Changing diet

[nono]

Hi. I just bought a 10 cm senegal bichir yesterday. It is been a while since i kept this guy. And at last i can acquire hikari product in my town. So i bought a small hikari sinking carnivore pellet . I tried to feed him with the pellets but he just put it in its mouth and the spit it out again. As far as i know, the shopkeeper always give the bichir bloodworm in the shop. So should i stick to the bloodworm until it get big or keep trying feed him hikari pellet so my bichir will get more nutrition?
Thanks and sorry for the grammar

 

[Poly Pinni]

The switch from soft bloodworm to a hard pellet might be too much in one go for a young fish. Perhaps some fish fillet?

 

[nono]

fish fillet? ok. how about shrimp that i cut into bite size? and should i switch shrimp or fish fillet and worm daily or should i stick to one type of food?

 

[twentyleagues]

The carnivore pellets are almost always eaten by polys. Its probably to big break them in half first. Get another mixed pellet also, something like cichlid gold or the likes that has a well rounded diet, switch between feedings. Get a small enough pellet that will fit in its mouth comfortably, my big guys will still eat the mini pellets almost prefer them to larger ones. The carnivore pellets shouldn't need any doctoring but you could presoak the other pellets in the "juice" of the thawed blood worms for a min before you feed them until poly recognizes them as food and how to eat them. Blood worms are ok but not nutritious enough to be used on their own plus way to fatty to be a staple.
As for frozen fish tilapia works good, shrimp, but remember these are not well rounded diets good as part of the diet. All of mine will also eat algae wafers if I break them up. Almost anything with strong odor will be accepted eventually.

 

[magpie]

What he said ^^^

I think soaking a little bit (as mentioned, bloodworm juice works well at the beginning) it helps them get used to the texture and also swallow it easier. You also might need to cut the carnivore pellets since he is so small. They're easier to cut when they've soaked slightly. I just use a little tank water with a dropper so they're not swimming in a ton of water, but get moistened.

It's also common for new polys to take a couple of days to settle and eat.

 

[nono]

Thanks a lot for the info. I gave it a slice of shrimp and he already ate it. I will try giving him the pellet but this time i will soak it first... thanks

 

[thefredpit]

I have a couple new guys too (an albino sengalus and a delhezi both 3") what I'm doing is feeding bloodworms every day and a little tilapia every other day. I also put a couple carnivore pellets in with the thinking they will have the option to eat it. With my other polys the smaller ones would keep trying till they were finally big enough to eat it

 

[clm08k]

Hey N nono .
Great to hear you picked up a Senegal! I just got some new polys too and at first they weren't eating pellets either. Would try the great tips above! they worked for my polys. I alternate mainly between tilapia and pellets. they like small crushed up pieces . and now will eat them soaked in blood worms or plain. Good luck!

 

[Poly Pinni]

Thanks a lot for the info. I gave it a slice of shrimp and he already ate it. I will try giving him the pellet but this time i will soak it first... thanks

I put fish, shrimps etc through a blender and then freeze in a ziplock bag, flattened out to a thin sheet. This makes it easy to snap a piece off and chop it up small.

 

[clm08k]

I put fish, shrimps etc through a blender and then freeze in a ziplock bag, flattened out to a thin sheet. This makes it easy to snap a piece off and chop it up small.

that's a cool idea!