Feeding Problem

[danrawl29]

Hola,

I maintain a native 210g stocked with 2 perch,1 bluegill, 1 bullhead, 1 gar and 1 bowfin. All of which are adult sized. I put in about 20 bait shop feeder fish once a week and feed pellets/worms every other day. The gar and the bowfin won't eat the pellets and rarely catch the worms (the blugill & perch are too quick). Can I pellet train the gar and bowfin? Am I feeing enough? Is it safe to feed bait shop feeder fish?

Thanks

 

[pharmaecopia]

Gars and bowfin readily adapt to pellets. What size are the gar and bowfin? If still small (<8-10") I would provide access to feeders for them while trying to convert them to non live foods.

In case you are unaware there is a subforum under ancient fish devoted to gars and bowfins.

 

[danrawl29]

I have 2 shortnosed gar around 14in and 2 bowfin around 8in. I keep only one pair in the main 210g. The other pair stay in a 75g. The display pair has been in there for maybe 4 months. Neither one of them has even acknowledged the pellets the other fish eat. I'd like to get them on non-living before iI move them into there new 560g. How could I get them interested????????

 

[ColeFishing]

here is a vid of my gar eating pellets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfdM0V7SwP8

i would not recommend training it to eat anything that sinks (sink pellets, bloodworms, etc) because it will eventually bend the gars nose. mine was very easy to get off live and onto pellets. i starved it for a week, stood on the other side of the room and through a floating pellet close to its head and the gar snapped out of reflex and ate it. he loves them. i feed hikari floating gold cichlid pellets. its cuz there're the highest grade i get in my area.

 

[pharmaecopia]

I have 2 shortnosed gar around 14in and 2 bowfin around 8in. I keep only one pair in the main 210g. The other pair stay in a 75g. The display pair has been in there for maybe 4 months. Neither one of them has even acknowledged the pellets the other fish eat. I'd like to get them on non-living before iI move them into there new 560g. How could I get them interested????????

At this size I would stop offering the live foods, but keep offering the pellets. With the other fish eating pellets they should learn pretty quickly that it is food. You might also want to try something like freeze dried krill, as a food to help transition them to pellets.

here is a vid of my gar eating pellets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfdM0V7SwP8

i would not recommend training it to eat anything that sinks (sink pellets, bloodworms, etc) because it will eventually bend the gars nose. mine was very easy to get off live and onto pellets. i starved it for a week, stood on the other side of the room and through a floating pellet close to its head and the gar snapped out of reflex and ate it. he loves them. i feed hikari floating gold cichlid pellets. its cuz there're the highest grade i get in my area.

My gars all willeat off the bottom, in no way does this affect their nose.

 

[danrawl29]

I'm still a little bit concerned. They have been in that tank for months and have never gone for a pellet. All the other fish go nuts over them. If they haven't gone for them yet, is there still hope? Are there any other pellet training techniques?

 

[ColeFishing]

My gars all willeat off the bottom, in no way does this affect their nose.

Well my friend had a far in a 6' x 3' x 3' tank and he feed it bloodworms and sinking pellets and after about 5 years the gars nose started bending upward to help it get food off the bottom




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[HungDang]

stop feed them feeder fish and they will eat the pellet, I never feed mime feeder and then he just go to the pellet! Now he eat pellet more than the koi!