Barracuda won't eat

[jaques]

I got my fish fish in my 55 gallon tank. It's a four inch barracuda. I cannot get him to eat silversides or krill and my water tests good. Can you tell me why. Thanks

 

[michaeltx]

well its a preditor that will outgrow your tank very quickly.
its not a good tank specimen because of its open water nature and speeds.
It preys on live fish in the wild and again NOT a good choice for tanks. Why its not eating is probably stressed from being confined or not haveing live foods to go after.
I personally would take the fish back where you got it from and not return to that store.
welcome to the board~~!!
Mike

 

[lion_crazz]

I would mimic everything that Mike just said. Barracudas need a ton of space, even when they are small.
On top of everything that Mike said, barracudas do much better when in groups.
Furthermore, small barracudas are very young. For this reason, they do not make good aquarium candidates when they are this small. When they get bigger, they do not make good aquarium fish either though, since they get to be 5 feet long.

 

[nereef]

i agree. if you caught this fish, however, don't put it back in the ocean.

 

[thud]

I heard that they like the taste of hands. (make sure you're wearing something shiny like a wedding ring)
That will probably cheer him up.

 

[earlybird]

Originally Posted by thud
I heard that they like the taste of hands. (make sure you're wearing something shiny like a wedding ring)
That will probably cheer him up.
They also eat these

 

[rara12]

they get bigger then five feet. When i got scuba certified i was 5'10" and there was a baracuda bigger then me!!! I have seen them get to be like 8', not something to put in a 4' tank.

 

[vezina345]

Not that I am in agreement with having a barracuda but what kind is it, some of them only get about 1-2ft, still way too big for a 55g and considering they need alot of space I can't picture anything short of a public aquarium for housing one. The Great Baracuda gets very large but some of the Sennets are much smaller but are still cudas.
I definately agree with everyone else though and suggest taking it back to the shop it came from.

 

[thud]

I can't believe a store was actually selling one.
Thread starter - Did you catch this out of the ocean!?

 

[ophiura]

Oh, you do see them sold - quite commonly actually.
We had one in a 40,000 g system where I worked and the poor thing bashed its face into the glass. Not even appropriate for systems of that size. Eventually it was removed because they do get quite aggressive.