# Rbp Not Eating Pellets



## thbstwthn (May 15, 2007)

Hey guys,
have 4, 1 " rbp in 30 gallon for now...ammonia... .25, nitrite 0 and nitrate 0...ph,6.5 temp:74..tank is still cycling but they havent showed any erratic behavior.Since i recieved them they would devour beefheart/bloodworms/shrimp/tilapia etc.Ive been trying to get them to eat hikari gold baby pellets but to no avail,its been 3 weeks and they just show no interest,theyll come up to the top bump them and go back down again and never come up to inspect again.Tried everything from closing the lights,leaving food overnight..etc I havent fed them anything else so they are hungry.Just curious if they can live on a diet of fresh meat soaked in vitachem or anything else you guys suggest??...just in case the pellets officialy dont work out.Thanks!!


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## CURIUM (Dec 6, 2010)

Try sinking pellets?


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## PhantastickFish (Dec 29, 2006)

do you blame them?


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## thbstwthn (May 15, 2007)

sinking pellets dont work either...should i just stick with..beefheart/tilapia/shrimp/ soaked in a vitachem?..what do you guys suggest?
thanks


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Training juvies on pellets is not that hard, just be patient and only offer the pellets and do it multiple times a day.
Do not feed anything else, only try the pellets, its either eat the pellets or starve and they will choose the pellets


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## klink67 (Feb 14, 2010)

Try bio-gold my piranha can smell it and immediately goes on a feeding frenzy. I have been feeding him only pellets for the past two weeks and he has improved his color dramatically. I think the garlic in the pellets is what helps. They also make a baby sized bio-gold thats what I would get.


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## Deeks (Apr 23, 2003)

thbstwthn said:


> sinking pellets dont work either...should i just stick with..beefheart/tilapia/shrimp/ soaked in a vitachem?..what do you guys suggest?
> thanks


If you have them on a nicely varied diet and you're soaking in vitachem, I don't see the need to introduce pellets.


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## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

Deeks said:


> sinking pellets dont work either...should i just stick with..beefheart/tilapia/shrimp/ soaked in a vitachem?..what do you guys suggest?
> thanks


If you have them on a nicely varied diet and you're soaking in vitachem, I don't see the need to introduce pellets.
[/quote]
3 things is a nicely varied diet? The more food you offer the better for the fish, there's many more than just 3.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Leaving food in the tank overnight when the tank is still cycling is not a good idea IMO. Don't worry about adding pellets to their diet right now, focus first on getting that tank cycled. Until you lose the ammo/nitrite readings, I would feed sparingly and take all uneaten food out of the tank immediately -- your fish are already dealing with low levels of ammonia, no need to add larger ammonia spikes to that.


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## Piranha-Freak101 (Dec 8, 2010)

If you want to get them on pellets what i did was starved them for 4 days then i would feed pellets , if they didnt take it i would net it out and not feed em until they except it. Try this method and remember your the boss and you gotta show them that


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