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  1. #1
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    Feeding Yellow Perch

    Since i've had the perch, i've never been to happy about their feeding.. they just never really hit it to hard (floating pellets). i bought feed trained, but i guess having started the system with minnows (which the yp ate after their first week) they probably prefer the live food.. so i've been looking for ideas and on another forum (pond boss - i didn't realize that was you over there until this week brier?!)
    anyways, on that board they were talking about feed training so i took a small tupperware and filled it half way with pellets, and added water..
    the next morning when i went to feed, i used the wet pellets and gave them a little squeeze so they would sink (squeeze em hard and they sink fast, don't squeeze them enough and they float) and the perch went nuts for the feed..i even watched 2 come to the surface for pellets during what can now be described as a feeding frenzy..so it's been over a week now, and i can finally tell the fish are growing.. yay! now i just need to get a few more fish and figure out how to warm up the water a little (3 55 gallon tanks on the floor-shoulda insulated before i put them down.. maybe i can retrofit one tank at a time)
    i like having the fish in glass tanks so i can see them.. the bluegill are very inquisitive, but not eating much (besides the 2 fat momma bg) - one of them regularly crosses between the 3 tanks through the no-hole slo's, gotta put some kinda cover over the tee's

  2. #2
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    In my experience with "feed training" wild caught BG, they will eat when they get hungry enough. Once they figure that out, they will be "trained", per se.

  3. #3
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    yeah, i'm not to worried about the bg, i think the water is just a little to chilly for them (about 68f) .. when they were outside they fed like crazy on the pellets..
    i'm just glad i can learn something new all the time, apply it and see results

  4. #4
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    hi keith, my perch were slow to eat also. i ground some feed up in a food processor to make
    a powder and feed them that. but the wet feed sound's like a good idea i'll give that a try
    the next time. thank's Big Al

  5. #5
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    Ultimately, I think they just need to figure out WHAT to eat and they will make the association from then on. I can't imagine any living thing starving itself to death when food is available. They are smart enough to figure it out; so, just provide the food when they are hungry. They will also mimic each other once it happens (I have seen blue gills in my tanks learn from the goldfish what to eat).

  6. #6
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    i ordered 25 yp from a guy in ohio, and expect delivery on the first of march.. i moved the larger bg/hbg/gsf in with the yp, there are 4 smaller sunfish left in the tank that the yp are going to go in..

    i'm going to set up a salt bath tank this weekend to dip the fish in before they go in their new home, i read somewhere to use a 3% salt bath for this, but can't find it now, so i'm not sure if that's what i read.. that would be about a pound of salt to 4 gallons of water?

    nevermind,, it's been a long week.. more like 4 oz.

    been trying to figure out this xenapp setup, reading to much computer stuff

  7. #7
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    I can't say anything about the dosage or effectiveness. I would doubt that dipping the fish in a 3% solution would do anything. You have your math right, but it is a lot easier with liters and Kg. A liter is a killigram, so 3% is 30 grams per killigram, or just over an ounce per liter.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

  8. #8
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    sometimes math and i don't get along.... i always get ppt and % screwed up

    i actually read about it over at pond boss, someone brough in yp and gave them a dip to kill off any parasites before putting them into his aquaculture system (using a diy rbc for his filtration)
    anyways, it made sense to me and didn't kill his fish

  9. #9
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    3% is 30 ppt, or just about what sea water is. I don't see what a dip would do to kill parasites. If the fish lives through it, I'll bet so would the bad guys. It may be like chicken soup, couldn't hurt.

    If you have no existing population, I would just add them to the system. If you have an existing population, isolate them in a separate system long enough to see if they are sick. Commercial breeders live & die by their rep, so they are squeaky clean when it comes to this stuff. Pet stores sell to rubes. Breeders sell to business people.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

  10. #10
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    Re: Feeding Yellow Perch

    yeah, i meant .3%

    wish i had a hospital tank system.. maybe this spring when the town has it's annual garage sale i'll find another tank or two..

    the perch are going to be added to the tank with 6 sunfish that are in the 2" to 4" range..
    i've got about 15 5" to 7" mix of yp and sunfish in the other tank.. the third tank is rosy red's and a couple crays, they're all interconnected
    i read somewhere recently that aquaculture studies are being done on mixed populations of yp and sunfish (bg), and initially it looks promising, but now i can't find it..

    it's snowing pretty good today, we expect 8 to 12 inches by this afternoon, and i was just able to see my lawn last week!
    having this little project going in the basement has helped me keep what little sanity i have left

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