Hey guys my 8" kelberi Pbass is growing FAST, I was assuming because of his fish staple diet. He didn't eat ANYTHING the first 9 days until he started readily taking full night crawlers. But I want to make sure his diet is good for him, I have a 60 gallon unused freezer in storage where I keep about 2-4 dozen wild caught shiners (I don't buy that crap from the bait shops or petsmart...) I go down every day to remove dead ones or ones that look like they're dying and feed those to my little snapping turtle (he's like a biological waste disposal!!) And I keep the ones I feed (1-2 dozen at a time) quarantined AGAIN in a small 5 gallon. So anywho I feed my Pbass 3-6 of these a day and He eats them like a pig. I've heard cases of malnutrition in Pbass from only feeding live food online (or is that just in goldfish with High thiamine content?) but then again I've heard pellets produce more ammonia because they have too much protein! I'm really confused on this, I just want to know If my Pbass will be fine eating live healthy shiners as a staple, and maybe throw in a night crawler or two every now and then. But during the summer I can catch TONS of gobies and crayfish if I can feed him. Do I need to vary his diet? And LASTLY since he's a wild Pbass he won't be eating pellets anytime soon if ever, And I go on 1-3 one week vacations every year, I have an automatic feeder but I'm concerned about the Pbass because I'm sure as hell not leaving 2 dozen feeders in there! Is there any fish-like prepared food I can leave in a auto feeder or will he be just fine if I gutload him a few days before leaving? I don't want him getting super hungry and coming home to a dead $100 Pbass choking on a fish 2\3rds his size! Thanks in advance!
KELBERI PBASS DIET HELP???
- Thread starter Mihajlo525
- Start date
I use heavy filtration (two FX5s on a 220) and feed only pellets with great results. With a little work and patiences you can get him on pellets.
First of all, most wild bass on this site, eat pellets, and if they haven't they will soon enough. Pellets are the best food for fish, they give all the vitamins and nutrients needed. Wild shiners only give some nutrients. Bottom point is you probably should get him on pellets.
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They also grow faster and seem to have better colors when fed pellets vs. live food. That's just my opinion. All the wild pbass I've had were on pellets within a week of me getting them.
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I bought him from an experienced fish keeper that has has years of experience with kelberis (and has his own 400 gallon with 3 breeding BD stingrays) He's had him ever since he was 3" and has still failed to get this bass off live. And I just bought him less than two months ago and he seems to have grown at least 1.5". I'm seriously doubting I'll be able get him even on prepared food. If a person universally more experienced than me in keeping kelberis and fish in general and has had this particular bass for much longer than me can't get him off of live then I definitely won't be able to. I'd have to disagree on the growth rate part but I definitely agree on the colours. But the only thing I want to know is will he get malnutrition from live food and will he be fine (mostly will my other fish be fine 0.0) if I leave him for a week when I go on a vacation? Thanks regardless.