johnsmith Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 So far my new CA hybrid isn't eating any of the NLS pellets it's only eating algae wafers. I suspect it's because the pellets are too small or it's because not many make it to the bottom half of the tank. Rather than buy new food I'd like to use up the NLS that I have, since it's taking me forever to get through one container. I'd like to use gelatin (or something else) to make some larger NLS "wafers". Any suggestions on how to do this or should I just buy some and read the package? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 For a starter I would never recommend that anyone use gelatine for home made fish food. Gelatine is a meat by-product that is usually made from beef bones, cartilage and tendons, as well as pig parts. Not exactly something that will be easily digested by fish. Agar would be a much more suitable material. Secondly, I would never recommend taking a food that has already been processed, and attempting to re-process that food, as you will experience overall nutritional loss, especially in the way of any water soluble vitamins. Not to mention that once those pellets re-absorb any moisture, chances are they will be very unstable when you place them into your tank water, resulting in water quality issues from the spread of the finer particles. A simple and rather low cost alternative would be to buy a small container of the NLS H20 wafers, and break them up into pieces that your CA will accept, or purchase a small container of the 3mm pellets. Either option should last you a very long time, and set you back all of $14.99. BTW - what size is this CA hybrid, and how long have you had it in this tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOSStile Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 My big cichlids, severums and GT prefer to eat the NLS wafers too. They would always try to get them before my pleco could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Harrold - they prefer the wafers, because the wafers are bigger. In order to allow bottom feeders such as plecos the oportunity to get first dibs on the wafers it's best to feed them a couple of hours after the main tank lights go out for the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 The fish in question can be seen here. It's only been in the tank for a week, still pretty shy. It's starting to figure out that I'm the one dropping food in but still hides when I approach the tank. I'd say it's about 8" long. Also in the tank are 4 2.5" - 3" GT's and 8 Diamond tetras. Right now the GT's and tetras nibble on the wafer and once they drop it the big guy swallows it up. $14.99 is manageable I was just hoping to get some more use out of all these community pellets I have. So far I've barely made a dent in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 u can always try selling the left over or trade them. Js Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Ok, that fish is definitely getting too big to be overly interested in 1mm pellets, although once he settles in more to his new surroundings I suspect that he'll scarf them down as well. The GT's should be fine on them for a few more inches yet. This is one of the problems that one sometimes runs into when mixing fish that vary so much in size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOSStile Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Kris, my GT is the size of your flowerhorn along with smaller fish, what I do is throw some 3 mil in, the little ones will try to swallow it, can't and the big fish will get them from the bottom. Then feed with the 1 mil for the other fish. The wafers are good too because they drift down and if the big fish doesn't snap it right up, the little fish will nibble at it but leave it for the big fish. Either way the big fish gets fed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted April 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I'm leaning towards the wafers, but I might go with the large pellets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Don't be surprised if your 3" GT's decide that they can swallow the 3mm pellets, 'cause I suspect that they will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted April 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Don't be surprised if your 3" GT's decide that they can swallow the 3mm pellets, 'cause I suspect that they will. Okay, now I'm leaning even further towards the wafers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsmith Posted April 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 How many wafers should this medium (8") CA get per day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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