# hikari gold



## iceh86 (Mar 14, 2009)

Soooo I gave my reds some Hikari Cichlid Gold tonight.... they didn't even go after it. It was the floating kind, which might be the reason, but they didn't even look at it. I threw in a shrimp and they destroyed it in seconds.

Any suggestions?

I've been alternating shrimp and tilapia, but thought adding this to their diet would be very beneficial...


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## wizardslovak (Feb 17, 2007)

well best way to get them to eat it is to starve them 
how big are they??
i couldn't get my red eat pellets too, i starved her for 4 days and then she ate it every day 
although if your reds are small you should wait till they will be larger .
about this i am not that sure tho 
never tried it with juvies


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## upgradepc (Jan 30, 2009)

when my piranhas were babys they went for the floating pellets. but older now they wont go for the floating type. so i bought the sinking carnivore pellets and they loved them. but they were kinda small so i bought the massivore sinking pellets. i feed them those like once a week. personally i would not go more then a day without feeding my piranhas, but if i was you i would get the sinking pellets and dont feed them for a day before you drop them in.


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## dschoter05 (Oct 14, 2008)

I have no problem getting mine to eat the floating pellets, but i have feed mine floating pellets their whole life. They are about 1 1/2 years old. I agree with the starving them. Thats prolly the best way to get them to eat em.


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## wizardslovak (Feb 17, 2007)

well my caribe loves pellets , he gets them splashing water all over the tank


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## iceh86 (Mar 14, 2009)

Ok, will do.

You said you don't go more than a day without feeding your reds? I mean they seem to be hungry everyday, but is there a particular feeding schedule I should follow?


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## wizardslovak (Feb 17, 2007)

well if you got one then more and not enough space (25g/fish) they will kill each other
i did starve mine for 3+ days but i would do that with 3+ ps in tank 
how many do you have/?? how big tank???


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## RuthlessAggression (Apr 5, 2009)

Simple cut the w/e kind of fresh fish you get from the store and get them up into little chucks and put them in the freezer bag and whenever you go to feed your reds defrost them in aquarium water till they reach room temperature and them stuff them with one of two of the food sticks which you would do by cutting the chucks down the middle


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## exodon king (Mar 25, 2009)

RuthlessAggression said:


> Simple cut the w/e kind of fresh fish you get from the store and get them up into little chucks and put them in the freezer bag and whenever you go to feed your reds defrost them in aquarium water till they reach room temperature and them stuff them with one of two of the food sticks which you would do by cutting the chucks down the middle


Yup. Between this, and not feeding them a couple of days at a time, they will be eating the pellets in no time. 
Also, if you go with hikari, get the bio-gold (white bag), rather then the cichlid staple or cichlid gold (red or green bag). The bio-gold is a much better quality pellet, and contains everything your fish needs


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## lovemyreds (Feb 18, 2009)

dont give up they will go for it sooner or later.i use the cichlid bio-gold pellets they love them.there is some garlic extract you can dip them in that will help them on there way to getting used to pellets good luck


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## xeloR (Jan 2, 2009)

To introduce mine to floating pellets I just put a bit of water in the bottom of a small salsa type dish, let a few absorb some water for a minute, then just pinch the pellet between your fingers just below the surface it will start to sink- they will definitely hit it as it sinks.


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## iceh86 (Mar 14, 2009)

exodon king said:


> To introduce mine to floating pellets I just put a bit of water in the bottom of a small salsa type dish, let a few absorb some water for a minute, then just pinch the pellet between your fingers just below the surface it will start to sink- they will definitely hit it as it sinks.


good tips.

thanks guys


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