# German Blue Ram - Picky eater



## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

I've had a young a ram for 2 weeks now. He is such a picky eater that I'm going crazy trying to make sure he eats. He will NOT eat any flake food and I have tried 3 different ones. I finally stopped at Petco after work on Friday and picked up frozen brine shrimp. Lo and behold he ate like a little piggy! I don't like feeding frozen brine all the time so what else can I try? 










I also have 3 dwarf coral platys, 5 neon tetras, 6 guppies, and 2 angels.

I feed 2 times per day, morning and evening.

Not wanting to polute the tank I'm not sure what else to do. Fresh veggies?

Any advise would be very welcome.

Thanks.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

He may be eating. The scientific name for a ram is Mikrogeophagus, or, in English, Small earth eater. Eartheaters feed by sifting food - taking huge mouthfulls of fine sand and sifting out the food. Rams are not as spectacular in their sand sifting as some of their evolutionary relatives, but they still sift.
With flakes, they will often spit them out a few times to get them down to size. I think their senses are reading flakes as decayed plant matter, whatever they are made of. As they go into the mouth with their size, shape and texture, they get the plant debris treatment - a little crushing and chewing and spitting out to make them go down through their 'gill rakers'. 
People unaware of the biology of their rams often see this as simple spitting out of food, not realizing they go back to it, pick it up and swallow it when it's in a form more to their liking.
They know what to do with a big chunk of protein though. Those rare (in the wild) treats go right down the hatch before someone else gets them. That's why you see them devouring frozen food.

Does this make sense with what you are observing?


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## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

Thanks for the explaination, however, he isn't eating the flake at all. When I feed he simply swims around totally ignoring the flakes. At first I thought he just wasn't hungry since I noticed that my guppy fry were missing. but that was a week ago, and with the brine shrimp he went after it fast and furious from the moment it went into the tank. 

He seems happy and healthy enough and doesn't look underfed so maybe he is picking it up from the gravel later....?


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Most fish can't resist Frozen Blood Worms. My Rams eat them all the time. They also like Flightless Fruit Flies and Frozen Daphnia. I have never seen my Rams eat Flake Food. They will go after pellets for bottom feeders.


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## scooterlady (May 10, 2011)

Try sinking pellets. The Rams are bottom feeders, so they don't like going to the surface to eat...


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## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

Thanks for the replies.. Next time I'm at the pet store I'll get some sinking pellets. Any particular brand/type?

For now I "tricked" him with a mixture of freeze dried bloodworms, Tetra Flakes, and Tetra chips. I mix it all together (small amts of each) in a little dish and put it all in at one time...He goes after the bloodworms and sometimes he misses and gets a flake. He sure spits that out quickly LOL

But he is eating! That's the important part. He doesn't seem to mind rushing around the top of the tank for the bloodworms. But if they would rather feed from the bottom I'll get the sinking pellets too. Should I soak the bloodworms first?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Just payed more attention to my gbr and he does eat flakes(then spits then out and eats again).I mix "NEW SECTRUM" small fish formula( .5 mm pellets) with my flake(tetra pro crisp) and new spectrum community fish formula (1 mm pellets) and "pre wet" as big country said (in jar with tank water).The food reaches all levels with ease(for timid fish).I supplement frozen 2-3 times a week.


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## thriftygranny (Sep 3, 2012)

GREAT!!! Thanks for the details. I will definately be feeding your way (prewet and getting pellets) I feel much calmer now! lol

You guys are so helpful and generous with your information and I truly appreciate it.


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