Barra on pellets???

[dragonsmatt]

Hi everyone I have 2 barra fingerlings in my tank atm, I have had them for about 2 months now and when I got the they were about 3cm and now about 7-8cm!!!! Now my biggest prob is that I have only managed to get them to eat live feeders and frozen blood worms which they love equally but are not always available. I did buy some pellets from my LFS but they wont eat them... and quite frankly the dead sh!t behind the counter probably wouldnt know which pellets to sell me anyway... so I dont know if they are the right pellets nor what the best method is to ween them on to the pellets....
Please help!!

[STONEMAN]

The native fish pellets that I use come in a few different sizes 4mm, 6mm and 8mm I think the small ones are flat discs and the bigger ones look like chook pellets, they are a dark browny black colour. Atm you will proberbly need the small ones, the way I got my fish onto them was to starve them for a few days then drop a pellet or 2 into the tank in front of the fish if possible, just watch that you dont put to many in for starters or you will just pollute your tank, eventually once they get hungery enough they will start takin the pellets, do this for a couple of weeks before you start givin them their live food and bloodworms again. Dont be too worried about starvin them tey will eat when hungery,my fish only get fed twice a week, live food on the weekend and pellets mid week. Remember that barra will grow really quick those 2 will be about 30cm by about the 12 month point. good luck

[dragonsmatt]

Thanks Stoneman, how long do u think I should starve them before I should be worried about them? also do u know the exact name of the pellets that you use or where to purchase them from?

[STONEMAN]

If they dont start takin them after 5 or 6 days give them a little bit of live food or worms but dont over do it you still want them to be hungery so they will eat the pellets As far as I know they are called native fish pellets and you should be able to get them from your lfs, If you have any dramas pm me know and I will grab some for you from my lfs

[dragonsmatt]

well I staved them for about 4-5 days and still not taking to the pellets that I have so the last 2 days they have been back on live guppies. I will search the net for the pellets you speak of and if I have no luck i just might take you up on the offer about you getting me some pellets.... Are you in brissy stoneman? I am going to the northside of brissy in a couple of weeks so if I take you up on the offer I could meet up with you then.:)

[cichlidboy]

I had six barras in a large tank for years.
I weined them by putting a few large pellets (depending on the size of your fish) in the feeder goldfish i fed them then gradually moving on to just pellets. Worked just fine for me over a month or so. A bit gory but ultimately effective for me. Firstly what you have to keep in mind is that Barramundi are ambush predators and react best to movement. Secondly, aquarium fish tend to "latch on" to specific foods that you have been feeding (some of my saratogas only eat hikari arowana sticks and refuse any other brand of pellets). So you have to slowly get them used to the smell, taste and look of the pellets. It's like introducing a small child to new vegetables?