Datnoid will only eat earthworms

[BOOMSHAKER]

Hey, I’ve had a dat for about 3 months now. After a month I noticed he wasn’t eating. I tried prawns, mussels, pellets and chopped up whitebait. After a month and a half of not eating I got worried. So I put my finger poking up from the bottom of the glass and wiggled it. He came straight out to investigate. So then I thought he wants wiggly stuff. I went to fishing tackle shop and got maggots. He didn’t give a **** about them. So then I went the tackle shop again and got worms. The ****er loves them! He even hand feeds from me when I’ve got them which I absolutely love! (Love hand feeding fish, I do.)
However, I don’t really want to have to always have to feed him worms. What can I do to get him off worms? He’s only 6-7 inch.
so yeah, any advice guys?

 

[Midwater]

Live ghost shrimp. Live (treated) tilapia fry (if you can get them).

Many dats only respond to live.

 

[aquaticeye]

I hate live. But I've given in before to break the habit. Treated feeders (fully and totally treated) for a short period of time. Even the most stubborn datnoid should go after them.

After consistently taking live feeders, feed some dead feeders. Once the dat is taking dead feeders, then you're golden, and should be able to move onto other frozen foods easily. Pellet breaking is a big task.

 

[Alexandboi]

Keep feeding worms until it associates you with food. Starve it for a few days. Get a syringe. Soak some pellets in frozen krill juice or any wet food. Wait until pellets are soft. Put wet pellets through syringe and push it out. They'll be "worm" shape. Feed that to the datnoid. Do it for a few days. Then gradually make the pellet a little more dry and less worm shape. It should eventually take the dry pellets without any preparation.

 

[BOOMSHAKER]

Thank you for your help guys. I added more bass to my tank. And as I dumped a load of white bait and mussels in causing chaos, the dat darted out and grabbed two mussels. Don’t know if it was the excitement of the bass feeding or what, but now he’s loving mussels. Thanks again.

 

[krichardson]

.....just curious but which species of dat do you have?

 

[BOOMSHAKER]

Indo I was told he is.