# Smelt



## bigredbellyfellor (Dec 5, 2004)

I recently bought some smelt from the fish market, rushed home to feed my 3 rbs after all the good reports ive heard from this forum. I sat there waiting, then waited some more, then............... nothing! It floats and they never touched it,







i left it over night only to find them floating around next morning untouched. Have i bought baby smelt or what? They're about 2"-3" in length. How do you sink the Fu%$ers?


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

Take a small piece of tuperware and fill it with really hot water. Let them sit in there for 10 mins to make sure they are not frozen. Do not feed your ps frozen or cold food! Sometimes the smelt just dont sink, mine usually did.


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## RedBelly Dom (Mar 22, 2005)

i just feed mine krill and they love it


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## Sam (Mar 18, 2004)

After thawing the smelt, squeeze the belly to pop the swim bladder. They should sink if you get all the air out.


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## mattd46612 (Mar 8, 2005)

I have the frozen kind. I just put it in a glass full of tank water for about 20 min, sinks like a rock


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## Andy1234 (Apr 23, 2004)

i have to be careful when feeding smelt, it makes me gag but my fish go crazy for it


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

They flot when there is air inside of it's belly. Squeeze the belly carefully and the mouth should open up and the air should come out. Once in a while the innards burst through the anus which is pretty nasty but it gets the air out nonetheless.

Another way to do it is just break the smelt in half when it's frozen and defrost. Since it's broken in half, it's easy to get the air out of.


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## Dawgnutz (Mar 2, 2005)

Try doing a reverse mouth to mouth. Just suck the air out of its mouth.


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

elTwitcho said:


> They flot when there is air inside of it's belly. Squeeze the belly carefully and the mouth should open up and the air should come out. Once in a while the innards burst through the anus which is pretty nasty but it gets the air out nonetheless.
> 
> Another way to do it is just break the smelt in half when it's frozen and defrost. Since it's broken in half, it's easy to get the air out of.
> [snapback]958903[/snapback]​


I poke the smelt throughout the body with a toothpick after I thaw them. Works like a charm.


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## piranhasrule (May 31, 2004)

When i feed smelt i get a knife and place some cuts along the side of the body, this not only pops the swimbladder but lets out juices and smells which attract the fish. My p always preferd pinkies though


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## NavinWithPs (Apr 3, 2003)

heres my method for preparing smelt.

get frozen smelt straight from freezer.
cut into 3 pieces so theres a head, body, and tail
dump all the pieces in a bowl
rinse under cold water. 
rinse VERy well so you get all the debri out
now fill the bowl with water and check to see which piece float.
it's usully the body piece, so squeeze it to let the air out.
rinse again because the water gets messiy from sqeezing

you should be ready to feed with sinking smelt.


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