Hi, I'm new here but not new to the aquaria scene I am only 21 and have had a 55 gallon dempsey tank for 5 years now and have bred and had my fun with them. Anyways I fell in love with p.bass watching fishing on t.v. and said if i found any I would buy them. Well i bought 2 that were in the 2" range a few weeks back and one jumped out chasing a molly. So I went to another LFS and bought 3 more and was told they would be around 2.5" which is how big my current p.bass is but when they came in they were only about 3/4"-1" and I stumped on getting them to eat at this size. My LFS offers mollies and ghost shrimp as feeders but they dont seem to show interest in anything i put in there with them. I do have them seperated from the larger p.bass because as soon as I put them in the tank he tried to eat one so untill I get rid of my dempseys and can put them in the 55 for grow out they are in my 40 Tall tank seperated. Any help or suggestions on what I can try to feed these guys when they are this small would be appreciated. (Side note: any fry are out of the question none of my LFS carry fry) Thanks again for any help on the matter and GREAT forum
New here and new p.bass owner needs help
- Thread starter keaser06
- Start date
if it doesnt move they are not going to eat it.....especially when they are small. I feed mine minnow feeders. They like the water hot like 86.
Thanks for the quick answers guys. Blood worms are out of the question I tried and they have no interest. The temp is 86F now anyways as im trying to fight off ich that infested my 2.5" p.bass and the 3 smaller ones came from my LFS with it so im in the process of getting rid of that but they dont seem interested in small ghost shrimp that i know they can swallow. Do you think that it could be the shrimp are not moving enough for them to show interest?
It is my understanding that ICH will stop them from having any appetite at all. I would treat the ich and then they will eat. It is also my understanding that ich causes a reduction in blood flow and this will also slow them down. Listen to the guys on here and treat the ich first.
Im working on the ich already but I really wanted to get some food in these fish they are looking very sick but I just thawed out some bloodworms and dumped them in and they ate them as they wiggled towards the bottom so they ate a little bit. The ich seems to be clearing well I know I stopped the spread now i just need to make sure its completely gone. Going to go do a 25% water change now and add another ich treatment but only a 75% solution of the ich treatment.
Keep the temp up always, add as much aeration to the tank as possible, meds displace oxygen which can also cause undue stress on your little bass and that can in turn supress their appetite.
Water Current=Good
If they're that small your may try brine shrimp and see if they show much interest in that, normally if you pour it near the filter return the water current moving the shrimp will spark the bass' interest and make them go after it.
Keep up the ich treatment until it's gone, keep up the water changes and get as much oxygen in there as possible and your bass should be alright.
BTW-what species do you have?
Water Current=Good
If they're that small your may try brine shrimp and see if they show much interest in that, normally if you pour it near the filter return the water current moving the shrimp will spark the bass' interest and make them go after it.
Keep up the ich treatment until it's gone, keep up the water changes and get as much oxygen in there as possible and your bass should be alright.
BTW-what species do you have?
I just fed them and they ate very well compared to yesterday and it seems the ich has begun to heal nicely since yesterday also. They have nice full bellies now and are getting more and more active.
The larger one I have was sold to me as an Ocellaris but the other store (which was also much cheaper) sold me the three smaller ones as "peacock cichlids" so I am not too sure on the smaller ones yet but the look the same as my ocellaris did when i got him at a slightly larger size.
The True Guapote;3030904; said:
The larger one I have was sold to me as an Ocellaris but the other store (which was also much cheaper) sold me the three smaller ones as "peacock cichlids" so I am not too sure on the smaller ones yet but the look the same as my ocellaris did when i got him at a slightly larger size.