# How do I get my fry to eat flakes??



## Dizzcat (Aug 26, 2008)

I have 31 beautiful, healthy Bolivian Ram fry! They are in a 10 gallon grow out tank now. These are the first batch I have ever fed the live bbs to and they are 3 times bigger and stronger than any past spawns I have ever had.

Now, the problem I am having is I cannot get them to try any other food! I want to start weaning them off the live bbs because they are getting too big for the bbs to really fill them up and I cannot hatch a large enough volume for them. They are almost 1/2" already at 6 weeks old. I have tried adding some tiny crushed up flake food to the bbs, but they will mouth it and spit it right back out! I have tried feeding them water logged flakes instead of their bbs, but they wont eat it! I have tried putting in a shrimp pellet hoping they would pick at it and get the hang of the dried food, nope. *sigh*

Does anyone have any suggestions?? I feel like a mom trying to wean a baby off the bottle :lol:


----------



## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Hey *Dizzcat*,

Have you tried any of the baby cichlid foods made by most good brands? I don't know if it will make a difference, but it could be worth a try. I've had good success with Sera micron & mikropan, as well as Hikari First Bites.

All I can suggest is to persevere with the substitution of dry foods for live bbs. Eventually they'll be hungry enough to more than just mouth the dry food.


----------



## Dizzcat (Aug 26, 2008)

I have tried the Hakari First bites, that is the first kind I tried. I then tried some finely ground up flakes I feed the parents (can't remember off hand what kind), and tried NLS ground to a powder. *sigh*

I guess I will just keep trying. My lfs suggested brine shrimp flakes. If I can't get them to eat I will get some of that when I get paid. Maybe they will eat it, being bs, and then they will get used to the texture of flakes.


----------



## westcoaster (Jun 24, 2009)

Het dizzcat

I only use NLS spectrum grow for my firemouth fry they cant get enough of it.

Hope you get them feeding soon.


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

It's a battle of wills!

Congrats on raising that many to this size! It's not easy to do!

Just cut back on the bbs feedings, and don't mix the food in with the actual bbs feeding. I would try feeding them bbs once a day, then offer the "First Bites" later in the day. Make sure you've given them time to get hungry first! After a week or so of that, I'd cut out the bbs altogether, or maybe just offer it a couple of times a week as a treat.

They'll figure it out!


----------



## apistomaster (Jun 22, 2006)

I transition fry from bbs to prepared foods by feeding them both at the same time and gradually replacing ever more prepared foods as I cut back on bbs. This is an old and time tested method so I don't really follow the above logic. Well, maybe that isn't quite correct since it is basically just a variation on the same theme. It illustrates that there are many ways to achieve the transition. The fry will not let themselves starve in the presence of the new food. They just can't afford to be that picky.


----------



## Dizzcat (Aug 26, 2008)

Well, I think I am getting thru to them :lol:

They are the most hungry first thing in the morning. All my fish in all my tanks know that when their lights come on in the morning, food is dumped in the tank (its usually an hour or so after sunup so they are all awake). The Ram fry now know this too. I have been taking a small amount of Hikari First bites, putting it in water, then sucking it into the syringe I use to feed the bbs with. I them stick that into the tank and squeeze out the tiny flakes. First few times they didn't eat it, but yesterday and today they gobbled it up! I now feed the flakes in the morning, then 2 bbs feedings during the day.

They are 1/2" now and I don't think the bbs is enough to really fill them up any more. That was starting to worry me, but now I feel better knowing they are getting enough to eat. I will switch over to regular flakes ground to a powder in the next week or so. They are just too big now for the tiny stuff.

Thanks for all your help! I would post a picture of the cuties, but my daughter has the camera. Still have all 31 thriving and growing. :dancing: :dancing:


----------

