A couple things in one post..

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Piranha
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2011
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I think I am going tomorrow to get another delhezi because they are on sale, and... well.. I love them lol

Also, how do I get them to not be hand shy and eat from my hands?

I tried to lure Betty into eating tilapia from me but she freaked out and swam to the other side of the tank.. :( maybe I have to wait a lot longer and move even more like a snail to get close to her.. ?

OH and she had two small bumps on her side, I dont know what they are, they look like a cyst kind of, not ich, I will try and get a picture of them..
 
I hand feed mine, I try to make sure the strips are long, about an inch, and when I put the fish into the water, i make sure to do it really slow as not to startle the bichirs, and make sure it's just a few inches infront of them so they can smell it.
 
Thats what I tried to do, I had a strip of tilapia and got really close and she sniffed it, I could tell she smelled it cuz they get that "look" but I dont know if it was me, or another fish who was scared and it scared her, but she just booked it to the other side of the tank.

She did come right back to the side the fish was on and ate it immediately lol I didnt want to stress her and try again. I think I will not feed her tomorrow morning and try again tomorrow night.

The bumps are odd, they are high up on her side and about 2cm apart from each other. This one gourami follows her around and sometimes nips at her, could he be actually hurting her or no?
It looks like a bump though, not a bite from another fish
 
Well I just tried it for today, normally I pop a few pieces of tilapia in the corner she eats in around 5pm (thats her afternoon feeding time) she eats those pretty quick, and why is hand feeding pointless? Maybe I want to have my fish eat from my hand?
 
tokyogasmask;5054220; said:
IMO, you should let te feed for themselves.
Hand feeding is pointless.
Click to expand...

Other than the joy of it? I love handfeeding my bichirs! Took me about 1 week to get my delhezi to warm up to me. I started by using a piece of long forceps to deliver a piece of Hikari FD Krill to it at the bottom. Took a few tries and many wasted krill since it absolutely refuses to do surface feeding and just chill out at the bottom. Once he started eating from the forceps, i would place the krill higher each time until its on the surface. Then he has no problems when i use my hands.
 
Right! Joy in your fish eating from you, whats wrong with that? lol

I stuck my hand in all the way to the bottom, since I have nothing to hold the food and put it down there lol
 
I'm sure once it's fully adapted and is used to your presence, it will feed from ur hand. Just give it time.

And the bumps? any pics? does it look like it lifts the scale? ever treat ur polys w/ a med bath (external parasites)... I know wild caught specimans usually do come with something?

Enjoy! :)
 
ditto on the pics; can't be sure unless we can see it; sorry.

don't worry too much about hand feeding if it's still new. I'm only increasing hand feeding right now because I just got a blind poly, and i want to make sure he's eating.

but, the other member's idea may be better for time being which is using a long stick or prongs first.
 
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