Polypterus Ornate overeating

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One thing I'm wondering is what is so bad with feeders if they do well on them? I've been feeding her like this since I got her and it's been fine. And when I last did pellets when I got the delhezi about a year ago she didn't eat for amost 2 and a half weeks. With the amount of money on spent on her I'd be pretty unhappy with myself if she died because I was trying to force her to eat something else.
 
I agree with everything said here - feeder fish = bad, diseased, dirty, low-nutrition, etc. Starve the Poly for a week and I bet it will eat anything you put in there. If anything, and you have to use live, stick to earthworms or crickets......there are PLENTY of live foods that are 20X healthier and safer than feederfish, as well as various "cut foods" like fish fillets, F/T shrimp, clams or other shellfish.
 
H HumanBean +1 on the shrimp pellets.


I use omega one shrimp pellets. I have to soak them in tank water prior to feeding to get them to sink.


As you said you spent enough money on your ornate amd you dont want to see anything happen to it. All the more reason to stop the feeders. I bet it will take you less than a week. You have a del that will eat anything right... the ornate WILL NOT starve itself eventually it will get hungry enough to try some of what the del is eating.

You can also mash up some pellets in thawed fish (tilapia or what evers on sale)
 
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I have a delhezi like this it'll eat 2 fathead minnows and look like it's going to explode it'll be fine. If you want to keep feeding them live I'd find a better place to buy feeders than petsmart or get them more expensive feeders like Molly's they actually take care of those. Other live feeders you can feed are red wiggles, earthworms, ghost shrimp, crickets, mealworms and dwarf frogs. All my bichirs tend to be more active since I've feeding live. I'd feed pellets too. Make sure you switch their diets. I wish my ornate was as greedy as yours
 
I went and got Tilapia filets tonight. Once she's thinned out a bit I plan to offer them to her. I don't have high hopes for her even being interested. Like I said she's picky. Working in the vet field I would be the same for my dogs or cats. I just don't see the point in messing with their systems. But well see.
 
Your not messing with its system. Picture having to cure your poly or one of your other fish of something like callumanus worms, or hex not fun.

Wait a few days then offer small peices of the tilapia. After a few days of that start mashing some pellets into it. Then eventually offer just pellets. Then alternate between the two.

Or you could just pull the band aid off quickly and offer nothing but pellets.

It will eat trust us
 
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I had a delhezi JUST like your ornate. In fact my situation was 100% reversed-my delhezi was stuck on live, and my ornate eats everything in their path.

I starved my delhezi for well over a month. Fish, especially predators, are fine for extended periods of time without food (No one is dumping a bag of pellets or roseys in their native waters every day). I knew he was ready for tilapia when he was picking up blood worms off the ground intended for the clown loaches in the tank lol.

I will say this-feeders seem like the logical option for a fish designed to catch and eat other fish-I get it, been there with the same mentality-what I can say for sure is you WILL get some type of bacterial/viral/fungal infection in the tank if you continue feeding live. Its not a maybe, its a guarantee. I fed live to my NA native fish as well as my polys for a while. I've successfully killed 6 native fish as well as 2 polys with live food back in the day. They all developed either fungal or bacterial infections from bad batches of feeders and being captive bred fish didn't have the immunity needed to survive the illnesses and treatment. I stopped after my 3 yellow perch all died from a fungal infection. Since then I've successfully broken multiple piscavores (both natives and African fish such as polys and my odoe pike) onto pellets and tilapia. I haven't had a single disease outbreak in any of my tanks for several years now nor have I had a fish ever just not eat until they've passed away because I didn't give them what they want.

end of the day they are your fish and you do what you want with them-that's just my experience and I came from the exact place you are in right now.
 
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I appreciate you telling me your experience not just saying do it this way. I'm willing to give it a try. The tilapia is much cheaper than feeders anyway and the bag I bought should last a decent amount of time. I get where everyone is coming from. I just know how I will feel if this fails and she dies. Like I said before when I tried to force her to eat pellets she didn't eat for nearly 2 and a half weeks. Well see how this goes once she's a little less plump. Hopefully the delhezi and the frontosa that are in this tank won't turn into picky brats as well. Luckily they do eat the masivore pellets and shrimp pellets.
 
Vettech716 said:
I appreciate you telling me your experience not just saying do it this way. I'm willing to give it a try. The tilapia is much cheaper than feeders anyway and the bag I bought should last a decent amount of time. I get where everyone is coming from. I just know how I will feel if this fails and she dies. Like I said before when I tried to force her to eat pellets she didn't eat for nearly 2 and a half weeks. Well see how this goes once she's a little less plump. Hopefully the delhezi and the frontosa that are in this tank won't turn into picky brats as well. Luckily they do eat the masivore pellets and shrimp pellets.
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Vettech716 said:
And hopefully my albino senegalus won't be a pain when it gets big enough to join these guys.
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In all honesty, if she dies as a result, it means she wasn't healthy in the 1st place. A healthy fish will eat.....it's not dumb enough to just say "Hey look at all this food I don't like because I never tried it, how about I just not eat until I can feel myself fading away, then i'll go into the light" lol


No, it doesn't work like that :D
 
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