Idiot needs help.

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R

rocsorcs

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 15, 2006
524
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Fort Worth, Texas
www.dfw.wwdb.biz
Okay, I know, don't feed your peacocks goldfish all the time, but when I bought them, I was told that that is all that they have ever eaten. I can't get them to eat anything that isn't alive. I have tried some of the things that I have read on here about letting them go for a couple of days and then trying to feed them some frozen shrimp, or worms;
or...
feeding them stuff one at a time. Nothing works. By the way, both of these fish are about 10-11" long and I have had them for several months.
Their colors are beautiful, they seem happy, and they have no signs of any diseases, but I have no idea if they are as healthy as they should be.
Any suggestions are appreciated.:)
 
try earthworms too if you havent.

I have a huge perch that was a pain to get off of live food, but starvation and shrimp loosely tied to a fishing line did the trick. I just put it in front of his face and pulled it away, trying to make it look as "live" as possible.... After that first bite he was hooked. It took a long time, so persistance is key.
 
:iagree: with rallysman in that time is needed , the pole and line that's a good way to get your fish to eat :D good luck man:thumbsup:
 
i like the fishing line idea!! at that size, it's going to be hard, but worth it. this is my cure all. start feeding them tubifex/black worms. ( i have a 12" bass that still eats tubefix worms). put in small chunks of shrimp with worms. they'll probably mouth & spit the shrimp for a few days, but eventually they'll start eating the shrimp. hope that helps. or, i know this is harsh, but, start cutting up some of the feeders into chunks and add chunks of shrimp and throw them in together.
 
If you have a hang on back type filter, you can drop your dead food in the area where the water falls. The PB will chase it like it were live. The fish might spit it out the first few times, but will eventually accept it.
 
When I got my LMB, he wouldn't eat anything that wasn't moving. Bass are surface feeders, so it is easy to get them to hand feed. After you do that, just start putting pellets in your hand. My bass is on Omega One and cichlid gold now.
 
This was the way I got all my Pbass to non live...

Start to feed them by throwing one feeder at at time....let the bass see you in front of the tank and hold your hand right above the water surface with the feeder....when you have their attention..drop the feeder.....if they hit it immediately-great! if not, wait untill they dispatch that feeder...eat it. then repeat with every feeder....this is a little time consuming but will condition them to hit whatever drops to the water.....after a week of using this process the bass will come to the surface awaiting you to drop the food and will hit the feeders with tenacity!!!
-----------------once you've accomplished this...have some freeze dried krill at hand....after approx 2 feeders drop a krill in the tank....it will be hit! but dont be discouraged if they spit it out....keep up the process...feeder....krill....feeder....then cut back to dropping krill only....they will take it. eventually they will nail the krill just as they did with feeders...then you can continue the cycle by trying other foods to see what they may prefer better........and every so often give em some feeders to keep them on their toes!! This is a fool-proof method of breaking them of live food and it works.
 
My Pbass' main diet is market shrimp (it's the cheapest!). Then I mix it up with some krill, or some cut up fish I catch. I throw in some cichlid gold in with the shrimp a couple times a week... I also still give them feeders once a week.
 
Have you tried frozen silversides? My tem goes nuts for them. I just thaw them out under hot running water until they separate, and toss them in. They are swallowed immediately!
 
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