Bass and Pickerel won’t eat

[Luckyreem]

Hi everyone, Im new here, I hope Im posting in the right place.

I have a feeding issue with a wild Largemouth Bass and a Chain Pickerel. Both fish are in a well conditioned 300g tank and I figured best food i could get them would be live Minnows which they would absolutely slay in their natural habitat. To my surprise, they don't seem to eat even if their face.
Both of them are in perfect size to eat the minnows.

any suggestions ?
thanks




You can see a few minnows hiding at the top, there are over 20 in the tank.

 

[Kolton13]

try some frozen food, like tilapia or shrimp. Do u only feed them minnows? Check your water perimeters also that always says a lot. Also where do u get ur minnows?

Edit: Welcome!

 

[kno4te]

How big are the fish? New to the tank?

 

[Luckyreem]

try some frozen food, like tilapia or shrimp. Do u only feed them minnows? Check your water perimeters also that always says a lot. Also where do u get ur minnows?

Edit: Welcome!

I have tried frozen shrimp but no interest as well.
They are fairly new in the tank, about a week.
The first thing I tried was frozen shrimp but with no success then I decided to go ahead and buy live minnows from a bait & tackle store.
Slight temperature differences from the creeks I got them from but I imagine they should have adjusted by now ?

 

[Luckyreem]

How big are the fish? New to the tank?

the Bass is 17” weighs 2.2lb and the pickerel is about 15”.
And yes both are new to the tank, less than a week.

 

[kno4te]

the Bass is 17” weighs 2.2lb and the pickerel is about 15”.
And yes both are new to the tank, less than a week.

Maybe still getting used to the tank. Keep a count on the minnows and think they’ll slowly disappear.

 

[Kolton13]

I’d be careful with minnows they may have parasites, are u quarentining them?

 

[krichardson]

How long have you had them? Perhaps the lighting or water temp bothers them?
If they are recently wild caught I doubt that they will readily go after non live food,especially the pickerel.

 

[Luckyreem]

I’d be careful with minnows they may have parasites, are u quarentining them?

Yes I agree,
I will set up a quarantine tank for the next batches.
My plan is to catch wild ones in the future with a minnow trap. I also want to catch small pan fish and bring them as feeders.

 

[Luckyreem]

How long have you had them? Perhaps the lighting or water temp bothers them?
If they are recently wild caught I doubt that they will readily go after non live food,especially the pickerel.

The bass about a week and the pickerel 3 days.
The have natural light during the day, i barely turn on the light.
You’re right about the frozen food, they won’t touch shrimp. That’s why I got the live shiners, but no luck yet.