quick couple questions on a BGK

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
thats fine i turned off my filters for like 10min when my bgk was still getting used to feeding, luckily the lfs already had him switched to pellets so i didnt have to do much but you will definitely need to get him some sinking food freeze dried is OK for fish that feed from the top but i still like to stay away from it, i gave mine some frozen brine shrimp and he ate it right up when i first got mine i had to turn off all the lights to get him to eat at first, now i just have to turn off the tank lights and he comes out to eat though still reclusive, they are supposed to get more outgoing as they get bigger, oh and always thaw out the frozen food in a cup of tank water before adding it to the tank so that they are not eating it cold as this will mess with their internal chemistry (this is for any fish not just bgk)
 
I found a way to get him to eat. i've been dropping algae wafers into his hiding spot and when i went into my room today he was swimming around behind the filter. Whe i lifted his hiding spot though there were no wafers to be seen! i'm so excited.
 
thats great he has started eating but you really need to try and get some meet in him as meat is more important for him than veggies (they are a good supplement but bgk are predators despite their cutsie puppy faces lol)
 
what kind of foods do you recommend? i've honestly exhausted all my options. should i just grab some shrimp from the store and toss them in?
 
you could do that as well but if hes little you will want to chop them up into nice little bite size pieces, iv used the frozen hikari brine shrimp cubes with mine and he LOVES them, try to get him onto a pellet like you were just see if he will eat them if you drop them by his hide out instead of trying to handfeed just yet, (are the pellets you have sinking or floating, if they are floating thats ok just soak them first in a cup of tank water or give them a little squeeze to halfway crush them so they release the air in them and sink) pretty much anything that is meaty and will sink by his cave will work, the algae wafer will be ok occasionally its just that the majority of his diet needs to be meat based, anything in the frozen section at your petstore (my petco/petsmart have a little refrigerator in the fish/reptile section that i get my frozen foods from, try to get hikari as they do some kind of extra irradiation or something that makes sure to kill off any lingering parasites) GOOD LUCK with your new little guy i love mine and he is growing fast (so far hes grown 1in a month:))
 
crushing up the cichlid gold pellets was a great idea. i give him 5 before class and 5 before i go to bed. he devours them without a second of hesitation, just a shame i have to spoon feed him in his little cubby.
 
thats great! and what i did to try and get mine to come out was i first turned off ALL lights when i fed him, then next day had like small lamp on and did this for next couple of feedings until he felt comfortable with this, then tried with my room light on and eventually he would come out to eat with the room lights on but the bright tank lights off, this was when he was by himself though now that i have him in the big tank he does come out for food but i usually make sure to put at least a little bit right by his cave because the cichlids are much faster at getting to the food than he is lol
 
alright sorry to write this, but i was getting my BGK ready for the ride him and had him in a tuperware container without the lid on. Not as soon as i look away he is out of the dish and flopping about, however it was maybe an inch fall. BUT once he was back in the water he gave a few last shutters and was gone..........
 
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