Bass losing killer instinct??

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ksmith088

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 1, 2010
158
0
0
Pittsburgh
My Pbass has seemed to almost go brain dead when it comes to eating. It is almost like he forget how to attack. I have been currently trying to pellet train him and when I throw in a occassional minnow, he forget how to attack it. He will go up very slow and almost "bark" at it and let it swim away. He was fed minnows his whole life and used to stuff as many as he could fit in his mouth. It is impossible to even pellet train him because he will maybe eat a minnow every 3 or 4 days. You can probably assume he wont even look at krill, shrimp, pellets, etc. He is 15 inches and obviously needs much more then a minnow every couple days. That is even if he gets lucky and the minnow is dumb enought to swim in his mouth. He recently got over Head and lateral line disease but has healed since and looks as good as he ever has. He is frustrating me so much to where I want to sell him back to the store and buy a couple new ones and start them young on pellets. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

220 gallon with 15inch pbass and 18 inch spotted gar
Wet/dry sump filter with 2 aquaclear110
PH:7.1 Ammonia:0 Nitrites:0 Nitrates:5
 
Give him some time, maybe he ate a bad tasting minnow, and his tummy hurts:)good luck, and lets see some pix of that monster.
 
I have no idea but I'm pretty much having the same issue. I have a bass about 5" and i went on vacation for 3 weeks. TO make it esaier on my friend who was feeding my fish I told him to feed only pellets so he wouldn't have to thaw the usual shrimp. The bass ever since (3 months ago) hasn't really been eating either. Hes not even hitting the usual shrimp. He eats about once every 3-4 days as you have described. Hes also constantly unstable and has somewhat of a caved stomach. I just ot another bass that hits pellets like crazy so i'm hoping it will entice this bass to start eating again. Good luck with your case and sorry I could not be of much help
 
Yea mine has been not eating the same for a few months as well. The gar he is with has almost switched roles. The gar will stuff himself so full to where he can barely swim. I guess I will wait him out and see if anything changes. Thanks!
 
the water stays consistantly between 80 and 82...I am debating on starting over with some new babies and training them right on pellets instead of minnows. Nitrate levels have droped dramatically since I switched to a sand bottom so maybe they will bounce back. Could high nitrates over a few months damage the brain function or any senses of fish?
 
finally got the gar on pellets and literally everything I drop in the tank. The bass has not eatin for almost 3 weeks now so I decided to throw a minnow in and see if he even has an appetite. He would go after it but not eat it. Scooped it back up and droped it in again and he ate it. That is all he wanted and nothing more or less. This is not typical peacock bass behavior and is very frustrating. All water paramaters are good and temp is 82. I do not know what to do with him. Any suggestions to raise his appetite to what it used to be a few months ago would be greatly appreciated. He used to never let another fish touch the food dropped in until he was full. Its boarderline depressing because that is why we have peacocks. They are such a beautiful and powerful fish.
 
I have no idea but I'm pretty much having the same issue. I have a bass about 5" and i went on vacation for 3 weeks. TO make it esaier on my friend who was feeding my fish I told him to feed only pellets so he wouldn't have to thaw the usual shrimp. The bass ever since (3 months ago) hasn't really been eating either. Hes not even hitting the usual shrimp. He eats about once every 3-4 days as you have described. Hes also constantly unstable and has somewhat of a caved stomach. I just ot another bass that hits pellets like crazy so i'm hoping it will entice this bass to start eating again. Good luck with your case and sorry I could not be of much help
that happened to my first couple of pbass. Maybe its the water perimeters? I mean do a couple of water changes or something. I thought they were going to die because they wouldnt hit anything but some bloodworms sometimes...But i sold him because he wasnt hitting much and i got a new batch of pbass and these got on pellets much faster and easier
 
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