jd's won't eat

[oscarkid36]

they got hooked on shrimp and now they won't eat anything else i have let them starve for a week straight now and they still will not take pellet food.

[sheamurai]

You could try feeding pellet and brine at the same time, or soaking pellets in thawed shrimp cubes. You could also try garlic.

They likely don't even recognize the pellets as food. Do they spit them out or not even notice them?

[gm72]

"Starving" a fish for a week will not win any favors here. Some fish are rather finicky on what they want to eat. If the JD wants to eat shrimp then that is what you should give them. This reinforces why we encourage a varied diet so that the fish get many opportunities for different tastes and textures.

[oscarkid36]

so i'm supposed to keep feeding them shrimp isn't that bad for them if thats all they eat.

[KingFisher]

"Starving" a fish for a week will not win any favors here. Some fish are rather finicky on what they want to eat. If the JD wants to eat shrimp then that is what you should give them. This reinforces why we encourage a varied diet so that the fish get many opportunities for different tastes and textures.


Fish can go longer than a week without food with no ill effects at all. Two weeks is even ok for most healthy fish.


I would try mixing the pellets with some crushed up shrimp for a while and see if they will eat it then. If they do, you can add less and less shrimp until you are feeding only pellets.

[oscarkid36]

Fish can go longer than a week without food with no ill effects at all. Two weeks is even ok for most healthy fish.


I would try mixing the pellets with some crushed up shrimp for a while and see if they will eat it then. If they do, you can add less and less shrimp until you are feeding only pellets.
thank you i will give that a try.

[oscarkid36]

[QUOTE=sheamurai]You could try feeding pellet and brine at the same time, or soaking pellets in thawed shrimp cubes. You could also try garlic.

They likely don't even recognize the pellets as food. Do they spit them out or not even notice them?[/QUOTE they spit them out

[Cliff]

I would try mixing the pellets with some crushed up shrimp for a while and see if they will eat it then. If they do, you can add less and less shrimp until you are feeding only pellets.

+1 to that

That's pretty much how I've had to switch my marine fish from mysis shrimp to flakes. It will work, just give it some time and make the switch slowly over time. They are usally starting to get the hang of it by the time they come out of the QT tank (approx 3 weeks)

[oscarkid36]

it was my falt they got that way i spoiled them giving them treats of shrimp to many times a week.

[genocidex]

something that was over looked was the brand of food you are trying to get them to eat. hikari, new life spectrum, and Dainichi are the favorites around here. i know some people swear by kens too. ive been using omega one but im in the process of attempting to switch to nls. just need to use up all my hikari first and omega one.

[oscarkid36]

i use hikari gold.

[genocidex]

ok just making sure you werent trying to step them into tetra foods XD lol

[gm72]

Fish can go longer than a week without food with no ill effects at all. Two weeks is even ok for most healthy fish.

While that is absolutely true I think most of us would agree that such a situation is not ideal if it can be avoided.

[KingFisher]

While that is absolutely true I think most of us would agree that such a situation is not ideal if it can be avoided.

Most of us are not in the situation where we are trying to switch finicky fish over to processed foods. It's just what needs to be done. Look at any article dealing with this situation, I'm sure you will see that it is just how it is done. How else do you think wild fish are converted over from their natural food sources?

[Aeonflame]

+1

Sometimes its just a matter of bitter medicine. It often takes those measures for the greater well being of the fish. You can also try adding garlic to the pellets to entice them.

[Crispy]

have you tried stuffing the shrimp with the pellets? not sure how big your shrimp chunks are, but lots of people do this to give the most nutrition to picky eaters.