How do you teach wild fish...

[reziztor]

To eat?

I had an empty, cycled 30 gallon tank last night. After work, I wondered into the local fish market with my native friend. I love to look at all the strange oceanic catches and stuff. But there is also always a big bucket with hundreds of loaches. The Japanese, Koreans and many Chinese love to eat these loaches. They say they are super high in calcium. Anyway, It was mentioned to the fish market owner how much I love to look at them all twist around and play... So he gave me 7 of them for free.

I believe the species is the "Chinese Muddy Loach" or "Chinese Weather Loach" Misgurnus mizolepis
http://www.lib.noaa.gov/korea/main_species/chinese.htm

http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/misgurnus_mizolepis.html

They are fine except for one problem... They dont eat my NEW LIFE SPECTRUM food... I have the H2 Wafers and community bits... I guess they are used to live foods in the rivers... What should I do? Im positive the local live foods here in Korea are crawling with parasites.

 

[ghinksmon]

Assuming (perhaps wrongfully so) that the frozen food selection is limited in Korea. Try fresh fish sliced into very small bits. Also, be sure to decorate the tank in a manner that gives them security. I would loose my appetite if thrown into a barren strange place.

If my assumption is wrong, look for frozen blood worms.

By the way, love your previous post mentioning a 300 year old tile. Are there restrictions on collecting this sort of thing? Unfortunately I haven't traveled outside of the US. Being from such a young country, it's hard to imagine the antiquities of other countries that are still in use, let alone the preserved / restored architecture designated as museum or tourist use.

 

[ddayton21]

oh my....what fish is that in your avatar reziztor? i absolutely LOVE it

 

[cohazard]

Give the live foods (brine, blood worms) while they adjust to tank life. Then stop feeding them for a couple of days and try feeding them the processed foods.

You can also try putting a glass bowl in the tank and place the food tabs in with some live food so they associate the tabs with food.

Good luck with the diet transition. It's tricky and doesn't always work the way you want.

The only wild fish I've ever had was a green sunfish who ate anything and everything.

I've had some experience with switching the diet of my first blue dempsey. At first it would only eat live worms......after it grew a little, I started it on pellets and it ate them.

Luckily, the new juvies were eating frozen bloodworms and flakes since day one.

HTH

 

[reziztor]

By the way, love your previous post mentioning a 300 year old tile. Are there restrictions on collecting this sort of thing? Unfortunately I haven't traveled outside of the US. Being from such a young country, it's hard to imagine the antiquities of other countries that are still in use, let alone the preserved / restored architecture designated as museum or tourist use.

Thanks!
I live around many old, big temples and they sell their shingles for people to put in their gardens and stuff to bring good luck... Sometimes used as plant pots. Very beautiful and black... Perfect caves. They are about 10" long and you cant break them without them falling into bits. I've used them in tanks a long time and the loaches/catfish love them. There is a place right near my home that sells many of them for 4,000 won ($3.00).

 

[reziztor]

oh my....what fish is that in your avatar reziztor? i absolutely LOVE it

Hi, that is a Pseudomugil gertrudae or "Spotted Blue-Eye" or "Spot-Fin Rainbow". Its a small blue-eye rainbowfish, related to Pseudomugil Signifer (Pacific Blue-Eye) and the P. Furcatas (Forktail)... But much prettier. Hard to find in the aquarium world... I have 12 on order here... But its been almost 6 months and no sign of them.

Hopefully, when I do get them they will be as easy to keep as my other Rainbows.

 

[reziztor]

Problem is, all the live foods here are riddled with parasites. I havent fed live food to my fish in a long time... They would always get sick.