Any hope of persuading a CBB to take non-mysis foods?

Delphinus · #1 01-23-2007, 05:24 AM

Hmm, interesting. I'll have to try that.

Dumb question though .. where does one get clam juice? Is this something you can get at the grocery store?

The only clam juice I know about is Clamato (yum yum)

But I'm going to assume Clamato won't be appreciated by the CBB.

RD · #2 01-23-2007, 05:32 AM

Use the juice from the fresh seafood that you are feeding. Oyster, clam, mussel, whatever. Sometimes just softening the pellet up a bit will make a big difference with fish that tend to spit the pellets out, and with the added taste of fresh seafood mixed in, you just might be able to convince this fish to stop spitting, and to start swallowing. IMO the fact that it is already taking the pellets in is a huge plus, you're already half way home.

Ruth · #3 01-23-2007, 11:13 AM

Tony you can buy clam nectar in the grocery store - I use it for making clam chowder but it is available in cans and jars.

Delphinus · #4 01-23-2007, 04:20 PM

Cool, I'll look for it. Or try .. um.. draining the clam or oyster or whatever, next time I feed one. (For some reason I can't help but think "ew!" as I type this in..)

trilinearmipmap · #5 01-23-2007, 05:51 PM

Mine eats nothing but mysis and frozen clams. If it accidentally bites some flake food while eating mysis it spits it right out.

RD · #6 01-23-2007, 06:08 PM

Tony, if yours readily accepts mysis, then the "juice" from frozen mysis would also be good choice for pre-soaking the pellets. It may take some serious effort on your part, but the fact that your fish will already take the pellets in is a big plus.

Many of the more difficult to feed species can sometimes be "trained" to take dry foods, some individuals are easy to train, some are quite difficult, but in the long run it usually works out to be in the fishes best interest.

Delphinus · #7 01-23-2007, 07:45 PM

Oh .. sorry if I said something incorrect. He doesn't really take the pellets, only by accident. I.e., if I feed my dendrophyllia NLS pellets instead of mysis, he might think I'm feeding it mysis and he might try to steal some. If that happens though, he'll spit it out. He won't chase down any food that isn't mysis. If I feed mysis and flake at the same time, all the other fish go into a frenzy and gobble up everything that they can, he somehow can tell which is mysis and which isn't, and will only go after the mysis.