I recently got a rock bass, i am amazed how placid he is for a sunfish, i only seen agression from him once at feeding time, usually he is calm.
However I have a few rock bass questions.
1. I am lucky i got him on a weekend i got feeder guppies for fish treats as he doesn't tough frozen food (only guppies), though he is curious about other fish eating it. How do I get him to eat bloodworms, shrimp, etc.?
2. Will he stay placcid or turn agressive like my dollar did? are any other kinds of sunfish placcid community fish?
3. How do I get my shiners to act normal in his presence. Since I got him all my shiners hang on one side of the tank in a tight school.
rock bass
Started by
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, Sep 01 2009 12:40 PM
8 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_panfisherteen_*
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Posted 01 September 2009 - 02:30 PM
Rock bass i am pretty sure are very placid, and will stay placid. To get it on bloodworms and shrimp (live? it should grab those if theyre live) ive heard starving it for a couple days and then feeding it the desired food. Another way is to feed it worms (or any other live food that cant swim away lol) and sneak in the desired food and each time increase the wanted food and decrease the worms/live food. I think once the shiners realise that the rock bass wont mean it harm (unless they can fit in its mouth) then they'll go back to normal (at least thats what i think).
#3
Guest_CATfishTONY_*
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Posted 01 September 2009 - 03:10 PM
My rockbass is a loner,and he will only eat worms,wax worms and any small fish.
sometimes he will go a week or more then eat allot almost like he gut loads him self
then goes off feeding so days at a time.cool fish and he his allways calm and changes color patterns often.
sometimes he will go a week or more then eat allot almost like he gut loads him self
then goes off feeding so days at a time.cool fish and he his allways calm and changes color patterns often.
#4
Guest_donkeyman876_*
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Posted 01 September 2009 - 03:34 PM
I've heard that rock bas are fairly picky when it comes to prepared foods and training them to it is fairly dificult.I recently got a rock bass, i am amazed how placid he is for a sunfish, i only seen agression from him once at feeding time, usually he is calm.
However I have a few rock bass questions.
1. I am lucky i got him on a weekend i got feeder guppies for fish treats as he doesn't tough frozen food (only guppies), though he is curious about other fish eating it. How do I get him to eat bloodworms, shrimp, etc.?
2. Will he stay placcid or turn agressive like my dollar did? are any other kinds of sunfish placcid community fish?
3. How do I get my shiners to act normal in his presence. Since I got him all my shiners hang on one side of the tank in a tight school.
#5
Guest_basssmaster_*
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Posted 01 September 2009 - 04:08 PM
They are not at all difficult to feed train. Just remember if they have a choice they are going to prefer live foodI've heard that rock bas are fairly picky when it comes to prepared foods and training them to it is fairly dificult.
over some hard commercial pellet. What I like to do with all sunfish is feed them worm peices untill they associate you with food, and then switch them over to pellets. If you have sunfish in the tank that are already eating prepared diets it makes feed training easier, The rock bass will pick up on what they are doing and join them.
#6
Guest_CATfishTONY_*
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Posted 01 September 2009 - 06:51 PM
Plus it helps to get your fish young of the year, mine was maybe two when caught and does not wont to change.its feeding habits are more like Pomoxis then other Centrarchidaes.I've heard that rock bas are fairly picky when it comes to prepared foods and training them to it is fairly dificult.
most of the Lepomis types convert faster for me.
#7
Guest_sandtiger_*
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Posted 01 September 2009 - 07:34 PM
I found that with my rock bass and other natives certain brands of pellets work better for converting them. HBH Supersoft is what I used on my rock bass after a diet of mostly frozen foods, but he was very young so that helps as well. Those pellets are small, for larger fish try Tetramin jumbo food sticks, advertised as a live food alternative I find that most fishes take those pretty eagerly. As for aggression they aren't as bad as Lepomis but will defend their personal space, mine never cased any serious issues but he does like to attack the camera when I'm photographing him. As long as your rock bass can't eat the shiners and doesn't try they'll eventually come around. Good luck, they are a great fish, one of my favorites.
#8
Guest_khudgins_*
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Posted 01 September 2009 - 09:40 PM
I have my dollar sunfish on HBH supersoft pellets, but they're little compared to my shadow bass. (Not the same as a rock bass, but pretty close) I've got mine on freeze-dried krill and frozen cocktail shrimp. I started with earthworms, made sure he was eating, and then tried the cocktail shrimp. That worked fine - he was very shy at first, and would wait 'til he thought we weren't around and then hit the shrimp. After that was going well, I dropped in a piece of the krill along with the cocktail shrimp, and he associated that with food. I'll work on pellets later - he's a big fish and none of the pellets I've got are sufficient for him.
All this happened within a 2-week span, and no problems whatsoever getting him trained on the krill.
All this happened within a 2-week span, and no problems whatsoever getting him trained on the krill.
#9
Guest_Burbot_*
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Posted 01 September 2009 - 10:25 PM
all my rock bass have been trained to cichlid pellets. However, they will first try eating every other smaller fish before giving in and eating the pellets. Most of my previous native fish were rock bass, ranging from YOY to about 8 inches. Not all were on pellets, technically, but all were trained off of live food, and the latter were all on pellets. They are a great fish and are quite placid, preferring to stay in their own little nook, rather than harass other fish. I had one rock bass that was territorial of a little cave and he chased the other bass from it, but let a perch stay there with him...strange. also, he made a go at a pikes fins a few times and had to be separated, but i hear this is a common sunfish trait. I only have rock bass out here, no beautiful little sunfish like everywhere else. 
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