W/C Peacock feeding

[JasonC]

I've got a pair of W/C Aulonocara ethelwynnae that I'm having trouble feeding. The female is on board and eating flake and pellet but the male tries it and spits it out. The only thing he will eat at this point is mysis. I've tried soaking pellet and flake both in defrosted mysis water but he still wont take it.

Any ideas on how to get this guy to take a flake/pellet?

[fishman1]

I've had peacocks before and at first when I had them they would try it out and munch on the pellets a it and spit them out but a week later they will get hungry and just eat them.

[myjohnson]

Your on the right track. Don't give up.

As long as he eats something he will live.

There are a number of things you can try...

I would starve the fish and only feed every other day (assuming he is in decent condition).

Try a number of different brands. Not all flakes taste or smell the same to them (based on what I see).

Start with flakes first. It's always easier to get WC fish to take flakes.

Try rare shrimp. If he take mysis he should take shrimp. Then try shrimp mix. Put flakes and pellets in the mix.

Try keeping him in his own tank. Gives him a chance to figure out fhis stuff is food before other fishes eat it up.

The process of getting WC fish to eat produced food can be hard. It's common for it to take 1-2 months for those picky eaters. Some cases can be harder then others. I had one fish that didn't eat produced food for one whole year. All he ate was algae I farmed from my pond outside. He eats all kinds of food now.

[JasonC]

Thanks guys. I'll keep it up and try some of the recommendations.

[JasonC]

Pic of the pair

[eklikewhoa]

Adding garlic supplement liquid sold at LFS could help entice his appetite as well.