It's up! Time to talk killers...

Good work on the predators section Anyways, aside from my yellow tail Barracuda, I was thinking about adding a Hydrolycus Scomberoides to the killer fish tank... Anyone here have any experience with these fish? Some other names they go by are Vampire Tetra and Sabre-tooth barracuda. I have heard they are EXTREMELY hard to keep alive and typically keel over and die at the one-year mark.

yes!!!!! thank you!!!!

TRD_Power wrote:Good work on the predators section Anyways, aside from my yellow tail Barracuda, I was thinking about adding a Hydrolycus Scomberoides to the killer fish tank... Anyone here have any experience with these fish? Some other names they go by are Vampire Tetra and Sabre-tooth barracuda. I have heard they are EXTREMELY hard to keep alive and typically keel over and die at the one-year mark.

ive seen them at a place for pets once. really mean looking tetras.

The thing about them is that it's hard to convert them to preparred foods, if you are able to do this then you are a head of the game. If you can get them to hit krill or frozen fish then you'll have a real beast. Keeping them on live foods is what kills them!

They look like they are straight from hell! That's why they are so bada$$! I would go with an armatus if I were you just because they get bigger and they have way better color, in my opinion. A lot more expensive though. They like a pretty good current in the tank so you will need a nice powerhead. Also, they get ICK very easily so make sure you watch for signs and then know how to deal with it before it gets too bad. (Bump up the temp, keep the lights out, no real need for meds if you catch it early)

Bassman42 wrote:The thing about them is that it's hard to convert them to preparred foods, if you are able to do this then you are a head of the game. If you can get them to hit krill or frozen fish then you'll have a real beast. Keeping them on live foods is what kills them!

I was thinking about getting him on krill pretty soon. I know the cudas are VERY stubborn when it comes to food that's not moving (won't even go near a fish that's still alive, but awkward looking). How do you think I should get him on it?

I have coverted peacock bass by freezing gold fish and throwing it in the tank, making the fish think it's alive. I don't know if that will work for those types of though. You could try a feeding stick putting a piece of fish or shrimp on it and moving it in the tank. I don't know good luck!

best I could find

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This is how I got my pbass to eat anything. Took me like 45 seconds though so I'm probably just lucky. Makes for some entertaining feeding. My bass and midas are just sitting there watching and waiting for me to drop anything, they even attack the water drops that come off my hands.

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figured I'd post this over here as alot of people ask this question, and this is what I do to convert my pbass off live foods.
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Heres what to do to condition them:

--------------DO NOT THROW THE FEEDERS IN ALL AT ONCE! start to feed them by throwing one feeder at at time....let the bass see you in front of the tank and hold your hand right above the water surface with the feeder....when you have their attention..drop the feeder.....if they hit it immediately-great! if not, wait untill they dispatch that feeder...eat it. then repeat with every feeder....this is a little time consuming but will condition them to hit whatever drops to the water.....after a week of using this process the bass will come to the surface awaiting you to drop the food and will hit the feeders with tenacity!!!
-----------------once you've accomplished this...have some freeze dried krill at hand....after approx 2 feeders drop a krill in the tank....it will be hit! but dont be discouraged if they spit it out....keep up the process...feeder....krill....feeder....then cut back to dropping krill only....they will take it. eventually they will nail the krill just as they did with feeders...then you can continue the cycle by trying other foods to see what they may prefer better........and every so often give em some feeders to keep them on their toes!! This is a fool-proof method of breaking them of live food and it works.
good luck....and after they start hitting the surface...add a mop to your aquarium supplies
Also...dont start too early...fatten them up until they are 6-7" before converting them over, by this time they should be nice and healthy and ready for other foods.
*Cichla properly converted feeding on thawed shrimp
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I got mine on krill first and then eventually on to pellets. All I did was sit the pellet on the top of the tank and then I would flick it so it would kind of skip across the top of the water. At first they would chase it and then stop when they saw the pellet. Then they would "accidently" comp on it and then spit it back out. (even if they get it in their mouth and spit it out, that is awesome progress! It means your close) They will eventually swallow one! Good luck!

Yeah Halp you are just lucky, that bass you got never ate live food for the whole time I had it. However we were talking about Armatus or Paraya witch are two fish that are hard as hell to covert off of live.

only 2 predators I have is a 5" Bichir and a 5" African Leopard Ctenopoma. Biggest Leopard I've ever seen. I added like 4 corydidas and it ate all them up like cheerios.