Aba Aba knife feeding/sickness question

[Mount_Prion]

Hello!

I picked up a really badass Aba Aba knife about 3 days ago. It's about 5-6'' long and I'm keeping it in a small quarantine tank until I'm convinced it's healthy enough to move to my 220g. (I'm aware this will likely be too small for it, eventually).

Anyway, I have had no problem getting it to eat, but I'm concerned that the food is not agreeing with the Aba. I figured I'd first try giving it pelleted food (New Life Spectrum large fish) cause that's usually healthiest/easiest, and he was totally down. In fact, he ate the food so readily that I'm pretty sure I could feed him just about anything.

The next day, however, I noticed two red-colored globs of biological matter caught up in a fake plant. They frankly looked too wide for him to have pooped them out, and I'm worried the food upset him and he vomited them up, or something.

Is this a fish that should only be fed live/frozen food? Are pellets bad for it for some reason?

Don't get me wrong--I understand not all fish should subside on pellets. I have a Fahaka who eats pretty much nothing but animals without spines. But I haven't found much info about Abas and I want do right by it.

Thanks!

 

[Sunthra Dass]

The aba knife rarely accepts pellets, in my experience, but yours is an exception.. I think u should try to supplement the pellet diet with some crustaceans or insects. That should help him remain healthy.

 

[Slippery K]

Maybe try some frozen shrimp and bump up the temp a few degrees and see if he keeps that down. Are you 100% sure that odd biomatter wasnt just poop? Hes bound to have the kinda odd poop once in a while. If he seems fine after a week or so and still eating then I wouldnt be too worried, but use your best judgement.

 

[Mount_Prion]

Maybe try some frozen shrimp and bump up the temp a few degrees and see if he keeps that down. Are you 100% sure that odd biomatter wasnt just poop? Hes bound to have the kinda odd poop once in a while. If he seems fine after a week or so and still eating then I wouldnt be too worried, but use your best judgement.

Thanks! It's not outside of the realm of possibility that it's poop but frankly it looked to wide to have come out of the fish's anus. I was going to try giving it some bloodworms today, as the only frozen shrimp I have on hand are brine and I think they're too small for it.

 

[Mount_Prion]

I'm hoping this is a legit bump because the story has developed. As it turns out, the Aba will not eat anything *but* pellets. I find this kind of hilarious, given how much of a monster this fish is/becomes and how adorable and twee this one is.

And he really really really loves the garlic New Life pellets.

He seems to be doing OK, but to revert to part of my previous question, is eating a pellet-heavy or pellet-only diet bad for this kind of fish? Seems ridiculous to train a fish off of pellets.

Also, does his apparent pellet-love make it more likely that he'll be less aggressive to other fish? (Again, I know it's sort of a long shot that he actually gets along well with others after a certain size in my predator community.)

Thanks!