i picked up a baby p-bass yesterday from my lfs, its about an inch long and only cost me 6.99. i dont know what kind it is but it is a silver color with three vertical strips on its body and a odd looking horizontal stripe on its tail, its tail is also starting to turn yellow. my questions are, what is the best thing to feed them at a young age, he ate about 9 small guppys after being in the tank for about 5 min, and when i feed blood worms to my other cichlids, he didnt even look at them. and he also tends to stay at the top in one place, sometimes he will make a short burst and then stay still, is this normal. and what is there growth rate.
new p-bass owner
- Thread starter thrillbillie12
- Start date
Pbass grow pretty fast. They average about an inch a month. It's best if you can get it off the live food. Bloodworms have always worked for me. Just don't drop any feeders in and it'll see the other fish getting at some food and realize that it's edible. You probably have either a Mono or an Ocell.
ill post a pic of it when my mom gets home, she has the camera, i was told to keep them on feeders for a month or so then take them off feeders.
Feeders will speed up their growth (IMO), but it's not necessary. They grow quite quickly without live feeders anyways.
he is starting to become more active, s this an age thing or stress thing, even at the lfs they had three and all three just sat in the same corner. mine is now patrolling the top of the tank, normal or not.
Yea thats normal. He will stop and go all day and night. Keep trying on the blood worms he should come around.
And welcome to the cichila world!
And welcome to the cichila world!
get him on bloodworm/beefheart and diced up prawns...he'll be monster in no time!! and i agree either mono/occel
your cichla is probably a farm boy which is mono/ocellaris mix. at that size feed him feeder guppies or minnows one at a time. you should also feed him black worms. when you have him eating from the surface as soon as food hits the water try feeding him pieces of cut shrimp. DONT feed him beef heart* its not good for your fish and holds no benefits for them. they will hid under the shaded ledges when small and they will be spooky for a while. make sure you have good water quality and your temp is high..87 degrees+ oh and they grow fast.. do a search for all the questions you asked above, you will find all the answers plus more.. or just look through the pages. post some pics when you get a chance also. if you ever have any questions you can pm me 
will raising the temp hurt my other fish, i have three jd/texas hybrids, two plecos, and an african knife.