New 2" IT's on the way, what should i feed?

[Sarmo]

i did it! i got some small IT's and they should be here thursday or friday. i'm excited but now i need to know what the best feeding routine is. they should be about 2" although i'm guessing that is only if they are in traction

i've read all the sitcky's and all the posts on this page. what i have found is that most preferr to feed pellets (massivore or cichlid gold sinking pellets) for growth. i also see that i may need to starve my fish to get them to eat pellets. i'm okay with that but don't want to do it right away they are just babies......

so my question are-
1-what should i feed them now based on their size, 2"?
2- when should i start trying to change them over to pellets?
3- where do you find massivore and sticks?

please be specific, live or frozen or close to exact name so i can find them. i see that some use blood worms. i have those in frozen cubes and had planned on starting with them? i also have frozen krill sheets, and mysis cubes.

thanks for your help.....

 

[krichardson]

1. If they are not too thin when they come in why not try and see if you can get them started on pellets.You will be able to tell if they have been fed much or not by looking at the belly area to see if it has a roundness to it and the bottom of the jaw will be somewhat angular if they have not had much.They might be hungry enough to snap up sinking pellets that are tossed in or you could start ith bloodworms.
2.A store here has a tank full of indos on pellets and they were not much bigger than two inches when they got them.
3.Most decent pet stores should have them but I get most of my food and supplies from online.Massivore is not a cheap food but the best value is online.

 

[Sarmo]

sounds like a good plan. i'll see if they eat pellets and maybe give that a day or two, then if not go with blood worms....

thanks.

it would be a nice "sticky" to have different food recommendations for different sized Dats.....

 

[Sarmo]

well i got my (advertised) 2" Dats today. i swear they are closer to 1/2". man are they small! surprisingly aggressive little buggers though. i put them in my guppy tank so they wouldn't get eaten by my 2" oscar. i really hoped to put these in my main tank but that is not happening for now. so now i need to figure out what to feed. they are chasing the baby guppies around but i think that they are to big. i fed some flake, to the guppies, and a couple of the Dats took a couple bites. i also put in some frozen blood worms and they at least picked at them.

is that what i should feed? if not what?

thanks for any help. nervous new dad

 

[SickSauce]

try Live BloodWorms if not avaible use frozen bloodworms. After your ITs are stable mix blood worms with crushed pellet[I use carnivore pellet] in shot glass and feed. Ive got my Pbass on pellet thru this method. Best of luck and Nice pick up

 

[Sarmo]

try Live BloodWorms if not avaible use frozen bloodworms. After your ITs are stable mix blood worms with crushed pellet[I use carnivore pellet] in shot glass and feed. Ive got my Pbass on pellet thru this method. Best of luck and Nice pick up

do you get your live blood worms on-line or from a LFS? mine doesn't have any live ones.

thanks for the advice

 

[Gage Zamrzla]

Try pellets from the get go unless they're noticeably thin, in which case go with tubi worms, market shrimp or some kind of frozen food (I prefer mysis shrimp) until they're healthy and big enough to be pellet trained which can take a fair amount of time.

 

[Gage Zamrzla]

Sorry I just saw how small they are, I feed mine tubifex worms and rarely live brine shrimp, they all go nuts for both and it fattens them up surprisingly fast.

 

[tonyt]

were did you get them from?

Aquascape!
my 1/2" are oly eating frozen blood worms and got real fat in two days, the bite pellets and flake but spit it out

 

[Sarmo]

Sorry I just saw how small they are, I feed mine tubifex worms and rarely live brine shrimp, they all go nuts for both and it fattens them up surprisingly fast.

i've never fed tubifex worms, are they frozen or freeze dried?

i am amazed at how good they are at hiding and ambushing the baby guppies. so far i haven't seen one catch a guppy but they sure are trying. i mean they started in after them 3 minutes out of the bag...... i hope i can get them to grow fairly fast.....