I just got a 1" red breasted sunfish in the mail, it won't accept lakes, vegetable matter pellets, or pellets that contain herring and krill. What should I feed it?
Food for redbreasted sunfish
- Thread starter fish042099
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How long ago did you get it? They won't necessarily eat immediately. They usually have to settle in for a couple of days.
I always fed mine carnivore pellets. For very small sunfish you can crush them up.
If he won't do prepared foods, I'd try small bugs, itty bitty snails, bloodworms, mosquito larva, baby earth worms, baby ghost shrimp, or pretty much anything else like that.
I always fed mine carnivore pellets. For very small sunfish you can crush them up.
If he won't do prepared foods, I'd try small bugs, itty bitty snails, bloodworms, mosquito larva, baby earth worms, baby ghost shrimp, or pretty much anything else like that.
I got him about 8 hours ago, bu he was in the shipping box for 4 days I thought he would be hungry.
I feed younger natives frozen bloodworms for the first few weeks after introduction to get some weight on them and get them past the stress phase. Once they're established I'll start weaning them onto other foods.
Go with live for a few weeks and then hope you can get him on flakes and pellets. My routine tends to be live (such as trout worms for fishing, mosquito fish, and ghost shrimp) until the fish warms up to me. Then I use canned clams, shrimp, and other easily purchased canned seafood. Then I work on getting them to take fish food. I tend to give them 3 days to take fish food, if they do I dont introduce live, it spoils them, sometimes they dont go back.
I agree with ShadowBass. Nothing is wrong with the food you're giving him. He just needs some time to settle in. Keep the lights low and try not to spook him for a while. Does he have any plants or other hiding places in the tank? If he feels secure he will eat.
I guess I'm the opposite of everyone else. I NEVER start sunfish that small out on live foods, as I haven't seen it necessary. At that size they generally take to just about everything you give them.
8 hours after attaining them is way too soon, IMO to even start trying to give them food. Turn the lights off for a day, let him settle in. Trying to get him to eat immediately is only going to stress him, which he doesn't need after a long trip.
Even when I get sunfish from the wild and bring them home immediately they usually need a day or two to acclimate and begin to feed. Once they settle in, at that size, they should eat just about anything.
I currently have a greenie that isn't even an inch long that I caught from a ditch near my house. He is eating flake and ground pellets every day now. He did not eat for 2 days, which is pretty much normal from my experience. After settling in he was not picky. Redbreasts should be about the same.
8 hours after attaining them is way too soon, IMO to even start trying to give them food. Turn the lights off for a day, let him settle in. Trying to get him to eat immediately is only going to stress him, which he doesn't need after a long trip.
Even when I get sunfish from the wild and bring them home immediately they usually need a day or two to acclimate and begin to feed. Once they settle in, at that size, they should eat just about anything.
I currently have a greenie that isn't even an inch long that I caught from a ditch near my house. He is eating flake and ground pellets every day now. He did not eat for 2 days, which is pretty much normal from my experience. After settling in he was not picky. Redbreasts should be about the same.
Give him some time to settle in, the shipping was probably very stressful. When my natives wont eat flakes they have always taken, blood worms, brine shrimp or cut up smelt. Give him a day to settle in and then try one of those. Frozen blood worms have seemed to work the best for me.
I got some small bluespotted sunfish and been feeding them live food. I been giving them live blackworms, scuds, and daphnia. I put flakes in the tank too to feed the ghost shrimp living with them and they don't touch it. I don't have any frozen bloodworms to try. GOnan get some soon though. I put some peas in there to feed the ghost shrimp and like 2 different sunfish did eat some. But the others don't bother.
I also have Pygmy Sunfish and they only eat small live food. I has some chubs in with them that would eat anything, and everytime I fed flakes, pellets, dried bloodworms, frozen bloodworms etc, they never ate any.
I also have Pygmy Sunfish and they only eat small live food. I has some chubs in with them that would eat anything, and everytime I fed flakes, pellets, dried bloodworms, frozen bloodworms etc, they never ate any.