Spitting out flake food- solutions?

[cdw79]

I have a few fish in QT right now, namely a purple tilefish and a Bourbonius anthias. Both need to be fed multiple times a day, so I'm trying to get them onto flakes asap so I can use an auto feeder.

I've tried a few different types, and I can almost always get new fish onto at least one of them fairly quickly. These two fish are presenting more of a challenge, though.

Both will take a close look at flakes, and maybe 2/3 of the time they'll eat it. They end up spitting it out every time, though. I used to have this issue with pellets until I swapped over to flakes- I've historically found that the battle was getting them to try a flake, and once they did, we were golden.

I'm not sure where to go from here since the challenge has always been just to get fish to try the flakes- "the fish "liking" them was never really an issue I've encountered over the years. Any ideas?

 

[fishywishy]

Try small pellets instead, some fish just don’t like flakes. i have some fish that still don't eat flakes to this day.

 

[Cheese Griller]

I have a few fish in QT right now, namely a purple tilefish and a Bourbonius anthias. Both need to be fed multiple times a day, so I'm trying to get them onto flakes asap so I can use an auto feeder.

I've tried a few different types, and I can almost always get new fish onto at least one of them fairly quickly. These two fish are presenting more of a challenge, though.

Both will take a close look at flakes, and maybe 2/3 of the time they'll eat it. They end up spitting it out every time, though. I used to have this issue with pellets until I swapped over to flakes- I've historically found that the battle was getting them to try a flake, and once they did, we were golden.

I'm not sure where to go from here since the challenge has always been just to get fish to try the flakes- "the fish "liking" them was never really an issue I've encountered over the years. Any ideas?

I would try very fine pellet food- there are some out there specifically for Anthias that allegedly have a much more palatable texture!

 

[cdw79]

Ironically I switched from pellet to flake because I couldn't get all my DT fish to agree on one pellet they they all liked lol. I tried flakes on a whim and found much more consistent success, until now at least

 

[cdw79]

Realized I still had several kinds of pellet foods left over so tried those. Everything from very fine (I think what you were describing @Cheese Griller and @fishywishy )

Anthias was a big fan of both, which was great to see. Tilefish occasionally tried a few, but each time spit them back out. Seemed to be much more a fan of the larger size than the finer stuff.

I tried pellets in my DT with some mixed results. The main issue is my Lineatus Fairy Wrasse is just not at all interested- it will crush flake food, and it'll get excited as all the other fish are eating pellets, but it won't even try them :/

 

[fishywishy]

Realized I still had several kinds of pellet foods left over so tried those. Everything from very fine (I think what you were describing @Cheese Griller and @fishywishy )

Anthias was a big fan of both, which was great to see. Tilefish occasionally tried a few, but each time spit them back out. Seemed to be much more a fan of the larger size than the finer stuff.

I tried pellets in my DT with some mixed results. The main issue is my Lineatus Fairy Wrasse is just not at all interested- it will crush flake food, and it'll get excited as all the other fish are eating pellets, but it won't even try them :/

You’re just going to have to feed both until they all start eating what you want, i have to feed three types of food because my fish are so picky.

 

[exnisstech]

Ironically I switched from pellet to flake because I couldn't get all my DT fish to agree on one pellet they they all liked lol. I tried flakes on a whim and found much more consistent success, until now at least

I've never even considered trying to get all fish to eat a single food. I feed 4 different pellets and 4 types of frozen so everyone gets something they like. My fish are spoiled though. I gave up on flake food when I was still running fresh water tanks. It always seemed to make a mess in the water.

 

[cdw79]

Do you just tend to put all 3 or 4 types into an auto feeder together? My main priority is just that I need to be able to feed these high metabolism fish enough throughout the day when I'm at work or out of town

 

[fishywishy]

Do you just tend to put all 3 or 4 types into an auto feeder together? My main priority is just that I need to be able to feed these high metabolism fish enough throughout the day when I'm at work or out of town

i just put them all together in the auto feeder. But they also make auto feeders that have separate compartments for different types of foods so you don't have to mix them. I would prefer to have one of those but i don’t use my auto feeder much.

 

[Tamberav]

Realized I still had several kinds of pellet foods left over so tried those. Everything from very fine (I think what you were describing @Cheese Griller and @fishywishy )

Anthias was a big fan of both, which was great to see. Tilefish occasionally tried a few, but each time spit them back out. Seemed to be much more a fan of the larger size than the finer stuff.

I tried pellets in my DT with some mixed results. The main issue is my Lineatus Fairy Wrasse is just not at all interested- it will crush flake food, and it'll get excited as all the other fish are eating pellets, but it won't even try them :/

just put both flakes and pellets in the auto feeder, my auto feeder is a mix of flake, pellet, and freeze dried reef jerky

Variety is much healthier for your fish, anyone really.

Ideally feed frozen AM and PM (have a few types to choose from) and then a mix of dry throughout the day.

Makes me think of baby food and contaminants of heavy metals.. which isn't uncommon because the contaminants are in our water and soil... doctors will say to have kids eat a variety of food, that way the kid isn't tripling up on the same containment over and over if they eat a variety.

Heavy metal contamination and accumulation in fish from feed is certainly tested/studied in aquaculture and there is a correlation.

Then there is the issue of.. what of the flake or pellet food isn't as complete as we would hope or what if the fish need more fiber. yada yada.

 

[cdw79]

Idk why it never occurred to me to just mix them but that sounds like a good idea!

Any thoughts on what to do to get the tilefish to keep dry food down?

 

[fishywishy]

Idk why it never occurred to me to just mix them but that sounds like a good idea!

Any thoughts on what to do to get the tilefish to keep dry food down?

You can try garlic gard, or something that has worked for me is mixing dry food a wet food together and slowly adding less and less wet food.

If that doesn’t work you’re just going to have to feed it frozen until it eventually starts eating dry food.