TDO Chroma Boost for Blue Green Chromis?

[Trever]

Anyone have any luck feeding the small TDO pellets to a smallish Blue Green Chromis?

I just got this (pretty!) Chromis from my LFS a few days ago and he comes from a different source than all of my other fish. Other fish immediately chow on the Chroma boost. This Chromis is not.

He initially ignored the TDO. Now he eats it, but he gets it in his mouth and various things happen. Either he spits it out, or he crunches the pellet and most or all of it crumbles in pieces that go in the water column. Other times he crunches the pellets and seems to eat some of it and lets the rest float away. He doesn't necessarily go after the food floating free that has been crumbled.

The Chromis eats big mysis shrimp heartily- it sends him into an fighter jet mode, racing to gobble it all up (kinda cool to watch!).

The TDO issues certainly do not seem to be a size problem. Indeed, he's the biggest of all my fish and the other fish can tackle the TDO small pellets, even if sometimes they have to chomp it a bit and go after the crumbles. The mysis shrimp the Chromis eats are usually much bigger than the TDO pellets.

Any advice to get this guy eating the pellets?

 

[ichthyogeek]

Feed the pellets first thing in the morning. Theoretically, this is the time of day when the fish are most hungry and most willing to try a new food.

If you can, try to give the tank a week of just pellets instead of pellets + frozen instead. That way the chromis will be forced to eat the pellets and acknowledge they are food.

 

[Trever]

@ichthyogeek I have tried first thing. Weirdly, my fish are least hungry in the AM, perhaps because I'm likely over feeding them. I work from home which means I can drop them food throughout the day, making sure that they're eating everything as I go. They are also young fish, so it seems like a good way to be feeding them until they are more mature, though probably they are old enough at this point to not worry too much about their age and feeding intervals.

I will try withholding the shrimp. That's not a problem but I just got the Chromis the other day. I want to give it a chance to be strong after the journey to my tank, before I start goading it to eat pellets by essentially starving it, as it were.

 

[SDK]

Any advice to get this guy eating the pellets?

Just be patient. If the fish is already pecking at them it is extremely likely to be eating them soon.

There is a varying “learning curve/ palate adjustment” for fish to take pellets. Some are all over them right away, and others take longer.

The top shelf pellets on the market now are pretty universally accepted by most fish, and an opportunistic feeder like a chromis is going to take to them. I have a Copperband Butterfly that will take both the TDO and NLS pellets to the point where he is the first one at the auto feeder. He uses is long mouth to snatch them before they get out of the tube.

 

[SDK]

I will try withholding the shrimp. That's not a problem but I just got the Chromis the other day. I want to give it a chance to be strong after the journey to my tank, before I start goading it to eat pellets by essentially starving it, as it were.

If the fish is new and already mouthing pellets, I would recommend continuing to feed the shrimp and whatever else you were feeding. Just give the Chromis time and keep it eating. It will adjust to your foods and schedule.

Revisit this in two months if needed, but I would be amazed if it’s not eating everything you are feeding in a week or two...

 

[ScottR]

I’d continue feeding mysis. It’s nutritious enough until it can jump onto other foods. You can even mix the two together. Oddly my chromis even come out at night when I’m feeding LPS with lights out. They’re also the first fish up in the morning, ready to eat. Give it some time.

Lights ramping up from zero and they’re ready. All other fish are still snoozing.

 

[Trever]

Today I've been feeding only pellets and the Chromis is more readily eating them.

Especially if the other fish are fed, and I drop one at a time to him, then he eats it. Interestingly, if I drop more than one, he has a tendency to get one pellet in his mouth, then go the next while the first one falls out. Almost as if the pellets don't go down easily/quickly enough compared to what he's used when vacuuming up a lot of mysis shrimp?

Mysterious, but glad he's becoming a pellet eater too.

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Happy to hear the Chromis is readily accepting our TDO!

The advice on this thread was very good. I appreciate everyone that chimed in.

@Trever. If you have any questions for us, don't hesitate to ask.

-Chad & Team Reef Nutrition

 

[Silent]

I feed mine PE pellets. They also eat frozen PE mysis.

 

[Trever]

The Chromis ate entirely TDO yesterday. He's gobbling it up like a champ now. Indeed, he has no problem surface feeding from the feeding ring, and he pushes everyone else aside to get first dibs until he's full.

I remember as a kid waking up one morning and just knowing I could ride my bike. Sure enough I could, and the training wheels came off. Similarly, I think the Chromis figured it out in his sleep, because one morning he was just suddenly good to go.

 

[Reef Nutrition]

The Chromis ate entirely TDO yesterday. He's gobbling it up like a champ now. Indeed, he has no problem surface feeding from the feeding ring, and he pushes everyone else aside to get first dibs until he's full.

I remember as a kid waking up one morning and just knowing I could ride my bike. Sure enough I could, and the training wheels came off. Similarly, I think the Chromis figured it out in his sleep, because one morning he was just suddenly good to go.

I really appreciate the fact that you didn't give up and switch to another kind of pellet or flake. Sounds like your patience, and everyone's advice, paid off. Very happy to hear this.

Chad

 

[Silent]

You can't go wrong with anything from Reef Nutrition. I have never tried the TDO Chroma Boost pellets but I have never heard of fish not liking them.

 

[Trever]

You can't go wrong with anything from Reef Nutrition.

I don't know about that, the Chromis is over eating it now (nothing to do with my feeding habits of course )! I think @Reef Nutrition is putting some crack cocaine in there... the fish seem to get addicted.