Auriga Butterfly not eating Help!!

[aharrow]

I need some suggestions. My Auriga Butterfly is not eating. He will eat a few bites and spit them out and then swim around the tank not eating anymore. Reminds me of kids that don't like their food. I have soaked everything in garlic. I have tried Marine One, Algae cubes, mysis, brine, and veggie flakes. Everything but the flakes is freeze dried that I soak in water and garlic and zoe. The other fish go nuts but he takes two bites and then swims around eating nothing. What to do?

 

[killafins]

how long has this been happening?

 

[nerdy]

In my little experience with butterflies is that they seem to really like LIVE brine shrimp. I am not sure why!!

 

[aharrow]

The tank has been setup for four months. water parameters are as follows:
Nh3 0
No2 0
No3 20
Salinity 1.020
Ph 8.2
Temp 78
The butterfly is about 6 inches the angel is about 2.5 inches and the damsel is about 1.5 inches. I will be getting a 150 gallon by the end of the summer to move them to as I know that they will outgrow this tank soon. I will try some live brine shrimp, I did notice that later on the butterfly was picking food off the bottom. So I do think that he is eating some just not as much as he should. Thanks for all your posts. This site really does help out a lot of us novices. I do read a ton of material on these fish and really try to do my homework and plan ahead. But sometimes it just doesn't go as planned. Thanks again, and if anyone has anymore suggestions that would be great

 

[brooklyn johnny]

How long have you had the auriga? This is an important question... if it's new and hasn't eaten yet that would be a big difference as opposed to a sudden stop in eating...
With that said, live brine shrimp, while it lacks nutrients, is a great food to get picky eaters to eat SOMETHING. They will eventually need to eat other things, but this is a good way to keep them in the beginning. Also, fresh clams and mussels also prove irresistable to new fish, especially butterflies. That's another reason for quarentine...
Good luck...
johnny