I have a darter that looks like it's starving. I've tried freeze dried blood worms, algae wafers and sinking shrimp pellets. He won't touch the wafers. He tries to eat the freeZe dried worms but can't get them off the surface. I just bought some sinking shrimp pellets and he shows interest as they fall but acts as if they are gone when they hit the ground. His gut looks empty and I'm worried I won't find any thing soon enough. Help is wanted. Thank you.
Darter trouble
Started by
Guest_WhereWolfe_*
, Jul 12 2011 04:32 PM
13 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_jblaylock_*
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Posted 12 July 2011 - 04:57 PM
Go to your LFS, buy a pack of Frozen Bloodworms, thaw them and feed the darter with a baster. Darter usually won't eat freeze dried bloodworm. thaw the frozen ones in a cup and use the turkey baster to squirt the bloodworms to the bottom of the tank. Darters love these.
#3
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 12 July 2011 - 07:46 PM
Everything Josh said is correct... I only offer an alternative method if you dont have a baster... thaw the frozen bloodworms in a few ounces of water in a juice glass... feed flakes or something that floats that attracts everyone elses attention... dump the juice glass vigoursly into the tank... most of it will get to teh bottom... and the falling action seems to attract the darters attention... I have to do this because I often have hingry shiners in the same tank and even if I try the baster, they chase everything to the bottom, so distraction is a key methodology.Go to your LFS, buy a pack of Frozen Bloodworms, thaw them and feed the darter with a baster. Darter usually won't eat freeze dried bloodworm. thaw the frozen ones in a cup and use the turkey baster to squirt the bloodworms to the bottom of the tank. Darters love these.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#4
Guest_Elijah_*
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Posted 12 July 2011 - 10:50 PM
I'm lazy, I put the frozen cubes in the water and as they thaw they shoot off the block in the filter flow and the darters scramble for dinner. Works for me.
Many o!f my dARTERS take flakes now, but had to watch minnows do it for a long time first. Also I have tanks that have tons of snails, I take the snails out when I get a chance, mmm dARTER treats
Many o!f my dARTERS take flakes now, but had to watch minnows do it for a long time first. Also I have tanks that have tons of snails, I take the snails out when I get a chance, mmm dARTER treats
#5
Guest_NVCichlids_*
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 06:58 AM
i agree with the above methods, but with the freeze dried, couldn't you soak them in water and have them re hydrate enough to get to the bottom?
Mine also love mysid shrimp.
Mine also love mysid shrimp.
#6
Guest_jblaylock_*
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 07:20 AM
Everything Josh said is correct... I only offer an alternative method if you dont have a baster... thaw the frozen bloodworms in a few ounces of water in a juice glass... feed flakes or something that floats that attracts everyone elses attention... dump the juice glass vigoursly into the tank... most of it will get to teh bottom... and the falling action seems to attract the darters attention... I have to do this because I often have hingry shiners in the same tank and even if I try the baster, they chase everything to the bottom, so distraction is a key methodology.
This is even better advice than mine. I have a large number of shiners. I drop flakes and/or freeze dried blood worms on the surface to attract the shiners, then I use the baster to feed the darters. Depending on how big/deep your tank is, you may or may not need the baster. Most of my darters will eat frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, beefheart, plankton, and most other frozen 'meats'. However, some darters are pickier and will only eat the bloodworms. Let us know if this works for you.
#7
Guest_jasonpatterson_*
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 01:57 PM
i agree with the above methods, but with the freeze dried, couldn't you soak them in water and have them re hydrate enough to get to the bottom?
Nope, they don't get waterlogged enough to sink before they just disintegrate. My darters have gotten fed up with the dace in the tank getting all the good stuff off of the surface and have started feeding from the top as well.
I usually feed flake food first to get the dace in my tank partially fed. Then I feed some freeze dried bloodworms and freeze dried brine shrimp (mostly for the dace, the darters get a fair bit too.) After it's gone, I also give them half a frozen bloodworm cube a day (almost entirely eaten by the darters.) The smaller darters have trouble getting a big bloodworm down and wind up getting harassed by the other fish while they're swallowing, so I thaw a whole pack of cubes, dice them up a fair bit, and divide them into half portions between the pack they came in and an empty that I keep as an ice cube tray. Add water to cover and put them in a ziploc bag once they refreeze. It's a pain in the butt, but I only have to do it once a month and it's just not that big a deal. I also give them mosquito larvae, amphipods, and black tubifex worms occasionally as a treat. Everyone loves them.
