4 days in... Clownfish not eating

ouchthathu

ouchthathu

Member
I recieved 2 Aquacultered Percs last thursday on a SWF order. Everything else is eating except for the 2 clowns.
I've tried.
Frozen Mysis
OSI Marine Flakes
Frozen Krill (small peices)
Omega one Pellets
Omega Two Pellets
Cyclopeze
NutriFin Max
and HBH Super Soft Pellets
They aren't even picking at it. The clowns are not being harrassed in any way, they do appear skitish when you come near the tank but will come back out with no movement. They still have all thier color but are starting to show that warning sign of heavy breathing that I've seen when fish are stressed. Help?
Everything else in the order (2 anthias, Coral Beauty, and Bicolor blenny) are doing fine and enjoying an all you can eat buffet of variety foods!
 
clown123

clown123

Active Member
when u feed them walk away from the tank there still scared if they dont eat in 2days then get worried!
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Hey Ouch,
I had the same issue. I bought a mated pair of gold band and they turned their nose up at any food. I bought some garlic and soaked their dinner for 20 mins.
Threw it in the tank and now they eat like pigs.... :joy:
 
ouchthathu

ouchthathu

Member
when u feed them walk away from the tank there still scared if they dont eat in 2days then get worried!
Yeah, I've tried that one too... no go.
I bought some garlic and soaked their dinner for 20 mins.
I'm not too familiar with the whole garlic routine, that one I havent' tried yet. What was it that you soaked that they liked?
when you soak it in garlic... is it straight garlic juice from fresh garlic or a special marine blend you get at the LFS?
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Hey Ouch,
I bought this small bottle for $20 bucks. Clown is right, it's pricy. It is designed specificially for fish and not for humans....
I went to my LFS and picked some up. Mine is from Kent. I would share if you were local!!!!!
Take a little cup and put the amount you want to feed and use one drop(the bottle has a medicine dropper built in) and let it set for 20 mins.
Then add some water from your tank to disolve.
Kill the pumps
Pour in the mixture and step far enough away, but still able to see if they eat. They should go to town.
I did this 2 times and the third time they were eating like pigs....
I put it on frozen mysis the first time(they did ok)
2nd time, I used frozen Brine Omega 3 and they LOVED it....

I still put it on their food since my female has a touch of brook.

Hope this helps.
Good luck!
 
ouchthathu

ouchthathu

Member
Picked up some Kent Garlic. Soaked a bit of brine, cyclopeze, osi flakes, and mysis in it for 30minutes. I took the clowns and isolated them to the refugium where there would be no competitive feeding (I wanted to make sure they had the chance to feed and the other fish didn't chow it all down first).
The food has been floating in the fuge now for 15minutes... thay haven't even taken a passing notice at it. Not a bite and spit,,, nothing.
Although on the outside they appear 100% healthy (bright color, small bursts of speed), not eating is definitly starting to take a toll. They have now slowed down and are gulping (or whatever it's called when they look like they are hyperventalating).
Is there anything I can do before it's too late? :help:
 
clown123

clown123

Active Member
well if u just moved them today of course there not gonna eat now they have a total diffrent setup now u have 2 worry!
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Hey Ouch,
How are your fish doing. :thinking: I would agree, when moving the fish, they will not eat. Did you leave them in the sump or did you move them back in with the other?
 
ouchthathu

ouchthathu

Member
How are your fish doing. I would agree, when moving the fish, they will not eat. Did you leave them in the sump or did you move them back in with the other?
They are still in the Fuge... still not eating (tried a bit of garlic soaked Brine, mysis and Cyclopeze this morning). Color is good, still heavy breathing and now they are hanging at the bottom, breathing but not moving much.
I didn't really think about what affect moving them would have on them (my stupidity), I felt like I needed to move them to a more low key environment, the other fish were going nuts when I fed the garlic soaked food and were not leaving them much to snap at after 2min.
If I give them a Formaline bath now to treat for early brook, I'm afraid it would stress them even more.
 
clown123

clown123

Active Member
i hate to brake it to u but they might be ojn there way to fish heaven were they can eat all the food they want! sorry if they die
 
ouchthathu

ouchthathu

Member
They are still alive... and I'm still trying.
Yesterday one of the clownfish would at least look at the food (he would chase it but not bite). I did another mix of cyclopeze, mysis, krill and garlic and now at least one of them is eating (taking small amounts of cyclopeze).
The other still shows no interest, the one that is eating is now moving throughout the refugium instead of staying in once place. Now if I can just get his buddy to eat... :notsure:
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
are you noticing any lack of coloring on them at all or fading.being in yor sump be sure you dont have too much water flow going through this could tire them ot causing more stress.as for the galic extreme add 1 drop per every 10 gal of tank water include added water for sump.also you can add some selcon directly to the tank also its a vit suppliment for.this will help keep his amune system up while hes not eating.I always dose my new additions with melafix for the 1st 3 days of purchase this help reduce stress and help fight any bacterial or fungal infection they may have come in contact with. as for feeding the new commers they are most likely not going to eat or come out while you are near I would however ditch the brine shrimp it has little to no nutritional value to sw fish
 
mr_bill

mr_bill

Active Member
Are they still doing ok?
I would of kept them in the main tank. Have you asked the LFS what they were eating before? The garlic thing is not as hard or as expensive as it sounds. Do you have some raw cloves in the house right now? If so... take a small glass, chop up 2 cloves in long strips and then once in half. Place them in the glass and then add enough of your tank water so that the pieces are all covered. Let that sit for 2 hours occasionally stiring and then pull the large chunks out. You will now have some very garlic'y (made that word up) salt water for you to soak your food in. I recommend pellet or flake because more often than not thats what the LFS was using.
Good luck
 
ouchthathu

ouchthathu

Member
d are you noticing any lack of coloring on them at all or fading.being in yor sump be sure you dont have too much water flow going through this could tire them ot causing more stress
No fading or discoloration at all... they are not in the sump but in a low flow 15gl refugium that I have (only pushes about 20gl/hr through it). I moved them to the fuge because I was afraid that *when* they started feeding they wouldn't get any because all the other fish were voracious monsters and eat everything so quick. I also wanted to make sure there were no other fish around to stress or pick on them.
The one that is now eating a little has stopped huffing and puffing and is now alot more livelier. The other is still hanging close to the bottom and not eating anything, still huffing and puffing.
I recommend pellet or flake because more often than not thats what the LFS was using.
I put a few Omega 3 and Nutrifin Max pellets in this afternoon but they both completely ignored it.
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
try adding a small powerhead to the sump to get more water movement 20 gal per hr ina 15 gal isnt much of a water movement for them causing lack of oxygen .good luck
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
Originally Posted by Eaglephot
My clown eats frozen brine.
brine shrimp is the worse thing to feed any sw fish they have little to no nutritional value its like living on popcorn you will get full but eventualy die of malnutrition(starve to death)
 
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