How big are they? May be they just need to learn to eat from floor. Try starving for a day.
Feeding tricks?
- Thread starter Bigtunamtl
- Start date
Each time you feed use a cue such as lightly tapping the top of the tank or shaking the can of food and they will eventually learn that means feeding time. For me it's shaking the can of pellets. Most all my tanks have learned that means food and wll coming swarming to the front of the tank. I know that's not an immediate solution to your problem but may help in the long run.
For frozen foods maybe try using a feeding cone that will kind of contain the frozen cube and disperse it slowly. Might give the fish more time to smell the food in the water and come looking for it.
For frozen foods maybe try using a feeding cone that will kind of contain the frozen cube and disperse it slowly. Might give the fish more time to smell the food in the water and come looking for it.
Too small and/or too few fish in a too-large tank commonly leads to this kind of feeding problem when the fish are first introduced. I get the impression that if we ask how long these fish have been in this tank the answer will be measured in single digits of days?
If yes...patience! They just need some time to learn the ropes in their new environment, including where food is to be found. A few swords or other livebearers...who will settle in very quickly...will demonstrate this to them and can then be removed if you wish, although in a 55gallon the swords could likely live with them indefinitely. Depending upon the age of these convicts, they could be many months away from forming a "breeding pair", whereas the monkey-see/monkey-do learning phase will just take a few days.
Is the tank decorated/planted? If not, providing some cover for the convicts will make them less skittish and more likely to explore and feed when food is present. Floating or slow-sinking, i.e. more neutrally buoyant, food will remain obvious for a longer time, especially if there is a current to move it around a bit. Avoid the temptation to add too much food, which will simply spoil and pollute the tank.
And, sorry, but I had to chuckle when I read the part about getting a pleco to "do the cleanup for me"; that's a bit like worrying about your kids dropping food crumbs on the floor of your home, and deciding that the solution is to get a non-housebroken Great Dane to clean them up.
If yes...patience! They just need some time to learn the ropes in their new environment, including where food is to be found. A few swords or other livebearers...who will settle in very quickly...will demonstrate this to them and can then be removed if you wish, although in a 55gallon the swords could likely live with them indefinitely. Depending upon the age of these convicts, they could be many months away from forming a "breeding pair", whereas the monkey-see/monkey-do learning phase will just take a few days.
Is the tank decorated/planted? If not, providing some cover for the convicts will make them less skittish and more likely to explore and feed when food is present. Floating or slow-sinking, i.e. more neutrally buoyant, food will remain obvious for a longer time, especially if there is a current to move it around a bit. Avoid the temptation to add too much food, which will simply spoil and pollute the tank.
And, sorry, but I had to chuckle when I read the part about getting a pleco to "do the cleanup for me"; that's a bit like worrying about your kids dropping food crumbs on the floor of your home, and deciding that the solution is to get a non-housebroken Great Dane to clean them up.
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I sincerely appreciate the replies. You've all been very helpful. They've got lots of hiding places. Some large rock and wood structures as well as some artificial structures. They hadn't eaten at all over the first day and a half but have been eating the sinking pellets today. Female's orange is popping all of a sudden and seems to have found a mate!
