Feeding problem with greedy warmouth sunfish

[Betta132]

This guy (shown in his "I'm asleep and you can't see me" colors) is a food thief. I feed the tank with a pair of tweezers, and it works great for getting food to him, but not so well when I try to feed the silver dollars bloodworms from said tweezers. Video doesn't want to upload, but he steals all the bloodworms. Even when I try just pouring the thawed worms in, he gets a bunch. The only way to make him stop is to just feed him until he physically cannot cram anything more down his maw.
Any tips for getting everyone fed? The silver dollars are dummies and go wherever they see excitement, so feeding them in different spots doesn't really work.

 

[Frank Castle]

View attachment 1179125
This guy (shown in his "I'm asleep and you can't see me" colors) is a food thief. I feed the tank with a pair of tweezers, and it works great for getting food to him, but not so well when I try to feed the silver dollars bloodworms from said tweezers. Video doesn't want to upload, but he steals all the bloodworms. Even when I try just pouring the thawed worms in, he gets a bunch. The only way to make him stop is to just feed him until he physically cannot cram anything more down his maw.
Any tips for getting everyone fed? The silver dollars are dummies and go wherever they see excitement, so feeding them in different spots doesn't really work.

unless you want to move him to a different tank, it sounds like you already have the answer. That's how I make sure every single fish in my tank gets a full belly.....I feed once a day but screw the "3 minute rule"....I feed some pellets until they all get some, 20-30 minutes later, some more pellets, but not that much, another 20-30 minutes later, frozen treats or dried foods or fresh stuff from the freezer/fridge.

I don't feed anything all day until the lights have been on for about 12 hours or more when I feed veggies....I like them to be "starving" after a whole day of no food so they cram as much veggies as possible

 

[Betta132]

If I feed until they all get enough, Mr Jonah's Bane stuffs himself until his stomach bulges. And I don't mean just a little bit, I mean he'll get half an inch taller. I doubt that's healthy, even if they are only being fed a few times a week.

 

[Fishy-Botany]

I have a similar problem with two Hoplo catfish eating all of the food. My issue is they never get full, even when they look like they swallowed a ping pon ball lol. So what I do is feed them some food and then as they're eating, feed the other fish in two other spots in the tank.
Despite how fast they are they can't be in two spots at once.

 

[Frank Castle]

If I feed until they all get enough, Mr Jonah's Bane stuffs himself until his stomach bulges. And I don't mean just a little bit, I mean he'll get half an inch taller. I doubt that's healthy, even if they are only being fed a few times a week.

I can almost guarantee the reason he eats so much is because you don't feed him everyday......try feeding everyday or even twice a day. Once when u wake up and once about 15 minutes before u go to bed. it works on greedy gluttonous pitbulls for me

 

[Betta132]

He stuffs himself no matter how often he's fed. If he can physically fit food into his stomach, he will eat it, and he tries even when he can't fit anything. If I feed him daily, he crams himself daily.
And he's a reasonably large, somewhat inactive fish with a comparatively very large mouth. Isn't this sort of fish supposed to be fed reasonably large meals every few days to mimic what they'd do in the wild? He's growing quite well, so I doubt he's underfed.

He attacks food while it's still in the steel tweezers that I feed with. If I don't let go of the food when he goes after it, I can feel his teeth scraping against the tweezers. Will it hurt him if I keep the tweezers clamped and let him attack them and the food? It'd distract him really well so I could feed the dollars, but could he hurt his little teeth on the steel? He puts a lot of strength behind attacking the food.

 

[Frank Castle]

He stuffs himself no matter how often he's fed. If he can physically fit food into his stomach, he will eat it, and he tries even when he can't fit anything. If I feed him daily, he crams himself daily.
And he's a reasonably large, somewhat inactive fish with a comparatively very large mouth. Isn't this sort of fish supposed to be fed reasonably large meals every few days to mimic what they'd do in the wild? He's growing quite well, so I doubt he's underfed.

He attacks food while it's still in the steel tweezers that I feed with. If I don't let go of the food when he goes after it, I can feel his teeth scraping against the tweezers. Will it hurt him if I keep the tweezers clamped and let him attack them and the food? It'd distract him really well so I could feed the dollars, but could he hurt his little teeth on the steel? He puts a lot of strength behind attacking the food.

I just think feeding more frequently and larger amounts will eventually mellow him out, it won't happen overnight. Animals that don't eat daily GORGE themselves when they do finally eat, Komodo Dragons for instance will eat until they can't move for several days.

If it doesn't work, then oh well, you have a Warmouth, that's what they do, just like any other NA Panfish or Micropteran. I've seen Bass floating dead with a fish sticking out of their mouth longer than THEY ARE. Had an Oscar eat an Albino African-clawed frog with the back leg sticking out for 2 days until he finished digesting the front-quarters, then he finished his meal 2 days later

If he has food all the time, he will eventually be like "Oh, food again, nah maybe later....I get this stuff all the time"

Do you have him in a heated tank?

 

[Betta132]

Nope, tank is just room temp. I figured that'd be closest to what he's used to, since he's from a river about a mile from my house. Which is why he's with silver dollars- I wanted active midwater fish that wouldn't fit into his mouth and would be fine in slightly cooler temps. So his metabolism definitely isn't being accelerated by that.

I guess I'll try feeding more often. How much would you suggest? I have silversides and krill, but I'm not certain entirely how much to give him, this is the hungriest fish I've ever kept. Maybe a third of a silverside or a krill or two at a time?

 

[Frank Castle]

Nope, tank is just room temp. I figured that'd be closest to what he's used to, since he's from a river about a mile from my house. Which is why he's with silver dollars- I wanted active midwater fish that wouldn't fit into his mouth and would be fine in slightly cooler temps. So his metabolism definitely isn't being accelerated by that.

I guess I'll try feeding more often. How much would you suggest? I have silversides and krill, but I'm not certain entirely how much to give him, this is the hungriest fish I've ever kept. Maybe a third of a silverside or a krill or two at a time?

well no, but a few things could be a factor...
A.) how long have you had him?
B.) What state is he from?
C.) Is it male or female?
D.) Have you tried live Nightcrawlers/earthworms?
E.) How big is it?

You must consider, depending on latitude and longitude, this is April and it is breeding season for almost everything, depending on water temperatures in the wild. MANY fish's natural biological clock kicks-in right now telling them it's time to fatten up for the spawn because they will not eat hardly anything for the 2 months they are on the spawning beds.

 

[Betta132]

A) Since May of last year, so about a year now.
B) Central Texas, San Gabriel watershed.
C) Honestly not sure how to check.
D) No, he's already eating frozen and I didn't see any reason to try live.
E) About 5", but he won't stay still and parallel to the glass for long enough to measure precisely. He stares at the ruler when I try.

He did go on a hunger strike for all of January, but I'm pretty sure that was due to internal parasites of some sort. I treated for parasites and eventually got him eating live ghost shrimp, and then back on krill about a week later.
Aside from that, he's eaten like this ever since I first got him. He was a bit more timid about eating for awhile, though, mostly because he was pretty small for awhile. It's only become a problem recently since he hit a growth spurt.
If he really wants to fatten up, is it OK to let him? Will he start trying to nest? I don't even know if warmouths nest, I never see wild ones do anything other than lurk. He can nest if he likes, there aren't any plants in the tank because silver dollars.