to the delictations then......... just ignored the food and let it sink to the bottom, swimming to the front of the tank and staring at me in what I can only judge to be disbelief! Anyone else got fussy fish?
User avatar
fr499y
Admin - TOTM Winner
Admin - TOTM Winner
Posts: 8290
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2018 16:04 pm
Location: West Midlands
Has liked: 1773 times
Been liked: 4164 times

Nope. They get what they get. If they don’t eat it then the shrimp will clear it up.
User avatar
Stephen
Guru Multi TOTM Winner
Guru Multi TOTM Winner
Posts: 6016
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 15:42 pm
Location: Hereford, Herefordshire
Has liked: 1415 times
Been liked: 3407 times
Contact:

fr499y wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 12:43 pm Nope. They get what they get. If they don’t eat it then the shrimp will clear it up.
I'm the same as Matt, I carefully choose the fish food and they get what I give them.
If feeding something new such as bloodworm then they may not recognise it as being food.

All the best
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

Powered by EHEIM
User avatar
Gingerlove05
Forum Guru
Forum Guru
Posts: 6854
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2018 20:21 pm
Has liked: 5424 times
Been liked: 2667 times

Ive had it when finishing a frozen blister pack, fed a few meals of frozen food for a couple of days, then they seem to forget what the sinking pellets are for :rolleyes: takes a few days to get them back on the right track.
As Stephen said if its new they might not recognise it as food, in this case i mix a little new food with a bit of old to help them associate the two with being dinner :)
To the tune of “the saints go marching in”:
Oh fluffy sheep! Oh fluffy sheep! Oh fluffy sheep are wonderful, they’re white Welsh and fluffy! Oh fluffy sheep are wonderful!
Image
User avatar
Jon_D
Posting Legend
Posts: 1363
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2019 21:51 pm
Location: Teesdale
Has liked: 657 times
Been liked: 774 times
Contact:

"they may not recognise it as being food................" My little buggas see anything as food; stick your finger in the tank and they take a nibble...!
But seriously, many thanks for the advice.
Yes. @Gingerlove05 , I was using those frozen packs.
User avatar
Andys temperate tank
Tank of the Year Winner 2020-21
Tank of the Year Winner 2020-21
Posts: 3608
Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2020 9:14 am
Location: Sunderland
Has liked: 4375 times
Been liked: 2888 times

I always feed a mix of granules and frozen together. The seachem additives i use are supposed to encourage feeding as well. I will always add it now seeing as my fish always hammer the food.
64l kitchen tank: 16 golden tetra.
5ft 425L: 7 blue angel fish, 30 rummie nose tetra, 20 black neon tetra, 1 longfin bristlenose plec, 2 corydoras sterbai, 2 SAE.
User avatar
Jon_D
Posting Legend
Posts: 1363
Joined: Sun Sep 15, 2019 21:51 pm
Location: Teesdale
Has liked: 657 times
Been liked: 774 times
Contact:

As I have a load of bloodworm left which the fish don't seem to like, but which I know are good for them, I tried an experiment. I starved the little buggas for two whole days at the weekend. Yes! 48 hours without grub!, and then dropped in the bloodworm which had been soaked for that length of time. I had it in a glass jar in front of the CT so the inhabitants could see what I was doing. After the enforced starvation period I scattered the bloodworm into the CT. .... and watched in amazement as the starving fish just ignored my efforts, swam through the lovely nutritious food and let it float to the bottom of the CT. I gave up, and sprinkled their favourite crumpled flake plus some protein pellets, into the water, which they rapidly scoffed before it had a chance to float.
So score to date on food choice. Fish=1. Jon-0.
Hopefully the Corydoras will scoff the bloodworm on the CT floor as they aren't picky at all.

P.S. BTW, I have just noticed that lots of the little fronds on the tank plants seem to have been nibbled. Are there Seahorses in CT? (At this point Martin will contribute “Neigh”.) :P :P
User avatar
black ghost
Posting Legend
Posts: 3528
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 23:57 pm
Has liked: 308 times
Been liked: 1387 times

I could be that it doesn’t smell strongly like the dried food. Try it without soaking it in water first...
User avatar
plankton
Super Mod
Super Mod
Posts: 12204
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2018 17:02 pm
Location: S. Derbyshire
Has liked: 5030 times
Been liked: 3395 times

black ghost wrote: Tue May 25, 2021 17:08 pm I could be that it doesn’t smell strongly like the dried food. Try it without soaking it in water first...
The trouble with that is that it will then extract water from the digestive system which won't do the fish much good. ;)
User avatar
black ghost
Posting Legend
Posts: 3528
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 23:57 pm
Has liked: 308 times
Been liked: 1387 times

plankton wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 7:41 am
black ghost wrote: Tue May 25, 2021 17:08 pm I could be that it doesn’t smell strongly like the dried food. Try it without soaking it in water first...
The trouble with that is that it will then extract water from the digestive system which won't do the fish much good. ;)
Are we talking about freeze dried? I was thinking frozen. :)
Post Reply