Does Anyone Have Picky Eaters???

[TRITON]

Hi All,

I'm new here and new to fish keeping This is the first time I've posted on a Forum before and its very exciting! I should be finishing my "TAXES" but I couldn't wait to ask my first question

I really need some advice about feeding Picky Eaters!! I have a new (3 months) 100gal Corner tank with 2 sm Oscars, 1 Convict, 1 sm Green Severum, 1 sm Electric Blue JD, 2 sm Salvinis, 2 sm Nicaragua Chics, 1 sm Sydondontis Eupterus Cat, an 8" Turtle and a Massive 13" common Pleco. All get along really well "So Far!"

The problem is that all hate Cichlid pellets of any kind no matter how big or small but the Turtle will eat them sometimes. Some like one brand of flakes others like another brand of flakes and some won't eat flakes at all but the Turtle will usually eat flakes but only one type of brand.

The Oscars will eat anything the Turtle eats and in fact have learned to follow the Turtle around the tank because they know that it gets the meaty foods like fish and shrimp and the Oscars will even grab food out of the Turtles mouth. Pretty amusing to watch!

My tank is 27" Tall with 24" of water. The problem is getting the food down to the bottom of the tank for the other picky eaters before the Oscars have a chance to eat it. The Turtle is too slow so he's not a problem.

I recently had two sm Electric Blue JD's 2" that would only eat Frozen BS and one died and I think its because It wouldn't eat anything else other then BS. Not knowing any better I tried to get it to eat flakes and I think it might have starved. Everyone else in the tank is very healthy. But even Now I still can't get the remaining Electric Blue JD to eat anything but Frozen BBS. The EBJD likes to hang around the bottom of the tank so by the time I throw in the BS the Oscars or other fish have eaten it all. So I have to put in a ton of BS into the tank so that the EBJD can get to it.


So I'm finding that everytime I feed these guys I have to throw in two different kinds of flakes, Frozen BS, Extra Large Spirulina Wafers "the only thing the Oscars can't fit into their mouths and Carnivor pellets for the Pleco which the Oscars won't eat because they don't like them but some of the other fish and Turtle will. Plus meaty foods for the turtle but I feed him by hand and whatever he doesn't eat the Oscars eat.

In the end you can imagine what my tank looks like after one feeding! And its getting pretty expensive to boot!
Any suggestions and tips at all would be helpful!

Thanks For All!

[Obsidian]

One thing for you to keep in mind here: NONE of those fish will STAY "Small." I think you are overstocked.

Feed the Oscars on one side of the tank, and then drop the bottom feeder food on the other side. At least some will make it down there. As long as you feed a variety of food through the week I doubt anyone will starve. Also as they get used to the other foods they should start eating them. Lots of "new" fish have a hard time adjusting to the new food. 3 months is a little long though, in my mind. They should have adjusted by now. One of the things you can try is not using "favorite" foods for a week and see if anyone starts eating something they were not eating before. No fish in your tank should starve in a weeks time. Most fish can go 2 weeks. I feed my fish their favorite food only 1-2 times a week (blood worms).

[electricblue1]

that is true they will eat just some times they wont eat in front of you. i noticed since i added my drift wood they wont east their food but i see the munching on the algy so im not worried i know they are eating

[Good Wolf]

I throw flakes on the top to distract my Gouramies before throwing in food for my Cories. If I don't they will catch half of it and chomp it up, and then eat most of the flake food. Freaking pigs!!

[TRITON]

Originally Posted by Obsidian

One thing for you to keep in mind here: NONE of those fish will STAY "Small." I think you are overstocked.

Feed the Oscars on one side of the tank, and then drop the bottom feeder food on the other side. At least some will make it down there. As long as you feed a variety of food through the week I doubt anyone will starve. Also as they get used to the other foods they should start eating them. Lots of "new" fish have a hard time adjusting to the new food. 3 months is a little long though, in my mind. They should have adjusted by now. One of the things you can try is not using "favorite" foods for a week and see if anyone starts eating something they were not eating before. No fish in your tank should starve in a weeks time. Most fish can go 2 weeks. I feed my fish their favorite food only 1-2 times a week (blood worms).

Hi Obsidan,

Thanks for the Reply! I think you're right that the tank is a little overstocked. Its my first dream tank and I think I got a little carried away. I was lucky that my husband let me put in a 100gal tank! And a little overstocking will be a good excuse to get a bigger tank in the future...LOL! For the time being everyone is doing really well together. Right now they vary in size from 2"-5" and The tank is tall so they all have their own swimming levels with pleanty of places to hide.

The EBJD's seem to be a little more fragile then the other fish although they are really beautiful. I think the one that died was a female? She was a lot lighter in color and smaller. The one I have now is a deep blue even though its only around 2 1/2" Really an impressive looking fish. My biggest worry is that if I stop feeding it frozen BS it won't eat anything at all!

Do you feed your fish live blood worms or frozen? Is there a certain brand of pellet or flaked food that you would recommend for SA/CA Cichlids that they might like better then others? It would be nice to feed them all the same type of food.

Thanks
Nat

[TRITON]

Originally Posted by electricblue1

that is true they will eat just some times they wont eat in front of you. i noticed since i added my drift wood they wont east their food but i see the munching on the algy so im not worried i know they are eating

Hi,
I think my biggest worry is the Electric Blue Jack Dempsey. I already lost one and don't want to loose the other too. I tried moving it to a smaller tank so I could keep a better eye on it but it freaked and I put it back into the larger tank!

[TRITON]

Originally Posted by I <3 Fish

I throw flakes on the top to distract my Gouramies before throwing in food for my Cories. If I don't they will catch half of it and chomp it up, and then eat most of the flake food. Freaking pigs!!

I've tried distracting the Oscars but the little buggers are fast and smarter then they look! And they are little pigs also!! It truly is a new experience for me. Previously I've only had goldfish and zebras and who would have thought that fish could all have so many diff personalities??

[TRITON]

Hey Electricblue1,
I noticed that you are new too!

[Good Wolf]

The only other suggestion I would have is to buy some sort of diveder for the tank. Isolate the Oscars to one side by dropping some food, and then stick the divider in to feed the rest of the guys.

I would also take note of what Obsidian said. If your fish are small now you can probably get away with your current stock, but they will grow and you will need to get rid of some of them.

[TRITON]

Thats not a bad suggestion about blocking the oscars but I have a heavily decorated tank and it wouldn't work too well and might stress them out. I want big fish so I guess when the time comes I'll have to get a bigger tank...that definitely wouldn't be a bad thing..LOL