Haven't seen him eat in a few months. He was unusually calm and managed to get a little video without him freaking out.
Had him for over 5 years at this point.
Had him for over 5 years at this point.
GATF feeding
- Thread starter Reedmaster16
- Start date
very nice!! 5 years?? how big is he? did you just get him broke? super jealous of him eating pellets!
Great color on your gatf. I'm also blown away by his size at 5 years old. Has he always been a problem eater? My gatf was growing at an alarming rate so I sold him to josh and bought a vatf instead.
He is probably around 14", the rays he is in with are pretty large and he doesn't get anywhere near them during feeding time. In the past I've seen him scoop a couple sinking pellets off the floor of the tank in front of me when he got really hungry. Real skittish fish though if someone is in front of the tank, so its been rare catching a glimpse of him eating.
Just started trying floating pellets again recently and it seems to give him a better chance to get food while the rays are temporarily distracted with the sinking food. The male ray in this tank is addicted to the floating pellets though so the goliath still has to be cautious even feeding at the surface lol.
It was so long ago I honestly can't remember a specific trick or anything. I never fed anything but frozen (shrimp/tilapia/smelt) or sinking 10mm pellets so he had limited options. Maybe start with nightcrawlers if hes stuck on live still and then move to soaking pellets in the nightcrawler juice.
Yea IMO entirely due to not eating very much and always having to compete for food with rays. My previous goliath had a much thicker/beefier body structure and grew at a crazy fast rate before I sold him years ago. I've always been focused on the rays primarily since I've had him so water quality has always been excellent but never really focus fed him specifically.
Thanks! Colors pop much more if I have tank lights on instead of crappy yellow florescent room lights but I don't really turn tank lights on much. He is just now getting comfortable in the new system after a big stressful move back in February. If he continues ramp up his eating pattern I'll bet his growth rate will increase some. He's always been an incredibly skittish fish since I got him around 3". Past couple years I've maybe only been able to catch him eating in front of me a handful of times. Slightly wider tank (8x4) but still real skittish. Completely different personality vs my old goliath.
Yea he's never been a big eater. Rays appetite > goliath lol
So you moved him back in Feb. Im gonna be moving mine soon he is right at 12" and putting him in with my rays. How did you move him, like did you use rubber net? i know it will stress him our really bad and expect after a move it will take him a good while to want to eat.
Don't know about anyone else but for moving ATF, I use nylon net or anything it couldn't bit on > quickly put it into transparent plastic bag that's half-filled with water from its old tank > put entire plastic bag to float in new tank for 20 min > carefully release it into its new home. Never lost one with this method. Make sure you wait long enough though. ATF got cloudy eyes from sudden change of temp or water parameter very easily.
