A more natural diet?

[jaws7777]

Your going to have to do change more water in the long run by doing 10 gal or 20% .....50% or more would be ideal

 

[Buphy]

Question isn't about my water change rate; it's about diet. Unless you're saying with a diet change like that I'd need to do more water changes.

 

[vinod_uthaiah]

So I've been working for a while trying to get my 55 gallon tank to eat pellets. When I first got them I spoiled them and now they like meat only it seems (blood worms, brine shrimp and beef heart). I've tried "starving" them out but give in every few days and get little to no results.

This weekend I'm going on a vacation for 4 days and I'm considering trying to actually starve them out while I can't feel sorry for them. Do yall think that will work? If it doesn't I have another plan I'd like to try...

To the title of this thread, my idea is a diet you would more likely find in the wild. Put in live plants every week and let them munch on that and then every few days also give them feeders/crickets/snails/live shrimp and so on. What do y'all think of this idea? Bad for the fish? Good alternative to pellets if they still won't take them? Also if you think it'd work, what plants do y'all recommend?

P.S. The fish are an EBJD, JD and paratilopia bleekeri (or Polleni).

If you are going out for 4 days , this is the best time to wean them away from the frozen food that they are used to.
When you are trying to wean them away from their adjusted diet , they are like children who throw tantrums , but the idea is to stay put.
I have a peacock bass , who would not eat for 7 days straight and then he slowly changed his ways.
I am not sure about which plants would they munch on. But one pellet universally accepted and like a meth for fish is the Hikari massivore delite. You can try those once you are back.
I generally tend to feed them heavy , just the day before I leave , make a 50 % water change 7 - 8 hours later and go happily for a vacation