Jack Dempseys won’t eat

[markeymarks]

hi everyone, my jack dempseys won’t eat anything but frozen brine shrimp. When i got the female from my friend first she would eat some floating tetra chiclid pellets at night that i temporary got before i bought some Omega One and Hikari Gold both floating.

A week later i picked up the male jack dempsey from the store. i had one feeder gold fish left over in my tank and i believe he ate it and at the fish store i saw feeder fish in the tank so that might of been his main diet. ever since that i noticed he wouldn’t eat any of the floating pellets and the female wouldn’t eat them either because he wouldn’t eat it so i gave them frozen brine shrimp ever since.

the question really is how can i get them to eat pellets again? it’s been about 4 days already since they ate frozen brine shrimp. i’ll drop 4 to 6 pellets in every 24hrs and walk away for a few hours and when i come back the pellets are still there and i’ll remove the pellets from the tank.

Sorry for the long post! but Thanks in advance!!!
-Mark

 

[philipraposo1982]

Assuming the fish is otherwise in good health, this means no outward symptoms of any parasites or disease, you just have to starve em longer.

Sometimes it can take a month.

You can also try a bit of frozen fish thawed. Or some krill. Try a earthworm.

The idea is to first get the fish to eat anything other than brine shrimp. The more diverse the diet the better chance you have of eventually getting them on pellets.

Keep your fish hungry.

A little bump in temperature can activate the metabolism and overall energy level of the fish. But too warm is not good either.

 

[Nilsafeller]

Assuming the fish is otherwise in good health, this means no outward symptoms of any parasites or disease, you just have to starve em longer.

Sometimes it can take a month.

You can also try a bit of frozen fish thawed. Or some krill. Try a earthworm.

The idea is to first get the fish to eat anything other than brine shrimp. The more diverse the diet the better chance you have of eventually getting them on pellets.

Keep your fish hungry.

A little bump in temperature can activate the metabolism and overall energy level of the fish. But too warm is not good either.

What he said!

 

[markeymarks]

Assuming the fish is otherwise in good health, this means no outward symptoms of any parasites or disease, you just have to starve em longer.

Sometimes it can take a month.

You can also try a bit of frozen fish thawed. Or some krill. Try a earthworm.

The idea is to first get the fish to eat anything other than brine shrimp. The more diverse the diet the better chance you have of eventually getting them on pellets.

Keep your fish hungry.

A little bump in temperature can activate the metabolism and overall energy level of the fish. But too warm is not good either.

wow awesome thank you for the tip! and i’ll give that a shot, i’ll pick up some frozen worms also and some krill also, my temp is at 80-81 degrees, i’ve kept the aquarium on a one good serving every 24hrs.

tank mates are 4 silver dollars that are about 3” and a juvenile female green terror that just reached about 3” also, they’ll demolish the Omega One small sinking pellets no problem.

 

[HybridFinatic]

If they already like omega one than just get the larger sized pellet. From what I understand, you said they only eat brine shrimp. Keep the pellets as a staple and feed everything else as if it was a treat. And I guess avoid brine shrimp since yours seem to get addicted to them.

 

[markeymarks]

If they already like omega one than just get the larger sized pellet. From what I understand, you said they only eat brine shrimp. Keep the pellets as a staple and feed everything else as if it was a treat. And I guess avoid brine shrimp since yours seem to get addicted to them.

that’s correct if they were already eating pellets then i would have left it that way and not have to feed them frozen brine shrimp. the problem is the male would not eat pellets that’s why i am here asking for suggestions. if the male was already eating pellets then i would not have tried using hikari gold, flakes, shrimp pellets.

 

[YankeeJack]

If they are otherwise healthy, don't feed them for a day or two. That'll get their attention for the pellets, and when you resume, just put in a couple of pellets, gradually increase.

 

[markeymarks]

If they are otherwise healthy, don't feed them for a day or two. That'll get their attention for the pellets, and when you resume, just put in a couple of pellets, gradually increase.

hi i’ve been starving them for 5 days already, still no luck yet i also soaked the pellets in garlic guard for half hour before putting it in too

 

[YankeeJack]

hmm, but he'll eat the frozen brine shrimp? Picky little bugger!

 

[markeymarks]

hmm, but he'll eat the frozen brine shrimp? Picky little bugger!

yep, totally stubborn!, frozen brine shrimp and frozen blood worms, the female same thing ever since he came home lol, my dollars terror and bela sharks will eat the omega one pellets.