training angler to eat silversides

[marvinsae]

i've been doing some research on my anglerfish and i'm trying to train him to eat frozen silversides. i've been feeding him ghost shrimp but i've read that they shouldn't survive on ghost shrimp alone. also, it can get quite expensive. so i've tried wiggling some frozen silversides infront of his face for a few days when he hasn't eaten but he still won't take the bait. any suggestions?

[4lti7ude]

Garlic... maybe. Fish love that stuff.

[VFX]

Mine was a royal PITA to feed.

After several long weeks of attempting silversides, mysis & brine shrimp I gave in & fed him a variety of different live fresh water shrimp & ghost shrimp.

I fed the shrimp on selcon & garlic soaked foods for added nutrition.

As & when I could get it, I also fed live brine shrimp, which were also gut loaded with selcon beforehand. The frogfish eventually got used to associating brine shrimp as a tasty treat & would occasionally eat that too when I fed the other fish in the tank.

He only ever ate silversides about 2 times in 2 years.

Feeding this thing has cost me a small fortune! :twised:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee139/bunglie/Fish_Tank/froggy_02.jpg

.

[marvinsae]

awesome fish i love the colour on him...

has anyone tried breeding ghost shrimp maybe? is it difficult?
just out of curiosity, how long do they last in salt water?

[whatcaneyedo]

One of my past lionfish was a real PITA to get to eat frozen in the beginning. What worked for me is I would feed it live guppies at first bathed in garlic and selcon and then I'd kill the guppies and impale them on a thin length of wire and move them around in the tank as if they were alive. Once the lion would eat those I traded the guppies for small silversides. The whole time I didn't feed it very much or very often to keep it quite hungry. I really didn't enjoy the whole process but within a month it did work and I had the lion eating both frozen silversides and krill.

[RIPTANK]

just out of curiosity, how long do they last in salt water?

IME ghost shrimps don't last more than a few hours in SW. They either die off slowly or commit suicide by jumping right out of the tank.

[karazy]

here's a good article.
http://www.lionfishlair.com/feedingtechniques/toolsofthetrade.shtml

[fishoholic]

Mine eats only the head of the silversides and they have to be on the smaller side. I also soak it in garlic guard and feed with long metal tweezers.

[AHHope]

they can be a real pain especially when they are small but it can be done
imo mollies are a better alternative to ghost shrimp, and super easy to breed

[BlueWorldAquatic]

They are always a pain, just like Fu Manchu Lions.

We seem to get our hard to feed fish eating siversides by luck most of the time.

We start with Live FW minnows, if they don't take them don't bother with anything else until they start to. Stress of the new envirioment is higher than it's need to feed.

When they start eating minnows, then start with dead ones with garlic addided using a feeding stick (Clear thin tubing with a small piece of monofiliment fishing line in it), this will work better than a pair of feeding tongs. Try this until he takes it.

Then switch with silversides in garlic.

Hope this helps.

Ken - BWA

[gobytron]

would sw acclimated guppies work as a live food?

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Just don't use goldfish.

Their skeletal structure of their heads can cause choking.

Ken