Don't get me wrong, I feed live food every once in a while. Earthworms is what I fed them to get them to eat but it's only an occasional thing. I feed them a large assortment of dry food, so they get to choose from a lot.
How long is too long when starving a fish?
- Thread starter Newt
- Start date
HarleyK said:Howdy,
I honestly don't understand why it is the declared goal of some to wean their fish off live food. By accepting responsibility over a pet I try to give the pet the best care possible, not to have the pet adjust to my convenience... Obviously, your fish like live food better. Why would you not give it to them??
HarleyK
I want to wean off live because I just don't see how eating a diet of feeder shrimp and night crawlers can give my eel all the nutrients it needs.
By getting my eel to accept prepared food, (weather it's frozen, freeze dried, or pellet), than I can give it a much more varied diet and soak the food in vitamins if I need to.
The cost factors into it also. Not so much with the worms, but the shrimp. So far the cheapest shrimp I found are $50 for 100 shipped to my door. 100 shrimp lasts about a week in my tank with my oscar gobbling up most before the eel even knows the shrimp are there.
I do currently run a 20 gallon tank that houses 12 feeder shrimp and 3 platies, and I hope to use the babies of the fish and shrimp as an occasional "treat", but not until I get the eel eating non-live foods on a regular basis.
It's not as if I'm going to let my eel die. If it starts to waste away to nothing, then yes, I'll run to the store and get some worms. However, I've heard that fire eels can be weaned, so if I can do it I will.
It's just really hard to sit a watch a fish that wants to eat, and has food right in front of it, not eat.
In short, I just think it's better for the eel to eat non-live foods as a staple diet.
redtailfool said:
I get my insects from here (year-round), they also have worms:
http://www.wormman.com
They sell great quality and it is considerably cheaper than a pet store. I found their link here
http://www.kingsnake.com
There are plenty of other providers out there, but I have had great luck with Worm Man. Those insects and worms can be nicely gut-loaded so that you do not have to worry about nutrients for your fish.
Benfica540 : I addressed both: convenience and money in my previous posts...
newtothis: I have never had to try it myself, but I saw it being done: If your oscars eat the food before the eel can reach it, placing the food directly in front of the eel with a hose or platic tubing might be an option. Feed the oscar at the surface while you position food for the eel.
I have my flame suit on, but I truely don't intend to stir up this tread. I am just asking questions and I am providing options for what I consider a good pet care. Make up your own opinion based on your own values.
Peace out,
HarleyK
This may be a stupid question, but anyways:
How do you gut load a worm? Where do you get the worm gut-loading food?
I can remember feeding crickets these little colored wafers called "Gut Loaders"(I think, it's been a long time) but I've never seen anything like that for worms.
If I could gut load worms than I wouldn't feel so bad about feeding the eel a diet of mostly worms. Just in case it absolutly will not eat prepared foods, ya know.
How do you gut load a worm? Where do you get the worm gut-loading food?
I can remember feeding crickets these little colored wafers called "Gut Loaders"(I think, it's been a long time) but I've never seen anything like that for worms.
If I could gut load worms than I wouldn't feel so bad about feeding the eel a diet of mostly worms. Just in case it absolutly will not eat prepared foods, ya know.
newtothis said:
There are three ways that I am aware of, maybe there are more or better ways.
a) provide some nutritional food in the worm can, and they will find it (e.g. fish flake food)
b) inject the worm with a syringe and a 27 gauge needle, administer a heavy suspension of flakes in water. If you ever went fishing you know that a worm survives puncture quite well, at least until the eel finds it ...
c) cut a small opening in the worm and insert 1/2 catfish tablet. Squeeze it down a bit to prevent it from falling back out.
I have to admit that b) and c) are a bit messy, but it's the most direct way. You control exactly how much "good" food your eel gets.
Good luck, whatever you decide to do,
HarleyK
to answer your ? about how long is too long. first off fish are cold blooded and can survive without food for great periods of time as can reptiles. of course smaller fish will waste away faster than large fish. i had 2 fish come down with septicemia or hole in the head ( they had white stringy **** and stopped eating after a few months of this). anyways, i was attatched to these fish and they were sick so i would not have aten them, so i decided to treat them. they did not eat for about 8 weeks maybe a bit more and looked to be turning into skeletons. i treated them with metronidazole for 3 weeks doing complete water changes every day. after 2 monthsor so i transfered them out of the hospital tank into my 300 since they had stopped the white poop. after a week or 2 the fish slowly started to eat again. the whole process lasted about 2.5 months and the fish were sick, but recovered greatly. most say once the fish stops eating it is too late but it is not. if your fish are healthy starve them until they take to the pellets or fresh food and dont give in until it looks as though they are on their last leg. these fish are tough customers. just because we are warm blooded we think that they need to eat as we do. not true. starve em and they will eventually take to something other than live feeders
Did they feed you gut loaded earthworms?rallysman said:
If I did not eat my dinner I got it for breakfast.earthworms will eat flake fish foods,
You still haven't answered me HarleyK. Does it mean that you think less of people if they don't feed their fish (other animals) the food that THEY want instead of the food that we give them.
I feed live, pellets and frozen and never had to starve any of my fish....They all eat what each other eats, its like they compete for it . My cichla's will eat pellets sometimes becuase my oscar will. Before I added my oscar they would not touch em. My cichla's will hit beefheart like a freight trian...