Whatever you wind up doing, don't feed the entire tank a ton in order to get one fish some food. It's pretty easy to overdo it and cause problems.
#8
Guest_Casper_*
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 02:39 PM
You better get that Darter fed before he withers away.
Chopped up small earthworms will work in a pinch. Darters cant resist the movement.
Always try and diversify diet.
Chopped up small earthworms will work in a pinch. Darters cant resist the movement.
Always try and diversify diet.
#9
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 03:46 PM
Actually this all depends on your filtration, depth of substrate, plants and snails in the tank... with the right combination you can really go crazy without a problem... I think somewhere here on the forum is an old thread from Farmer Todd about 'abundance feeding' in his darter/shiner tank...Whatever you wind up doing, don't feed the entire tank a ton in order to get one fish some food. It's pretty easy to overdo it and cause problems.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#10
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 03:52 PM
For a couple years now I haven't bothered to thaw the frozen food. I just toss in however many cubes it takes to make sure some gets to the bottom. This does tend to increase the cost of feeding, but I like my minnows enough to give them frozen food.
#11
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 07:43 PM
If you have a cheese grater and unbreaded cocktail shrimp, you can try grating up a shrimp or two (the smaller the better) and putting the little tiny shreds into the water and seeing its reaction. My Etheostoma spectabile (orange throat darters) loved shredded cocktail shrimp. I loved that a $3 bag of shrimp fed them for months.
Darters also eat small pond snails, which you can get at your local pet store, as stowaways on a shipment of live plants, and online on website like aquabid. Ramshorn, physa, and other small species work better than large species like 'mystery' (apple) snails. . The advantage to snails is that they are an additional food on top of your other foods. They don't rot after you put them in the water, unlike killed foods, and in fact will eat the leftovers of your other foods and breed (until the darter remembers it's there and eats it). Darters won't be happy eating snails alone, but they're a great secondary food.
Darters also eat small pond snails, which you can get at your local pet store, as stowaways on a shipment of live plants, and online on website like aquabid. Ramshorn, physa, and other small species work better than large species like 'mystery' (apple) snails. . The advantage to snails is that they are an additional food on top of your other foods. They don't rot after you put them in the water, unlike killed foods, and in fact will eat the leftovers of your other foods and breed (until the darter remembers it's there and eats it). Darters won't be happy eating snails alone, but they're a great secondary food.
Edited by EricaWieser, 13 July 2011 - 07:44 PM.
#12
Guest_Skipjack_*
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 09:21 PM
Unless they are greenside darters. A full snail diet would probably be fine for them.If you have a cheese grater and unbreaded cocktail shrimp, you can try grating up a shrimp or two (the smaller the better) and putting the little tiny shreds into the water and seeing its reaction. My Etheostoma spectabile (orange throat darters) loved shredded cocktail shrimp. I loved that a $3 bag of shrimp fed them for months.
Darters also eat small pond snails, which you can get at your local pet store, as stowaways on a shipment of live plants, and online on website like aquabid. Ramshorn, physa, and other small species work better than large species like 'mystery' (apple) snails. . The advantage to snails is that they are an additional food on top of your other foods. They don't rot after you put them in the water, unlike killed foods, and in fact will eat the leftovers of your other foods and breed (until the darter remembers it's there and eats it). Darters won't be happy eating snails alone, but they're a great secondary food.
#13
Guest_jblaylock_*
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 09:26 PM
If you have a cheese grater and unbreaded cocktail shrimp, you can try grating up a shrimp or two (the smaller the better) and putting the little tiny shreds into the water and seeing its reaction. My Etheostoma spectabile (orange throat darters) loved shredded cocktail shrimp. I loved that a $3 bag of shrimp fed them for months.
Seriously??? I may have to try this. I'm always looking for cheap alternatives.
#14
Guest_WhereWolfe_*
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Posted 14 July 2011 - 10:12 PM
Thx for the responses. I've been upping feeding to get the darter some freeze dried blood worms. He eats off the surface now, just not efficiently. I will get the closest thing to frozen blood worms I can find saturdAy. Pets art is the only local place and they offer some sort of frozen food alternative. The increased feeding also seems to have coaxed my tad madtom out occasionally!
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