compress and calvus refusing nls

[JLake]

All of a sudden 3 of my compressiceps and 3 calvus have all stopped eating nls. They are from Texas and im assuming t(hey werent fed nls before. The first few weeks they ate it with lil gusto. But now they refuse to eat it, to the point they wont even put it in their mouths. So now all they eat is the cyps flake, which angers the cyps to no end. What is going on? Is it okay for them to live off just flakes as a staple.(twice weekly either bloodworms or mysis shrimp) I have stopped the treats untill they eat their nls but it isnt working. It is the bottom of the container of food but all my other peacocks and shellies enjoy the nls to no end. Stumped dont want to feed my fish omega ciclid flake as a staple.

[RD.]

Approx what size are the calvus & comps?

Also, how long have you had them, and has anythng else been added to their tank in the past 30 days?

Edited March 18, 2010 by RD.

[JLake]

I've had them a few weeks maybe 3. They range from 3 to a lil over 4 inches. I added a calvus to this tank but he will actually eat it when he gets a chance. The calvus has been here only a few days but they refused the nls for flakes before the calvus arrived. At first the larger compress would eat a pellet and spit it out a few times but would always end up swallowing it. But for the last week or so they seem to only want the flake. They even go to the top for it. I just find it weird all my other fish prefer nls. Maybe its a "phase". The orange julies have been in that tank from day one will only occasionally eat a piece of flake, if there is no more nls around. Tank is overfiltered and aged 18 mnths with zero fish loss in this tanks life span. Im going to try some sort of new feeding approach as I don't want the compress eating flake. Maybe get small enough nls for the cyps so there is no flake? Confused....

[RD.]

What size of NLS pellet are you feeding?

[punman]

That does seem puzzling. I ordered in some compressiceps six months ago. They were an inch in length. I fed them NLS Grow and 1 mm and for a few days they would not touch it (no idea what they were fed before that). I was kind of worried as that is the only food I use but I persisted and after a few days they started to eat it.

Now, 6 months later they still go right after it and are growing well (according to what I hear growth for comps is like). Bottom line - I don't know what the problem is - cannot imagine it would be the food but I guess that observation does not help you much.

[JLake]

not sure the size of food will have to post it later when i am not at work. It is small enough for them to eat thats for sure. I never fed them this morning so the whole tank will ahve to suffer untill they decide to eat whats good for them. Does nls make a cichlid flake that maybe i could put them onto if they keep this up? I will try some nls when i get home tonight. I usually also only keep nls around, but i got this flake as a food for the juvie cyps. I really wish i didnt.

[punman]

I don't use flake food any more but I will crush NLS Grow if the fry are too small.

[RD.]

Yes, NLS also makes a flake food, your cyps would do well on it, but quite frankly IMO your comps & calvus would be better off on a pellet. At 3-4" either the 1mm, or 2mm pellet would be an ideal size. I'm guessing that the comps & calvus are more used to eating flakes, which is why they have gravitated back to choosing those, over a harder food, such as the pellets. Fish are creatures of habit, and sometimes when presented with a new food they will initially resist the change.

I've had juvie comps in the past that initially refused the 1mm pellets, my workaround to that problem can be found in the following discussion.

http://www.newlife.ipbhost.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=282

HTH

[JLake]

helpful,

so two things i could do\

1 feed the cyps nls and hope the compress and calvus follow suit

2 buy nls flake(why do u think they would be better on a pellet?)

Im thinking these fish were fed flake all of there lives, but why would they eat the nls for a while than reject it? im hoping they jump back on the nls train when i get home

[RD.]

Some smaller species simply find flakes more palatable, but the problem with flakes is they tend to leach nutrients fairly quickly (especially water soluble vitamins), and personally I find them messier (and more wasteful) to use. Pellets are more nutrient dense, more stable in water, and are something that I personally prefer to feed my fish. Having said that, I sell a ton of NLS flake food, so there must be a lot of happy customers out there.

Try pre-soaking the pellets lightly, stop feeding the flakes, and eventually your comps will come around. As long as the fish are healthy, and there are no other health issues taking place, they will convert back to the pellets, guaranteed.