Switching fry to eat pellets?

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Kribensis4me

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2012
248
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Arizona
How do i swich my growing festaes from eating flake food to pellets? I think my festae have one of every type of food fish would eat. From frozen krill to mysis shrimp. And omega cichlid flakes, hikiri cichlid gold pellets, aquaeon pellets, NLs 1mm sinking pellets... i even read festae's should have some plant matter in there diet. So i found some new API flake food designed for fish that need greens. Lol the same API outfit that makes water test kits. And they include garlic in rhere food.

I even got all 3 brands of pellets. Put a pinch of each one, combine them, crush them up. And my fish look at me like I just tossed rocks in there tank. LOL I think 2 out of my 20 may eat one crushed pellet. Or they may spir it out. But I had to travel to find this "all great and powerfull" NLS food LOL and all my small guys want is flake like crazy and frozen.

Everyone tells me by giving them the frozen is the reason they wont eat the pellets. But the fish will eat flake. So its not like im reallt spoiling them. Or they would not eat nothing but frozen.

So if I could just figure out how to force feed them. Everything would be fine. But them little red terrors wont hold still so I can force feed them. LOL.

Any ideas or tips?
:banghead:

I love this breed of fish. 4 of my guys are getting the red in there fins. And one guy looks like he has some strans or specks of green in his tail fin. Im a Festae fan. LOL crazy.

Do I even really have to swich them? LOL can a 12" adult festae live off flake food. LOL hehehe

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Its not easy to do but...starve them.in a few days they will take the pellets.

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What size fish are we talking about here? When you say fry, are you talking about free swimming from a breeding pair you have or small fish 1-1.5" you bought? While I agree with Virgil in principal, fry shouldn't go without food for a few days so depending on the age of these fish my approch/suggestion would change accordingly.
 
i should have probably asked the size.i think from the coloring he mentioned starting in the fins,sounded like a size that was more than fry.
 
Sorry everyone. 90% of the time I give more detail then needed. LOL then when I try to make it short. LOL I leave out the impotent stuff. :D

They are about 4 months old. And 1-1.5" head to tail fin.

I just read my NLS pellet food container. And I got them the 2mm pellets. But its stll smaller then the cichlid gold stuff.

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Sorry about the fry title. I guess they cant be fry anymore? I just see them still as that tiny grey fish eating baby brine shrimp and first bites fry powder.

Should I starve them for a day and then offer the NLS or crushed pellets?

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Try using NLS .5mm small fish formula. 2mm is way to much for them it's too hard and will cause them to reject it. Hakari micro pellets is another one you can start them on pellets. What are you feeding them now?
 
Aquanero said:
Try using NLS .5mm small fish formula. 2mm is way to much for them it's too hard and will cause them to reject it. Hakari micro pellets is another one you can start them on pellets. What are you feeding them now?
Click to expand...

They are festae cichlids. I got them at less then a month old. When they were tiny. Ibfed them "first bites" powder stuff. And baby brine shrimp, and ground up flake food.

Now that they are about 1.5". The baby food is too small. I still feed them the same "Omega cichlid" flake food. But just crushed in the palm of my hand. And theyeat all typs of frozen foods. That I first thaw in a cup of tanknwater. And after the cubes are melted. I slowly pour it into the tank. They eat all typs of frozen food (krill shrimp mysis shrimp, blood worms beef heart, and some green cubes with algae and brine shrimp in it)

They eat the flake food just as good as they eat the frozen food. So I dont see that its spoiling them. Or they would refuse flake also and juat eat the frozen.

But I have 3 brands of pellet food that I combine and crush up with a spoon. I have even let the crushed pellet food soak in a cup of tgere tank water. Then pour it in. And after it all sinks I see a bunch of brown pellet crumbs and pellets on the sand floor.

I think the pellets do vanish after some time. But I dont know if the 20 1.5" festaes are picking it up. Of the 10 kribensis 1.5 inch guys are eating it.

I was told that flake foodbis not going to be enough food to sustain healthy festae's. And pellets have more food per pellet. So I jist want to make sure they all grow at perfect health.

I already know leaving the baby kribensis in the tank was a bad idea. And Im not going to stress my festae's out trying to catch the kribensis fish. I know the kribs will become dither of target fish.

My focus is on the festae red terrors.


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LOL I just thought about my wording again. LOL "Dither" fish are used to get shy fiah to come out of hiding. LOL I fuess the Kribs are more of a "Target" fish. Giving me more time to put anyone that did not pair up into my other 125g that will be divided into 3 or 4 parts. LOL

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