Pickiest Bowfin

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MN_Rebel

MN_Rebel

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Aug 5, 2008
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I have a small bowfin since last Aug. He is about 12" (grew 4 extra inches since Aug). For some reason, he is fussy toward to the feeder fish as he only eats fathead minnows but won't touch goldfish, guppies and red rosies. I did isolated the goldfish and other feeder fish for over two weeks but the bowfin won't eat them unless I throw a normal colored fathead there and he is very eager to chase down that specific feeder fish and gulped up that fathead. I can't keep buying fathead minnows from bait store as they always give us too many minnows (One scoop) that can feed my bowfin for two months but I don't have any large tank that can hold over 30 minnows for longer periods. That's why I started to buying feeder fish from LFS and start to isolate them for diseases. I don't know what to do...should I keep buying fathead minnows for the bowfin?
 
The bowfin I've had were always easily trained onto floating pellets and freeze dried krill.Spare yourself the hassle of feeders if you can.
 
Tried this trick few times, don't work that much. I even starved him for a month, yet he won't take pellets or frozen smelts. On other hand, his tankmate bullhead needs to be on diet. Thankfully the bullhead responds well to the pellets. Sometimes I seen my bowfin caught a goldfish then he spit them up or kill them. Yet on same day I throw a fathead in and he caught then swallow it, instead of spit it up like goldfish. Why is he doing this?
 
well its a good thing he is eating the minnows over goldfish, minnows are more nutricious and have less fat then goldfish which makes them better for his diet, they are also more natural to him and cheaper. i think sometimes their predator instinct kicks in and they just go right for the food, even tasting it and smelling it before they eat it.

i managed to get my perch to eat freeze dried shrimp. maybe try like worms and mealworms then try freeze dried shrimp. eventually he will realize they are edible and maybe if he likes them keep eating them
 
The problem is that I don't want buy too much fathead minnows from bait shop at the same price of feeder goldfish/red rosies at LFS and the bowfin WON'T touch red rosies or goldfish. I want him to have a varied diet and it would be a nice thing if he can take a goldfish once in awhile. He do take larger feeder guppies sometimes but it would be rare treat for the bowfin. I hasn't try ghost shrimp yet but they are awfully small for a 12" bowfin.
 
i bought 3 dozen fat heads at the bait shop i threw them in the tank guessing they would be cleaned up in 3-4 days. after i dumped the bucket i counted 70. i wont be dumping without counting anymore. water quality shot strait to poor.
 
try stringing smelt/silversides by tail on a fishing line and bouncing/darting it. That's how I got some picky carnivores to eat.
 
I did this trick with frozen minnows/smelts with a fishing line but so far he spit them up. I should mentioned that there was another bowfin that used to live with my bowfin, he don't have any problems taking any feeder fish and frozen treats. I gave it away to the college that has huge pond with huge koi carps.
 
Try a wooden skewer with chunks of fish fillet. I have never had a bowfin that was not eager to take fish fillet chunks. Remember to stick more to the less oily species though in order to better maintain your water quality. You can cut up your frozen fish and store in the freezer for months just pulling out and thawing the amount you need at any time.

It will also be WAY healthier than the flathead minnows.

To give you a perspective, I got a bunch of Bowfin around 3" - 4" range last march and the smallest is now over 13".
 
Have you tried nightcrawlers? Mine is picky but loves them.
 
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