Rock Bass will not eat in Native tank

DissidentMantis

Feeder Fish
Oct 22, 2019
4
5
3
31
Hello everyone,

I noticed some of you have Native tanks so I figured one of you may have had the same experience.

I have a 6 inch Rock Bass, a 2.5 inch Green Sunfish and a 3.5 inch Pumpkinseed Sunfish. They have been in the tank for a week now and the Pumpkinseed and green sunfish have been eating everything that I put in the tank from Cichlid pellets to crawlers and bloodworms. The problem is My rock bass will not eat. He investigates the night crawlers but the faster, smaller sunfish tend to jump on them before he get's a chance to eat. He is very slow and very cautious and will not come out of hiding if I am in front of the tank.
The rest of the fish have begun to associate me with food, but he is terrified of me.
I caught all of these fish on hook and line so I understand why the rock bass may have a negative association with food, but I am getting worried that he is going to starve himself to death. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could get this guy to eat? He is the star of the show in my tank and I really want him to get big and healthy.

Tank info:
I currently have a 75 gallon tank Native tank with a Fluval 406 canister filter. The Tank is new, but cycled and the Nit/ammonia levels are fine. The tank has plenty of driftwood, rocks and plants so there are many hiding spots. I keep the tank lit during the day and have a blue/moonlight that comes on at night, but there is some floating driftwood at the top of the tank that keeps the light levels dim. Seems like the perfect environment for the sunfish.

Pics below, sorry they suck, I am not a photographer.

TANk.jpg

Rock Bass 2.jpg
 
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krichardson

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2006
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Datnoid Island
I had similar issues back when I tried keeping yellow perch.Good looking fish but they hardly ate anything.
 

AaronKWolfe

Piranha
MFK Member
Oct 24, 2019
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Pick up some guppies and quarantine them to ensure they are disease free. If after a few more weeks he still won't eat,give him some of the guppies. You might also want to try turning off the lights when feeding.
 
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DissidentMantis

Feeder Fish
Oct 22, 2019
4
5
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31
Thanks, the guppies worked. He seems to prefer guppies to worms, perhaps he has a negative association with worms since I caught him on one.
 
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AaronKWolfe

Piranha
MFK Member
Oct 24, 2019
324
277
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Thanks, the guppies worked. He seems to prefer guppies to worms, perhaps he has a negative association with worms since I caught him on one.
Maybe. Good to see guppies worked, in time he should forget about being caught on worms and start eating again
 
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