New to Polypterus - Ornate Poly Owner

[Sarahrah89]

Hello all, I'm new to the forum, somewhat new to Polypterus, and a seasoned fish keeper. I have a 75 gallon freshwater that house 2 Blood Parrot cichlids and a Bushy Nosed pleco. There is also a 25 gallon handmade live plant sump housing 3 Panda Cory cats attached. I recently added a 6 inch ornate poly to the main tank. He's doing well and is somewhat active, although he loves his hiding spot. However I'm concerned he does not get enough food. I feed him a cube of frozen (melted) bloodworms nightly while my BPs feed on their pellet food, plus he is offered the occasional nightcrawler or ghost shrimp. But he is bad at finding and eating the offered foods. Any suggestions? I don't want him to starve!

 

[Vancouver_98683]

Welcome to the forum and poly keeping! That's a lovely ornate u got there. I suspect the ornate is getting most of its nutrition from the leftover pellets from blood parrots, or the occasional night crawler. bloodworms do not contain much nutrition, therefore, I'd suggest cut up tilapia. It's cheap, a good staple, and you'll know if the poly is eating because your parrots should leave alone. Good luck!

 

[Sarahrah89]

Welcome to the forum and poly keeping! That's a lovely ornate u got there. I suspect the ornate is getting most of its nutrition from the leftover pellets from blood parrots, or the occasional night crawler. bloodworms do not contain much nutrition, therefore, I'd suggest cut up tilapia. It's cheap, a good staple, and you'll know if the poly is eating because your parrots should leave alone. Good luck!

Thanks for the input! Where would I find cut up Tilapia? Is grocery store fish acceptable, because I don't think I've ever seen it in my LFS. My one BP, Igor, is actually pretty aggressive, despite only have one eyeball. But I've seen them interact and the ornate doesn't seem to be phased by Igor's aggression. I will definitely try the Tilapia from the grocery store, thanks again!

 

[Polyaddict86]

Hi welcome to the forum. Its a nice ornate, if you just added it recently its still probably trying to settle in in the new environment, ornate can sometimes be picky when it comes to food, i had a ornate didnt eat for a week. Like Vancover_98683 mentioned, try chopped up tilapia fillet or silverside, the more smelly the food the better. Good luck with the ornate and have fun.

 

[Vancouver_98683]

Thanks for the input! Where would I find cut up Tilapia? Is grocery store fish acceptable, because I don't think I've ever seen it in my LFS. My one BP, Igor, is actually pretty aggressive, despite only have one eyeball. But I've seen them interact and the ornate doesn't seem to be phased by Igor's aggression. I will definitely try the Tilapia from the grocery store, thanks again!

Frozen tilapia fillets from your local supermarket for humans . The ones that are individually vacuum packed. 1 bag will last u a long time. I feed all my polys and it's a staple to their diet. As polyaddict stated. If it's a new introduction to your tank. It may not eat for a while. Very common thing. Tilapia will spoil after a day and start floating after 2 days if uneaten. Caution! Very smelly.... So, very easy to discard. Keep us all updated with this poly and research in this forum. Bichirs are a fun keep!

 

[Hendre]

looks nice. let it settle in and enjoy, hopefully the parrots are not too mean

 

[tlindsey]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Hoplo]

Welcome. As said don't feed bloodworms as the main part of the diet, they are not very good (imagine it like only feeding your child chips, they may like it, but it is not good for them all the time). the polly is probably cleaning up some of the pellets that the cichlids are missing, also feeding after dark when the parrots won't eat the food is an easier way to help target feed. Also feeding tilapia or shrimp is a good supplement for there diet, just make sure when you are buying it from your supermarket that you buy stuff that is raw, not precooked.