Hey guys i have a 4" Black crappie that is pretty picky. I've been feeding my yellow perch, minnows and pumpkinseeds, freeze dried shrimp along with pellets but the black crappie just refuses to eat them. I do have minnows in the tank that come from my second tank that i add every week for extra nutrients. The only thing he will eat besides minnows is frozen bloodworms but they are so expensive. a pack of large blood worms (i believe 100g) is 8.99. i can get a pack of mini blood worms for 4.99 (they are way too small to provide a good meal for any larger fish though) and mini blood worms (50g) for 99cents.They also get Garden worms and fish bait worms every now and again but i want to give him more of a balanced and cheaper diet. I was wondering what you guys have managed to get your Crappie to eat. I read somewhere that they are super picky towards any food that isnt frozen or alive. thanks
Feeding Black crappie
- Thread starter Owain4
- Start date
What have you tried to get him on pellets? Have you tried starving him? Have you tried putting small pellets inside of the worms? I would give him some small, live crickets for a couple days to get him feeding off the surface. Start smashing the crickets a bit so they don't move and just float. Then toss in a pellet. Chances are he won't take it, so starve him for a couple days before tossing in a pellet or two again. With some patience, this method should work. I've had very good luck with it.
How long has he been in the tank with the other fish?
How long has he been in the tank with the other fish?
He's been with the other fish for about a month. I'll have to try that method. I'll have to just feed them pellets and dried shrimp until he finally takes one. One problem is i have horrible selection of pellets here. Im using standard cichlid pellets (we have no NLS or Hikari here) Im going to try the pellet in the worm idea. Hopefully that will work. I dont mind feeding them bloodworms but it gets quite expensive. I'll starve the fish for a couple days then throw some cichlid pellets in.
I think the trick is getting them to feed off the surface consistently.
The pellets in the worm might work, as I think the biggest obstacle with pellets is the texture/hardness. Once he gets used to his worms being hard and crunchy, it should be easier to just use pellets.
The pellets in the worm might work, as I think the biggest obstacle with pellets is the texture/hardness. Once he gets used to his worms being hard and crunchy, it should be easier to just use pellets.
Yeah thats the thing, most of the fish have been trained to look to the surface for food, the black crappie wont even go close to the surface let alone try to even eat off of it.
Hmm. I would definitely try the live crickets. The movement might be enough to get the crappie interested in coming up.
What i would do is starve em. If you have other fishes like bluegills & yellow perches taking pelltets a freeze dried shrimp, your crappie should pick it up as well in no time. Just give it some time, it will take a while. I had 2 black crappies that i starved for 2 months and they finally took sinking pellets. Heres a video i recorded a while back.
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look at that feeding frenzy. Nice tank and fish man. I do have 3 small pumpkinseeds and two yellow perch in with him and they eat shrimp like crazy. They have been eating shrimp for a week and he still shows no interest. Im going to just keep feeding shrimp and live crickets like Autumn mentioned with hopes of him atleast showing interest in coming to the surface. I have no problem finding food for him (worms, bloodworms) i just want to give him a healthy diet and a varied one.
Thxs, i really miss my black crappies ;( although i plan on getting some again in the future 
Crappies imo are for sure one of the most unique natives and there personalities are way different compared to other sunfishes. Its great that your crappies are taking shrimps, mines never took any freeze dried shrimp or market shrimp. There great natives to keep! I hate how my area doesn't have any yellowperch and pumpinseeds! >.< jealous of your collection!
Crappies imo are for sure one of the most unique natives and there personalities are way different compared to other sunfishes. Its great that your crappies are taking shrimps, mines never took any freeze dried shrimp or market shrimp. There great natives to keep! I hate how my area doesn't have any yellowperch and pumpinseeds! >.< jealous of your collection!Well turns out when i fed the fish today, the Black crappie is now stalking the surface looking for freeze dried shrimp. Now i've got the whole tank eating them. I'm suprised at how little time that took haha.