Right now my fire eel is about 7 inches long and only will eat blood or black worms. It sniffs other things and ignores them. I have some bottom feeder tablets by Aqueon and the Hikari Carnivore tablets I've been giving to my Polypterus. I want to try to get the Fire eel to eat them too, but he wont even bother going near them and the other fish will eat them b4 he even looks twice at them. Is there anything I can do or is it going to be mostly live foods for this fella?
Any tips on transitioning my Fire Eel to packaged foods?
- Thread starter Shack9
- Start date
It's pretty easy to get them to accept other natural foods (frozen krill, prawns, etc.), all you have to do is starve them until they accept it, which usually only takes a week or two max, but getting them on pellets is a lot more difficult.
Loves severums;4506874; said:
Wow what genius, no wonder you now reply with links.
Loves severums;3957467; said:
Loves severums;3957647; said:
Loves severums;3958240; said:
Loves severums;3959141; said:
Loves severums;3960716; said:
My Guys recently started taking pellets along with frozen krill.. people will argue but I don't personally believe in starving my fish to get them to eat what I want them too. To take the pellets I've been soaking them in with the frozen krill to pick up the scent/taste. It's taken a few monthes to get them readily accepting the krill, and only a few more weeks to add pellets. Have patience and be persistant. I also would suggest using a sinking pellet, and make sure the pellet is smaller then you think they can easily handle. 20" eel takes the medium Hikari excel pellets after pre-soaking with abit of hesitancy still. Getting it to eat from your hands also make it alot easier ot introduce new foods to them, they will usually be curiouse to try anything you offer with your hands once they associate it with food.
Steps.
1. Get onto frozen food ( usually longest step)
2. pre-soak pellets with frozen food ( frozen should always be thoroughly de-thawed before feeding anyways)
3. Mix it up ( Mine still get nightcrawlers, the krill, and more and more pellets.)
I personally shoot for a 60% pelleted/pre-made diet and 40% frozen/live diet. For all of my fish. Summer monthes usually end up more live foods ( worms are alot cheaper) and winter lean more on the pelleted/frozen side.
I also browse my local seafood counters for deals on shrimp ect to try and add more variety to their diets ( And sometimes a snack for me =D )
Steps.
1. Get onto frozen food ( usually longest step)
2. pre-soak pellets with frozen food ( frozen should always be thoroughly de-thawed before feeding anyways)
3. Mix it up ( Mine still get nightcrawlers, the krill, and more and more pellets.)
I personally shoot for a 60% pelleted/pre-made diet and 40% frozen/live diet. For all of my fish. Summer monthes usually end up more live foods ( worms are alot cheaper) and winter lean more on the pelleted/frozen side.
I also browse my local seafood counters for deals on shrimp ect to try and add more variety to their diets ( And sometimes a snack for me =D )