How Best to Wean From Live Food

FishinAround · 11/21/2006, 01:50 PM

I recently acquired a couple Banggai Cardinals that have turned out to be fairly picky eaters. I have two of them in a 20g QT. I've been trying to feed them frozen mysis and brine shrimp with very limited success. I put the food in the tank and they go crazy, charge the food but really don't eat anything, they just turn their noses up (well actually their noses are already turned up, but you get the idea). I've also tried frozen bloodworms, frozen formula 1 and a few different flakes but all with the same results. I've even tried soaking in VitaChem and Selcon with no improvement. They may be eating "leftover" food off the bottom at night but it's hard to tell. I have a fiber filter (the blue & white sheet filter, no exactly what they're called) in the refugium of my display tank (don't worry I change it out every week to make sure there's no nitrate build up) but have noticed that there's usually a bunch of anthripods stuck to the filter when I take it out so I threw some in the QT and the Cardinals had a feast. So I just went out today and got some live brine shrimp to feed them, I figured that way I know they're eating and staying healthy. But now the big question, how do I wean them off the live food? Do I mix frozen with the live and just keep reducing the ratio until they get the picture or just stop the live one day and hope they eat the frozen when they get hungry enough? How does everyone else out there handle the transition.

11/21/2006, 01:50 PM	#1
FishinAround Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 208	How Best to Wean From Live Food I recently acquired a couple Banggai Cardinals that have turned out to be fairly picky eaters. I have two of them in a 20g QT. I've been trying to feed them frozen mysis and brine shrimp with very limited success. I put the food in the tank and they go crazy, charge the food but really don't eat anything, they just turn their noses up (well actually their noses are already turned up, but you get the idea). I've also tried frozen bloodworms, frozen formula 1 and a few different flakes but all with the same results. I've even tried soaking in VitaChem and Selcon with no improvement. They may be eating "leftover" food off the bottom at night but it's hard to tell. I have a fiber filter (the blue & white sheet filter, no exactly what they're called) in the refugium of my display tank (don't worry I change it out every week to make sure there's no nitrate build up) but have noticed that there's usually a bunch of anthripods stuck to the filter when I take it out so I threw some in the QT and the Cardinals had a feast. So I just went out today and got some live brine shrimp to feed them, I figured that way I know they're eating and staying healthy. But now the big question, how do I wean them off the live food? Do I mix frozen with the live and just keep reducing the ratio until they get the picture or just stop the live one day and hope they eat the frozen when they get hungry enough? How does everyone else out there handle the transition.