Transitioning fish from live food to pellets.

[redchaser]

I have a wild caught warmouth. He's a great fish, with lots of personallity and he seems to be thriving in my tank, but I can't get him off of live food. He always takes earthworms (in fact he's taking them from my hand now), and will talke meelworms and crickets on and off. He doesn't like shrimp. I have not been able to get him to eat pellets. The first time I tried pellets, he would grab and mouth them, then spit them out. I thought he didn't like the hard texture so I tried pre-soaking the pellets in some tank water to soften them, but he won't even hit them to try now. I let him go 48 hours without eating to get him hungry, but he still wouldn't eat pellets.

How long can you safely let a fish go without eating in an effort to get them to try something? Any other tips for getting him to switch.

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

Why? V V V read V V V ---Its nature, why would you want to take a fish from its natural habitat and stick it in a small tank and then on top of that force it to eat something that it doesn't want. And you have to force it by starvation. Thats like having a dog on a chain thats a foot to short for it to get to its food bowl.

 

[Stump]

I definately agree your morality hybridtheory16, but sadly many MANY fish are wild caught these days. I guess you can say "what's done is done"... again, sadly.

Then again, a fish getting all the food it needs, and not have to fight for territory with other fish... *shrug*

To the OP, keep trying. If after close to a week it is still not interested, try sticking a few pellets INTO the worm so the fish can develope a taste for it, and recognize it as food. Then slowly try just the pellets themselves...

That's just what I would do.

 

[redchaser]

Why? V V V read V V V ---Its nature, why would you want to take a fish from its natural habitat and stick it in a small tank and then on top of that force it to eat something that it doesn't want. And you have to force it by starvation. Thats like having a dog on a chain thats a foot to short for it to get to its food bowl.

Because from what I've read here and elsewhere, earthworms/mealworms aren't good for a staple diet because they don't meet all nutritional requirements. He won't eat shrimp and I don't want to feed feeder fish because of problems with importing disease into the tank. Pellet food would provide him with a more balanced diet that is better for him long term. As to why put a wild fish in the tank? It was either that or the frying pan, he got the better option.

Stump,

Thanks for the reply, yours was actually useful.

 

[Druu]

As to why put a wild fish in the tank? It was either that or the frying pan, he got the better option.

You're leaving out the option of catch and release. Maybe not as widespread down south...

Also debatable whether it was the better option. Quick death or a prolonged torturous existence in a prison that is grossly inadequate when compared to the environment that the fish came from.

I agree with everything Hybrid said. Your answer is there.

 

[redchaser]

Tell me what fish you keep? While the individuals you have may have been tank bred, at some point they came from wild stock. Engaging in a bunch of anthropomorfic sentimentallity doesn't do the hobbie any good. As to the tank being an inadequate environment, hardly. Animals are instinct driven and have developed responses to fulfill those instincts. Depending on the animal , the order of importance of instincts is usually survival, feeding instinct and reproduction. His survival instinct is being satisfied by being removed from preditors and inclimate conditions, kept in well maintained water. His feeding instinct is met far better than it was in the wild. My desire to get him to accept pellets is an effort to improve his health and wellbeing, not to completely replace live food. As to his instinct for reproduction, if , after a period of time I find that I am continually able to meet his needs and keep him healthy, and I feel I would be able to place the offspring, I may try to introduce a mate. Now I'm done explaining mself. If someone has actual constructive information on getting a fish to accept pellets, I'd like to hear it.

 

[le patron]

well ignore what they say, they are contradicting the very foundation of this hobby we all share. i love natives and i have succesfully converted sunfish to pellets (warmouth are a type of sunfish).

id say you can starve it for week and if it still doesnt take pellets feed it one or two days and then starve it another week. usually the first week gets it.

thats how i converted my largemouth bass and it worked great for me. also, if you put the warmouth with another fish that is already eating those pellets, it will see that they are good to eat and probably eat them too. thats how i converted my bluegill.

hope this helps!

 

[le patron]

You're leaving out the option of catch and release. Maybe not as widespread down south...

Also debatable whether it was the better option. Quick death or a prolonged torturous existence in a prison that is grossly inadequate when compared to the environment that the fish came from.

I agree with everything Hybrid said. Your answer is there.

no, his answer is not there. you dont even know how big the tank is, so you cant make that conclusion.

druu, im pretty disappointed that you of all people will say this. the whole fishkeeping hobby started by taking fish out of the wild and putting them in enclosure much smaller than their natural environment, and for some species that arent bred in captivity this practice is still used.

 

[redchaser]

le patron,

Thanks for the useful info. I wasn't sure how long I could safely let the fish not eat. I did offer it pellets for the entire time it wasn't eating, he just wouldn't take them. Finally, after about 48 hours, I got concerned for his wellbeing and started feeding again. He gorged on earthworms, mealworms and crickets this morning.

 

[le patron]

thats good that he's up to speed again, now leave him for a week and after the first 3 days put some pellets in every day until the week is over and hopefully he will eat them on the 3rd day.

glad i could help