Change Fish Food

[Omer11]

Hello,

I have a 55-gallon tank with 3 angelfish, 2 swordtails, and 1 upsidedown catfish. Recently I changed my fish food from flakes to pellets since there were no flakes in the pet store near me. The fish are not eating the pellets. They take it in their mouth but spit it out after a few seconds. It's been three days and still, none of them are eating. I have some leftover flakes which I am still feeding them but that is going to run out soon! I was wondering if there's anything I can do to help the fish eat their new food. Also one of my angelfish ate the new food and approximately 2 hours after eating it he started to have a bloated-looking stomach, why is that?

Thank You!

 

[fishorama]

Welcome to AC!
What kind of pellets did you get? Some are like shrimp pellets that fall to the bottom, some are smaller, even tiny & some are slow sinking. I haven't kept swordtails or upside down cats, but angels & catfish will feed off the substrate. I'm not sure about swordtails but I would guess they will

I think your bloated angel did eat some of the pellets...some pellets expand on soaking...& some angels tend to eat quite a lot. Did it stay bloated or just poop a lot?

It may help to mix some flake with the new pellets so the fish get used to the new food. I'm sure they have a different "mouth feel". You can also try soaking the pellets in a small amount of tank water to see if that helps & to see what happens to the pellet size & texture.

It's good to offer at least 2 types of food on a regular basis. That helps keep fish from being picky eaters, not good if you run out of the preferred food.

I like to offer thawed frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp as a treat once in a while. Again you can try mixing in some new pellets. Feed small amounts & even skip food a day or 2 to make sure they really are hungry. It won't hurt them, fish can easily go a week or more without food.

 

[the loach]

What size are the pellets? Fish don't chew, if the pellet is too big they spit it out. It is important to have the right size pellets for your fish. Full grown angels can eat a different size as small ones.

 

[Omer11]

The pellets are pretty small, I broke them up and gave it to them too but they still won't eat it? I was going to either grind the food and make it extremely small and try that, and If that does not work I will most likely have to buy the food which they ate before on amazon.

Also, the angelfish only ate one pellet and it had a bloated looking stomach? I was wondering if it was due to the fact that it may be carrying eggs due to how they have laid eggs before? Its still has that stomach but it might go away in the morning.

 

[fishorama]

It would be surprising if the angel suddenly carried eggs, it's usually more gradual.

What brand, type & size of pellets? Same for flakes? I don't think smaller is a good idea if they small already...most fish ignore "dustlike" foods, it'll just a pollution & need to be removed the next day.

Tell us more about your tank, it's a 55g & we know your fish. How long have you had each species? How often do you change water & how much each time? What size is each species? Angels, unless (almost) adult, will not be carrying eggs...What are the genders of the swordtails?...There will be more questions, lol...that's what we do