> Geoff, my bluefin killies will take prepared foods.
> I brought back some from FLA recently, and they seem
> happy to get trout starter.
That is good news. While it doesn't have a reputation
for being fussy, F. notatus not only will take regular
and veggie flakes, but if I leave some duckweed in an
aquarium and leave for the weekend, the duckweed is
gone or considerably decimated when I return. In a
pond or back yard container, the duckweed might stay
ahead of them. Will that work with other native
killies?
People raising tropical killies who find them
resistant to taking flake food, may wait until the
next generation when fry are being weaned off of baby
brine shrimp and will include something which
shamelessly will eat anything, such as like sized
gardneri fry or Endler's livebearer fry. When small,
crumbled pieces of flake food are fed, the fish
unaccustomed to the commercial food will often follow
the example of those feeding.
Notice that fish used as feeding models should be
easily distinguished from the species they are placed
with. I don't know that one would have notatus fry or
others they could use this way in a N.A. native tank
or tub, but there must be other "role models" which
could be used.
If you don't have a problem with briefly mixing
natives and tropicals in an aquarium, there are a lot
of livebearers who could serve in that role.
All the best!
Scott
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