CBB and food

[naturebatslast]

What's a good food to start a CBB on?

 

[JohnK]

I fed mine cracked open fresh little necks from the grocery store until it started taking prepared foods.

 

[~Flighty~]

Mine have almost all started right away on PE mysis.

 

[nickyblase]

mine eats PE mysis too, but when I got him from Aqua Addicts, I asked to see him eat before I brought him home.

Mine didn't really go for littlenecks. I tried, and the cleaner shrimp were all over it, but not the CBB.

Maybe soaking some mysis?

 

[Pat H.]

I fed mine cracked open fresh little necks from the grocery store until it started taking prepared foods.

I've fed mine muscles, little necks and some other kind of clam from the grocery store (steamers maybe?). Seems the muscles are it's fav. I'm still waiting for mine to take prepaired foods, but I think it's just getting spoiled. Doesn't seem interested in the goo, flake, pellet, mysis or brine shrimp and definately picks at my clams if I go too long without a fresh cracked muscle/clam.

 

[~Flighty~]

Have you tried putting prepared food in a cage?

 

[naturebatslast]

YAHOO!
It's here!

 

[JeremyAN7]

CBB. put rocks from MY tank in yoru tank. Aiptaisia for all!
I now declare I have an Aiptasia farm! Free to any good home!

 

[~Flighty~]

Where are the pics?

 

[naturebatslast]

I'm acclimating right now, pics tonight!

 

[JohnK]

PHreef-

If yours is fussy/spoiled like mine it can take a while. Mine went 6-12 months without ever trying mysis or anything prepared, then one day it just started to chow on brine and within a week or so it started eating anything I put in.

I'm guessing mine would have been a gonner without the clams, but they kept him going until he decided to stop being so picky.

 

[naturebatslast]

OK, it barely picked at mysis, and I think I'll go out and get small clam. How should it be presented? Chop some up and throw it in or actually try to present it?

 

[JohnK]

The way I always fed clams was to give the shell a gently whack with a hammer to break it into a few peices but not totally shatter it. This way the flesh is accessable to the fish but stays hanging onto the shell chunks so it doesn't blow all over the tank.
I would put the broken clam into a small acrylic container (specimin container, critter container with no top, DIY acrylic box) with a rock to sink it. Using the container helps to keep critters other than fish from getting to the clam and helps to contain the clam flesh so that if some doesn't get eaten it will be easy to remove.

Chopping up / using chopped clam IME hasn't worked well since it will end up all over the place so that little to none gets to the CBB, and a lot just goes to polluting the tank.

Be patient if the CBB doesn't go right for it. leave the clam in the tank for a couple of hours then remove what's left over. Offer a clam every day or so until the CBB gets used to going for it. Little necks worked well with my CBB, but it sounds like tastes vary so you might want to try different types of clams to see what gets it's attention.

good luck

 

[Pat H.]

Have you tried putting prepared food in a cage?

I've been meaning to try that. I'll put it on my "To do " list

PHreef-

If yours is fussy/spoiled like mine it can take a while. Mine went 6-12 months without ever trying mysis or anything prepared, then one day it just started to chow on brine and within a week or so it started eating anything I put in.

I'm guessing mine would have been a gonner without the clams, but they kept him going until he decided to stop being so picky.

That's good to hear. I'm trying to be patient, but when it starts picking at my clams I want it out...fast.

 

[Pat H.]

The way I always fed clams was to give the shell a gently whack with a hammer to break it into a few peices but not totally shatter it. This way the flesh is accessable to the fish but stays hanging onto the shell chunks so it doesn't blow all over the tank.
I would put the broken clam into a small acrylic container (specimin container, critter container with no top, DIY acrylic box) with a rock to sink it. Using the container helps to keep critters other than fish from getting to the clam and helps to contain the clam flesh so that if some doesn't get eaten it will be easy to remove.

That's basically what I do, except I don't use a container. I just pick out the shells afterwards. If you use muscles, they are very easy to open with a butter knife(and probably the cheapest to buy). I open them and leave the halves attached for easy cleanup.

 

[JohnK]

Hmm?

I think these guys (CBB's) vary a lot. Mine never seemed to notice mussels. Also it has never once been caught bothering my maximas.

Mine also ignores aptaisia, though I haven't started working on training it to eat them (feed the aptasia mysis so that the CBB eats the aptasia to get the mysis- obviously this doesn't work until the CBB starts taking mysis)

 

[Pat H.]

Oops! I meant "mussels" not "muscles"

 

[~Flighty~]

Putting the mussel in the microwave for 5 seconds will open it enough to get a knife in and pry it.

If it did go after the mysis at all I would pursue that avenue first. Try using anything that you have that could make a little bag or cage to put the mysis in so the tails stick out as it thaws. Later training them that food falls out of the sky is harder than training them to eat mysis. Letting them see the mysis move around in a turkey baster helps with that. A healthy CBB is very observant.

I have had several of the CBBs go after the clams in my tank, but it was never a sustained attack and never did any damage. Typically they would go for the little feathery things around the opening or the very edge of the mantle, but they all gave it up after a few days.

 

[naturebatslast]

I almost had trouble seeing this....after hiding for a few hours, and a 1/2hr of a little roaming, it seemed interested in the 2 rocks that have aptaisia's(!). But, time will tell.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Maybe my next tank, very nice fish