Frozen feeder fish?

[Ej6hatchie]

Hi,

My payara is finally accepting dead foods, but on a fishing line. It doesnt necessarily accept all dead foods, but it only accepts frozen whole fish.

I've tried cut tilapia and pieces of shrimp, but once I put a frozen minnow or frozen goldfish it goes right for it.. after inspecting it of course. I'm thinking it only accepts frozen whole fish at this point, but the payara is only 5in.

I was wondering where would I be able to buy frozen feeder fish at a small size? 1 inch or so?
I would continue to feed it frozen minnows or goldfish, but I'd rather not go through the euthanizatuon process for the feeders.

I've looked into silversides from petsmart but the silversides are damn near the same size as my payara..

Ideas? Thanks!

 

[local hero]

I use these guys on a commercial basis for a variety of frozen quarantined feeders, not sure what they would do on a smaller scale but maybe worth looking in to?

http://www.ayersfish.com

 

[Rocksor]

If you have an Asian grocery store near you, check their frozen section for anchovies or smelt.

You could try cutting the top half off of the silversides and use the tail portion for the line. If it doesn't work, then save the rest for later.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

If you have an Asian grocery store near you, check their frozen section for anchovies or smelt.

You could try cutting the top half off of the silversides and use the tail portion for the line. If it doesn't work, then save the rest for later.

Catch and freeze your own, also be careful not to poison your fish by thiaminase inhibitor overload

 

[Ej6hatchie]

I finally found some anchovies at my supermarket! thanks for the suggestion Rocksor .
Theyre perfect size, Wild caught, and fresh. I was reading on MFK that some people were saying that they contain too much sodium? but i assume those are the ones that are packaged with salt. Also some people say theyre too oily to be a staple diet? I was thinking of just feeding the anchovies until the fish accepts cut tilapia or cut shrimp, but it would probably talk a while. im not too sure if anchovies have thiaminase, because some people on the forum says they do, but i always thought it was just minnows and goldfish that had that.

Any thoughts?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

I finally found some anchovies at my supermarket! thanks for the suggestion Rocksor .
Theyre perfect size, Wild caught, and fresh. I was reading on MFK that some people were saying that they contain too much sodium? but i assume those are the ones that are packaged with salt. Also some people say theyre too oily to be a staple diet? I was thinking of just feeding the anchovies until the fish accepts cut tilapia or cut shrimp, but it would probably talk a while. im not too sure if anchovies have thiaminase, because some people on the forum says they do, but i always thought it was just minnows and goldfish that had that.

Any thoughts?

I think they are fine to get them weaned off live, but then switch to tilapia and such.

They contain more sodium because they live in salt water

 

[duanes]

One of the reasons fish like to eat whole fish (whether they know it or not) is when eating a whole fish they are getting the calcium from the bones, other minerals and compounds from the organs, and skin, and even the nutrients from the previously eaten (prey) gut contents. When you feed only the fillet, you are not providing those extra nutrients, and vitamins, unless you inject the fillets with them.
Humans may primarily eat fillets, but we supplement with sides like veggies, starches etc etc) to get complete nutrition.

 

[Ej6hatchie]

I think they are fine to get them weaned off live, but then switch to tilapia and such.

They contain more sodium because they live in salt water

I see, I was thinking of feeding the anchovies until the Tatauaia until it bulks up a little bit, then using the same technique to get it to accept tilapia and shrimp. The reason why I like feeding the Anchovies is because i can stuff all kinds of pellets inside and the tatauaia just accepts it

 

[Ej6hatchie]

One of the reasons fish like to eat whole fish (whether they know it or not) is when eating a whole fish they are getting the calcium from the bones, other minerals and compounds from the organs, and skin, and even the nutrients from the previously eaten (by the prey) gut contents. When you feed only the fillet, you are not providing all those extra nutrients, and vitamins, unless you inject the fillets with them.

I see, that makes alot of sense! thanks for sharing. I actually like feeding whole fish to the payara, it looks alot more savage, and if its also good for them thats also a plus for me. hopefully the payara gets to a large enough size to start feeding it even bigger whole fish. that would be awesome

 

[tcav88]

You can stuff pellets in tilapia just the same