How to get my Royal Clown off live fish?

[danielito]

Hey, forum.
As the title suggests, I'm having trouble feeding my 5-6 inch royal clown anything other than comets and minnows. I get them at the local petco, but I read that they aren't healthy at all as a staple. So I tried to get him to eat anything other than that (Mysis shrimp ice cubes, red wrigglers, hikari sinking carnivore pellets, frozen silversides), but he doesn't seem to be interested in any of them. He did take a nip out of the frozen silversides once, but that was probably because he thought it was alive @___@ I do provide him a hiding spot, and he rarely comes out. On the occasion that I do see him out, I see that he is absolutely TERRIFIED of me. I'm just trying to feed him... Can anyone give me some tips? I know that the knifefish are piscivores by nature, but I want him to be on a healthier diet.

 

[benzjamin13]

Knives can be picky, but just be persistent and keep feeding non-living food. It will eventually take it. Do you have any other fish with it? I've learned that it's easier to get fish on your fish food of choice if you already have fish feeding on what you want it to feed on. It'll see other fish eating and learn that whatever you're throwing into the tank is edible. I've had a couple of Knives now that can be pretty stubborn when it comes to food. I had an Albino CK that wouldn't eat anything other than Frozen Ghost Shrimp and I currently have a CK that won't take anything other than Hikari Sinking Pellets. Once he recognizes the other food as food and starts eating them, feed it a variety so it won't get stuck on 1 particular thing.

 

[danielito]

^ I have silver arowanas and a baby red-tailed catfish in there.. I feed the red tail cat mysis shrimp cubes, and hikari sinking pellets. The silver arowanas are fed Hikari floating carnisticks. A local fish store worker told me that they like to eat sinking food. But I'll keep that in mind. Maybe my best shot is the Hikari sinking pellets. Thanks for the reply.