Reef Discussion

[Agent M]

I'm a complete noob when it comes to training fish to eat pellets. I've always fed frozen and on the odd occasion I've thrown some pellets in the fish just look disappointed and ignore them. Ordered some Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 and threw some in the tank. All the fish went for them and mouthed them so it must be tasty enough - I have nano sized fish too keep in mind. The pellets looked like they are possibly too big? Just slightly?

I've left them on the bottom of the tank so that they will go soft for my dragonettes to have a go at if they feel inclined. I didn't feed too many so I'm happy to leave them in. I'm sure my blenny will help there as he is so fat now he barely makes it up vertical surfaces before he has to drop back down.

So talk me through this - what's your process for training your fish to eat pellets?

 

[riley]

i find cold turkey works best. hunger is the best motivation to train any animal. fatten them up then stop feeding altogether for 2+ days. then have a go with just pellets. For predator fish like your grouper or eels 4+ days.

generally if you get one fish eating it will not take long til the rest follow suit.

you do need the right size pellet too small or big and its not going to associate it with food.

I've tried the slow introduction to food and for me i dont think it works to well. fish usually eat the items thats know to them as food and ignore the rest.

 

[gtrxu1]

I used a diner to train my Mandarins, first on to lobster eggs and then pellets. Just a slim glass jar, I had a few problems with other fish getting in there but overall it worked well. You could try and tweak the size of the opening to keep out snails and other fish.

The other way is something that was suggested in another thread a while back, to build a permanent cave/diner and squirt in the food. I did this recently and it's been amazing. I was worried my Mandarins still were not getting enough food so I installed the jar into the rocks and made it into a cave. They love this and they get a nice mix of pellets and frozen foods over a week period.

 

[Azedenkae]

I'm a complete noob when it comes to training fish to eat pellets. I've always fed frozen and on the odd occasion I've thrown some pellets in the fish just look disappointed and ignore them. Ordered some Ocean Nutrition Formula 2 and threw some in the tank. All the fish went for them and mouthed them so it must be tasty enough - I have nano sized fish too keep in mind. The pellets looked like they are possibly too big? Just slightly?

I've left them on the bottom of the tank so that they will go soft for my dragonettes to have a go at if they feel inclined. I didn't feed too many so I'm happy to leave them in. I'm sure my blenny will help there as he is so fat now he barely makes it up vertical surfaces before he has to drop back down.

So talk me through this - what's your process for training your fish to eat pellets?

For me, it's always been to feed exclusively the type of food - and only that. If they don't eat for the day, then they simply don't. Generally after a few days the fish cave in from hunger and eat the pellets. Could be up to a week or even more though.