View Full Version : Bolvian Ram feeding issue
one of my newer Bolivian rams seems to be very picky with the food she eats.. I tried flakes, crisps, tetra bites and she ignores all of that, the food can go right by her head and she wont even try and eat.. Then i tried frozen bloodworms and finally some progress, as the bloodworms sink she tends to go after the ones still floating, but once they hit the bottom its as if she isnt interested unless then the current makes them move a bit and then she once again shows some interest.. Not sure whats wrong with her, my other one eats anything and everything.. what do you guys suggest??!
Lupin
02-04-2008, 10:30 PM
Have you observed her wastes excreted? What are your water parameters? How long have you kept the fish? If you have garlic extract, this might help stimulate its appetite.
grannylvsfish
02-04-2008, 10:34 PM
mine did the same thing for a while, now she eats everything floating by. she will not eat off the bottom, no way no how. She will eat the crisps, but ony if there smaller, half pieces, and she loves blood worms. she will also eat a HBH small soft pellet, if its small enough. she is a booger, but so cute. and shemakes the parrot, the sevrum and the firemouth female tow the line !!
Bk718
02-04-2008, 11:27 PM
water parameters are normal, ph has always been low in the tank due to co2. The fish been in the tank for about a week.
Star_Rider
02-05-2008, 9:53 AM
My rams (Bolivian) pretty much feed off the bottom..many times they will seek the food in the gravel..other times they catch it as it floats by.
I have a few Bolivians they all pretty much prefer food on the bottom. their favorite food is sinking pellets with a preference fot colorbits. they also like bloodworms.
gove it time..it may be still getting use to the new surroundings.
do you have a lot of driftwood in the tank?
mine love to hang out under structure.
grannylvsfish
02-05-2008, 10:05 AM
and mine love to stay out in front of the tank.... and never bottom feed.
so I would give him time, a week is early, he may just need to adjust. :)
Bk718
02-05-2008, 10:56 AM
I hope something changes soon, dont really wanna feed the bloodworms on the daily basis.. My other ram he was different from day one, he would go after anything even if it got between the gravel.
Due to the bigger male attacking this new small female i placed her in the 10g tank, there are alot of hiding places but just like grannylvsfish mine likes to hang out everywhere especially in front of the tank.
Guess will give it time and hope for the best
Star_Rider
02-05-2008, 1:45 PM
I would suggest you get some slow sinking food, mix it with bloodworms.
they will learn to feed on the pellets.
keep in mind these are currently classified as micro eartheaters.
;)
often times they are competing with other fish in the tank for food and may not fare as well as other fish.
I keep mine with angels and Discus..and feed in different parts of the tank to make sure food get to their level.
as you can tell they can adpat to feeding depending on the tank inhabitants.
tried slow sinking food and theres not much competition in the tank for the food since at the moment shes housed with some molly babies. When i throw the food in the tank, it sinks very slowly, it can go right by her, even land right on her face and she still wont go for it.
I will try mixing it with bloodworms see if that helps..
Thanks
Bk718
02-07-2008, 12:12 AM
ahh today tried this out..
small packed of bloodworms, I took a pair of scissors and just kinda minced them in the packet.. then added some flakes, granules, mixed whole thing and fed.. she actually went for the blood worms and the granules.. yay
Star_Rider
02-07-2008, 9:27 AM
;) good news
persistence works.
I use freeze dried bloodworms mixed with thawed frozen..the FD soaks up juice that is leeched fromt the BW?
Bk718
02-07-2008, 11:16 AM
its as if shes a bull only going for red stuff
bazil323
10-02-2008, 11:02 AM
I realize this is an older thread, but for anyone else doing research: Def. try soaking in garlic. In my experience, it really helps to soak new food in garlic. After a few days of eating the new food with garlic, they seem to finally recognize the new source of food and then will readily eat.
Plus, any new fish will take some time to get used to the tank and may not eat during this time. Also, if all they got was, say, bloodworms before you got them, they won't recognize anything else as food at first.