Getting my Jurs off live (guppies)

[thebiggerthebetter]

Got two of them from John Kreatsoulas aka snookn21 half a year ago at ~5" TL. He told me that in his experience, jurs rather die than eat non-live foods. Of course, John tried all he could, hence his statement.

So, I kept mine on guppies for 4 months. Would catch them from my lake, qt for a few weeks and treat with metronidazole, praziquantel, and the bi-furan combo nitrofurazole+furazolidone. The jurs ate quite well and now are about 10" TL. Have been trying to get them to eat whole frozen shiners (caught from the Gulf of Mexico), so far to no avail. In the last 2 months they probably had a few remaining guppies in my 120 gal, is all.

I am attaching some photos. The tank is temporary, no external filter, so the media is just dumped inside. Tank mates are 5 silver aros and 6 irwinis.

They used to fight more when were smaller but even then not enough for me to separate them. Nowadays, it's maybe one split-second squirmish once a week... and every one cools down.

I had a few jurs before and they started eating non-live foods at 4" without big problems. Things seem to vary.

I read the great many good reports here on the tigs and jurs and their conversions to non-live foods but if anyone wants to share their story, they are very welcome to.

Here is one useful thread: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...ruense-Getting-Off-Live&highlight=Chromobotia

This is on Pbass but a nice one too: http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...6-Help-i-cant-get-my-peacock-bass-off-feeders

I always fed mine shrimp, bloodworms, and cichlid pellets. Went from 5" to 16" in the year I had it. Never was a fussy eater though. Interesting to see how some fish of same species do under different circumstances. Of course mine only had one eye so maybe that made him more opportunistic??? Hope that you are able to get them feeding soon. How big are they?

 

[Chicxulub]

Very nice looking Jurs you have there TBTB! Love the colors on them! Can't wait till my girl finishes getting her gold. She's only starting as you could see in my thread.

Anyway, to the point: to get mine off of live, I simply starved her, then offered very tempting smelling food. Namely, trout chunks cut to the size and shape of the goldfish she was used to eating. I would then put it on the end of a piece of fishing line (I needed a split shot to get it to sink well) and would drop it down in front of her. Once she started getting hungry, she would start charging at the trout piece. Once she started getting really hungry, she would bite it and spit it out. Once she was so hungry she couldn't take it anymore, she at the trout. Once she ate the first one, she was hooked and fed vigorously after that. Now, as soon as the trout hits the water and she smells it, she gets really excited and starts looking for the food lol.

It wasn't too hard to break her per say, but it took a lot of persistence and determination. She had to go hungry for about a month at about five inches before she was willing to take dead food.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Great story! Thanks. Do you have any concerns about the trout being too fatty for such a predator that in nature eats mostly very lean tropical fishes?

 

[Chicxulub]

I've not had any issues. I prefer trout, but I'll use any large fish I can catch. She gets largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, various sunfishes and other catfish as well, so there is quite a bit of variety in her diet. If I'm having trouble catching fish and I need food, I'll go buy a pound of salmon or tilapia. It costs about 4.99 a pound for either here. Most of the trout I catch are farmed summer fish and are fairly lean as far as trout go as well.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Thanks again. The reason I asked is because I had issues with RTCs and Jaus when I fed them lots of fatty fish (namely, Golden Orf, aka Asp). Also, when experts profess that goldfish diet is a bad nutritional diet for say an RTC and other tropical predators, I've come to think that they imply the fat content. You know, the cold/temperate-water fish have much more fat in their bodies and tissues - goldfish, carp, asp, trout, salmon, etc. ... But so do also cold-water marine fishes too that we feed routinely - smelt, macarel, etc.

So, I am far from convinced one way or the other, just thinking aloud with you. Need more knowledge and experience. Anyway, this is a bit tangenial to the topic. My bad again.

 

[Chicxulub]

The problem with those cold water fish; goldfish, guppies, cyprinids et al., smelt, ect. is that they contain thiaminase. Trout and salmon do not contain thiaminase and are much healthier to feed to your predators.

I'm not a nutritionist and I don't profess to be an expert on that, but I will say that I have had success and haven't had any fish die on me unexpectedly.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I didn't know anything about thiaminase. Sounds like it is an enzyme that breaks down thiamine. Will have to read up on it.

(namely, Golden Orf, aka Asp)

I meant Ide, of course, not Asp.

 

[Decker504]

Mine ate sinking pellets, massivore and cut tilapia but it took a few months to get him off guppies. He was actually pretty territorial and killed a few of my cichlids in my 240 before my Azul ate him.

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[thebiggerthebetter]

Mine ate sinking pellets, massivore and cut tilapia but it took a few months to get him off guppies.

How have you accomplished that?

 

[ShadowStryder]

Got mine from John early this year @ 6" and now is over 10". It was eating whatever I threw in the tank within 4-5 days.