Mysis to Pelletized Food

[Joshua Rhykerd]

So I've been feeding my fish mysis twice per day. Once in the morning and one at night. This seems to work well for all of the fish and they all seem to enjoy it. I also supplement that diet with some seaweed sheets/flakes periodically.

When I initially setup my tank I purchased an automatic feeder for my APEX. I haven't used it to much, but it is setup and ready to go for when I need to be away for extended periods like vacation or what not. How should I get my fish used to feeding on a pelletized fish food so when I do go away they know what it is and will actually eat it. I assume I should just throw some pellets in when I'm feeding the mysis, but I just wanted to throw this out there incase there was some other ideas.

Thanks

- Josh

 

[Oxylebius]

I prefer to have someone come to my house to feed the SW fish while I'm away. But, if you want to feed pellets while you are away, this is what I would do.

I wouldn't introduce the pellets by feeding it to them mixed with other food. I find that feeding food that they love with food that they tend to not like at the same times doesn't work. They will eat what they like (e.g. mysis) and ignore the other foods (e.g. pellets). Instead, I would feed the pellets everyday for a week, watching closely to who is not eating them. You may find that you have a fish or two that won't eat them, ever. Be aware of this as those fish may end up starving and dying while you are away. If this happens change the pellet type to a different one. Do again. Keep doing this until you find a pellet that all fish will eat.

Now that you found the pellet that all fish will eat, you can feed this food once a week or so to keep it in rotation. When you are planning to be away, feed the food the week leading up to you leaving. Make sure all the fish are eating it. Now you know that they will be eating while you are away and you don't have to worry about them.

 

[DaveK]

First off, how long do you plan to be away, and what fish do you have in the tank?

Often, especially if it's 10 days or less, your better off not doing anything, and letting the fish go hungry.

However, there are some exceptions to this. Some species of fish much be fed often. Anthias damsels come to mind here, but there are a lot of others.