tips for weaning off of live food?

unknown_saint

unknown_saint

Members
since my local petco has recently raised the price of feeders to 19¢ and 35¢, i'd like to make another attempt at getting a few of my fish to eat something else.
what i'm having a problem with is two peacock bass and a spotted gar. i've tried going a week or so without feeding them anything, then giving them a piece of a fillet and some pellets... no luck. i've tried this a couple times in fact, but i always just break down and buy feeders eventually.
all of my other fish will eat other stuff (pellets, frozen, h-mart seafood mix, fresh veggies, etc.) but those three just refuse.
the bass are housed with a red bay snook, a red hump eartheater and an american eel. the snook will eat anything, same for the eel (as long as it reaches the bottom). the eartheater will take smaller pieces of seafood and pellets that reach the bottom. i'm not sure if maybe the bass would eventually find and eat these things if they weren't being snapped up by their tankmates.
as for the gar, he's in my "catch-all" tank with a lungfish, umbee, red devil, jack dempsey, rtm, pike, black belt and striped raphael. everyone else eats whatever, but the gar won't bother with anything but live. i've even tried hand-feeding him, dangling pieces of fillets or squid right near him. either he just ignores it, or the lungfish (who i hand feed regularly) will come looking for some and scare the gar away. i have tried putting him in a quarantine container and feeding him non-live food there so as to not have him disturbed, but no luck.
i don't so much mind the live feeders for the bass (even at 35¢ each) because they gorge themselves on them. but with the tankmates, the gar has a hard time getting more than one or two out of 30 (at 19¢ each) in a feeding, and then goes without anything the rest of the week.
any suggestions?
 
jonclark96

jonclark96

Past CCA President
I've never had a fish starve to death, but I also rarely feed any of my fish live foods besides worms. I would think that they would start to eat eventually. Remember, many fish could go weeks without eating and still be okay.
 
Becca

Becca

Members
Nightcrawlers, red-wigglers, and/or start breeding your own live bearers for food (that last one is really not hard, either). You might be able to try crayfish that will reproduce in captivity (depending on where you're located and the legality of keeping them) or some types of shrimp (neocaridina varieties are the easiest, though they stay small).

Bait shops might be a better resource than Petco/Petsmart for live food at this point.
 
D

dhavalsp

Members
I don't have much experience with these big fish, but you can try with shrimp or some of those previously frozen small fish as a midground between live food and fillet...shops like lotte or some Asian markets have relative small fish being sold by per pound rate...
 
unknown_saint

unknown_saint

Members
Becca said:
Nightcrawlers, red-wigglers, and/or start breeding your own live bearers for food (that last one is really not hard, either). You might be able to try crayfish that will reproduce in captivity (depending on where you're located and the legality of keeping them) or some types of shrimp (neocaridina varieties are the easiest, though they stay small).

Bait shops might be a better resource than Petco/Petsmart for live food at this point.
Click to expand...

i do occasionally do worms, as some of the convenience stores by my place in pennsylvania carry them (the bass will eat them, though i've never seen the gar take one) but they add up too. i think they're usually about $4 for a dozen or so? i wouldn't know where to begin raising my own...
crayfish are an interesting thought... i'm not one to be too concerned with the legalities of things (notice my location and avatar). :blush:
 
MDB_fish_newbie

MDB_fish_newbie

Members
make a small compost bin and raise your own worms. Lots of people on here do that!! you can even buy a started pack online and there are instructive videos on how to do it. I believe on of the sponsors for BFD offers them. darn i dont remember who it was.
 
lkelly

lkelly

Members
A bootleg, just-out-of-reach-of-the-law, worm composting bin would be quite the rush! Just don't release them into non-native environments like a NASA Mars probe or a 5 year old girl's make believe tea party.
 
chriscoli

chriscoli

Administrator
Several of us here raise red wigglers....it's pretty easy and there are some nice DIY setups you can make. I decided to go fancy and buy my setup....I use the Worm Factory 360. One important thing if you decide to start it up.....start with as many worms as you can. I bought 2 lbs of worms on Amazon to start my bin. Otherwise, it can take months before you'll be able to harvest them.
 
Owens

Owens

Members
Your talking about large predatory fish, just starve them and throw in frozen tilapia or market prawns every couple days until they eat. They will not starve, I promise.

With that said, you need to get them off feeders ASAP. Feeders are riddled with diseases and sooner or later with infect your fish and possibly the entire tank.

I know it sucks to have to forgo feeding for a while, but they will be fine, like others have said they can go weeks without eating.

I personally wouldn't worry about worms or anything like that, just use frozen tilapia or shrimp. You can worry about getting them on pellets when they are officially off live.
 
lkelly

lkelly

Members
chriscoli said:
Several of us here raise red wigglers....it's pretty easy and there are some nice DIY setups you can make. I decided to go fancy and buy my setup....I use the Worm Factory 360. One important thing if you decide to start it up.....start with as many worms as you can. I bought 2 lbs of worms on Amazon to start my bin. Otherwise, it can take months before you'll be able to harvest them.
Click to expand...

Do they wear hard hats when they are in the factory?

51rMsvOB5ML._SY300_.jpg
 
unknown_saint

unknown_saint

Members
i'm convinced.... going to start my very own worm farm (after doing some research, i'm going with european nightcrawlers) next week.
 
captmicha

captmicha

Members
I like for mine to be able to take both for convenience. Start off with a high percent of live, then every few times you feed, decrease the live by a bit, and introduce dead (defrosted). Until you're only feeding frozen, with occasional live. Or skip to prepared flake/pellets, or add that in in the same way as your next step. Always phasing out the old food by small degrees.
 
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