Flowerhorn won't eat... Need help!

G

Ghost Knife

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2012
31
0
0
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
Hey MF Keepers

I have a young FH about 3" and for the last 3 weeks I've been trying to feed him pellets but he just won't eat them... I went a couple of days without feeding at all & still he's not interested, I want to beef the fella up & he's looking skinny so I don't know what's up... Arnt FH big eaters?

If I offer frozen blood worms or freeze dried shrimp he scoffs it down.. But with pellets I'm removing them from the tank.

The pellets I'm offering are hikari gold, hikari staple & pro choice flowerhorn..

Any help would appreciated


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Angler

Angler

Polypterus
MFK Member
May 8, 2007
6,736
24
92
Colorado
Stop feeding the bloodworms and freeze dried shrimp. Don't put any food in the tank for 3 days, then try a couple pellets. If he doesn't eat them, remove them and try again the next day. It might help if you break the pellets into little bits at first. I recently got a Flowerhorn, and he loved bloodworms, but would not touch pellets. I stopped feeding the bloodworms, and he would still not touch pellets. I started breaking the pellets into little pieces, then he started eating a little here and there. Slowly but surely, he started eating whole pellets and now has a huge appetite for them. You just need to have the will power to not feed the bloodworms and shrimp. Even if you feed it every couple of days while you are trying to get him on pellets, it will not work because he will be satisfied enough.
 
K

kageh124

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 14, 2012
468
2
33
MD, DC Area
I'm starting to notice that this is somewhat of a trend with FHs. Ive had 3 so far and 1 of them was like what your describing above... The other one was a pig and ate whatever and the one I have now will eat hikari pellets, but very little and he won't chomp them down like he does with his jbl flowerhorn food.

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RD.

RD.

Gold Tier VIP
MFK Member
May 9, 2007
13,190
12,598
3,360
65
Northwest Canada
Stop feeding the bloodworms and freeze dried shrimp. Don't put any food in the tank for 3 days, then try a couple pellets. If he doesn't eat them, remove them and try again the next day. It might help if you break the pellets into little bits at first. I recently got a Flowerhorn, and he loved bloodworms, but would not touch pellets. I stopped feeding the bloodworms, and he would still not touch pellets. I started breaking the pellets into little pieces, then he started eating a little here and there. Slowly but surely, he started eating whole pellets and now has a huge appetite for them. You just need to have the will power to not feed the bloodworms and shrimp. Even if you feed it every couple of days while you are trying to get him on pellets, it will not work because he will be satisfied enough.
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+1


Also, if he loves the taste/smell of bloodworms, presoak your pellets in frozen BW juice, which will soften the pellets up & make them more palatable. I have trained imported FH that had never seen a pellet in their life, exlusively fed BW's by the breeder, and using this method within 10 days or less they all slowly accept the pellets. Slowly reduce the frozen BW presoaking over the course of a few days, and soon they will eat the dry pellets with great gusto.
 
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