I'm going to try hydrated tonight. I'm also having problems with the BG not wanting to hang on to the dry Optimal BG pellet. Interesting, I did not notice this problem when feeding Sportsman Choice last summer or Optimal BG Jr last fall.
So I just came up from feeding hydrated Optimal BG. All I can say is WOW! what a difference hydrating made. I saw ZERO rejections. I am going to increase my feed amount by 50% right away and probably more as I see how it goes. I lacked a "recipe" for hydrating so I went with 3 parts pellets to 1 part water. Moisture content was ok. What ratio do you guys use?
Bill, I don't really have a ratio, I just add water until it looks right, then let it sit for 2-3 minutes, then stir it up and let it set another couple minutes. My experience is that it will soften much faster than aquamax, which my bluegills also ate much better when softened.
I totally believe that softened pellets give my fish an edge. I understand the difficulties involved with producing, packaging, shipping, and storing soft pelleted feed, but I would love to give it a try if available. I hand feed only, so that gives me an edge over mechanical feeders in this regard.
