Right now my gars are at the point they are all eating tilapia, but only half of them (the spotted gars) have figured out to get it from the bottom of the tank when it sinks. I've been using a feeding prong and my fingers to spot feed the rest (and the aro when he takes it!).
It takes away a bit of time, and can be a pain at night when I'm tired, and just want to drop the food in and lay down, but.... I enjoy hand feeding them! It's kinda like my moment of zen for the day. I find it fun to hand feed the fish. They were scared at first and if they missed the food and hit the stick they would shy away, but now they just go for it and hit hard! They've knocked the stick out of my hands a couple times. When they take the food right from your fingers at the top of the tank it feels like training a dog. I look forward to when they are trained to just eat tilapia and shrimp off the bottom of the tank, and floating pellets from the top, but even after that I think I'll spot feed now and then just do it.
It takes away a bit of time, and can be a pain at night when I'm tired, and just want to drop the food in and lay down, but.... I enjoy hand feeding them! It's kinda like my moment of zen for the day. I find it fun to hand feed the fish. They were scared at first and if they missed the food and hit the stick they would shy away, but now they just go for it and hit hard! They've knocked the stick out of my hands a couple times. When they take the food right from your fingers at the top of the tank it feels like training a dog. I look forward to when they are trained to just eat tilapia and shrimp off the bottom of the tank, and floating pellets from the top, but even after that I think I'll spot feed now and then just do it.
