Tiny Tropicals

[koltsixx]

Got these little guys from Rod at Predatory fins but they haven't been eating. I've tried frozen bloodworms and cut shrimp as well as floating presoaked pellets. Local LFS by me don't have feeder guppies, does anyone have any alternatives I could try or do I need to go live worms or find a way out of area to get some feeder guppies?

 

[kno4te]

How long has it been? I’d try feeder guppies.

 

[koltsixx]

How long has it been? I’d try feeder guppies.

Today is the 4th day and the local LFS doesn't have feeder guppies only rosey reds. Normally it wouldn't be an issue but with the loss of my car and me waiting on insurance etc. it's hard to get out of my local area right now.

 

[duanes]

You may want to go out of the box, try the bait store.
They may need actual movement (live prey) to induce or stimulate predation, anything frozen or already dead is probably useless.
Adult swimming brine shrimp, gammarus, mosquito larvae, live worms, hellgrammites or even stunned insects that struggle on the surface.

 

[tlindsey]

You could even find small earthworms in a area of your yard that hasn't been treated with fertilizer.

 

[koltsixx]

How long has it been? I’d try feeder guppies.

You may want to go out of the box, try the bait store.
They may need actual movement (live prey) to induce or stimulate predation, anything frozen or already dead is probably useless.
Adult swimming brine shrimp, gammarus, mosquito larvae, live worms, hellgrammites or even stunned insects that struggle on the surface.

Thank you both. duanes I didn't think of brine shrimp I think I'm going to give both your suggestions a try. They don't sell feeder guppies but I'll see if I can choose a couple of pregnant fancy guppies and a male and set up a tank for a couple of them as well as try and see if my LFS has live brine shrimp. If they don't have live brine shrimp I'll grab some or a kit off amazon.

You could even find small earthworms in a area of your yard that hasn't been treated with fertilizer.

Thanks tlindsey unfortunately I'm in NY right now so no yard and in Georgia all my lawn is treated. I do have some land outside my fence.

 

[wednesday13]

Roach clips and cut fish might intice them… i always do feeding tongs when getting fish off live food. Tongs first with the live food then i switch to cut/prepared foods once they get used to hitting the tongs. 4 days isnt much of a worry. Unclejimswormfarm.com has decent prices and delivery. Euro crawlers are super easy to keep at room temp in a 5gal bucket with wet newspaper. Used to order them by the thousands when i was breeding rays. Its a game changer to not keep them in the fridge like canadian crawlers.

 

[jjohnwm]

We're getting into panfishing season, so bait shops might be a source of very small minnows, leeches, mousies, etc. that are commonly used for sunfish, perch, crappies, etc.

Stores that sell reptile supplies will have mealworms, crickets, etc.

The little ones are very surface-oriented, so it might help to pick up a "worm blower" at a fishing tackle store. It's just a little squeeze bulb with a hypodermic needle on it; lets you inject a tiny air bubble into a piece of earthworm or other food that would sink otherwise.

Floating plants or other surface cover will help calm them and get their minds back on eating. They'll be easy to switch over to frozen or prepared foods once you get them started on live.

 

[koltsixx]

Roach clips and cut fish might intice them… i always do feeding tongs when getting fish off live food. Tongs first with the live food then i switch to cut/prepared foods once they get used to hitting the tongs. 4 days isnt much of a worry. Unclejimswormfarm.com has decent prices and delivery. Euro crawlers are super easy to keep at room temp in a 5gal bucket with wet newspaper. Used to order them by the thousands when i was breeding rays. Its a game changer to not keep them in the fridge like canadian crawlers.

Thanks for the suggestion wednesday13 . I use tongs too but generally don't have issues switching over to frozen, etc. but I was worried because these guys are small and skinny. I hadn't thought of roach clips which inspired me to maybe try veggie clips? As for the worms I get worms from unclejimswormfarm.com on occasion as a treat for my cats. Would the Gars be able to eat them? I know I'd have to cut them, but I thought the worms would be too much as these guys are maybe 4-5 inches max TL.

We're getting into panfishing season, so bait shops might be a source of very small minnows, leeches, mousies, etc. that are commonly used for sunfish, perch, crappies, etc.

Stores that sell reptile supplies will have mealworms, crickets, etc.

The little ones are very surface-oriented, so it might help to pick up a "worm blower" at a fishing tackle store. It's just a little squeeze bulb with a hypodermic needle on it; lets you inject a tiny air bubble into a piece of earthworm or other food that would sink otherwise.

Floating plants or other surface cover will help calm them and get their minds back on eating. They'll be easy to switch over to frozen or prepared foods once you get them started on live.

Thanks jjohnwm . There's only 1 bait shop locally on City Island which can be tedious to get to without a car, but I'll give it a go. I never heard of a worm blower before and it's a great idea. I have to Tong feed my Pied Florida and if it's shrimp and he misses it, it sinks and he ignores it(intimidate by the cats, I'm trying to find a better suited tank to move him to). If it floats that's a second go he has at it. And I'll think about some surface plants, hopefully ones that won't overrun the tank and ones I can secure.

First seriously thank you everyone. I was hesitant to post as I thought it was dumb question on my part, but I got great suggestions I wouldn't have thought of. I'm on my way to Petco now, no feeder guppies and their Fancies are ich ridden so I'm going to try the smallest Roseys they have as well as some pinhead crickets for now. I'm also going to try those floating live blood worm feeders to see if that gets them eating. Later I'll see about getting to a bait shop. Thank you again guys.

 

[fishguy1978]

Pinhead crickets or slightly larger. Remove the jump legs. Petco and PetSmart usually have them.