Finnally got one!!! Potters Angel..

[browniebuck]

I have never had a potters angel, and am by no stretch of the imagination an expert....however, I have had great success getting my fish to eat my own home-made frozen food. I have a flagfin angel that I was told to keep an eye on as it pertains to feeding....he took right to the home-made stuff. My recipe was (for my fish and invert only tank...no corals) one pound of raw shrimp, one pound of mussels (shucked and cleaned), one dozen oysters (I bought the pre-shucked ones, then cleaned them), a half pound cod filet, a third of a pound of scallops, about a quarter of a package of green algae, about a quarter of a package of red algae, and about 6-10 squirts of Garlic xTreme....EVERYTHING (including my mandarin that was added on Saturday) have taken to this stuff...you may want to add a drop or two of the garlic while thawing the food for the first couple times to entice the fish to eat it, but I didn't have to. Good luck....if you decide to try the homemade food and have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer anything for you.

 

[mony97]

That sounds awesome browniebuck, and should be a very good variety for the fish. I think I just may try making a batch on my next day off, I already have the raw shrimp and I could stop by a store and grab the rest. How long does one batch last you? And what algae are you using? the ocean nutrition stuff?
Also that is great that the mandrin took to it!! That is a fish I would LOVE to keep but as of now have no copepods and would not want to risk starving the little guy if he didnt eat prepared food

 

[browniebuck]

I have used both the Ocean Nutrition and the 2 Little Fishies brands...they all come in virtually the same sized packages (make sure that you rip/crumble the algae so that you don't have sheets of the stuff floating around...I rip mine into about penny sized pieces or a little smaller). My first batch (which was only a half batch to see if my fish liked it) lasted about 3 months, it made 3 quart sized bags (flattened out so that you can break it apart). My second batch made 2 gallon sized bags (made it Sunday). If you are married, have a significant other, or live with someone else....just know that it will not smell like roses while you are making the food....the garlic xTreme REALLY stinks (about $20 for the bottle...but it lasts).
All in all, it took me about an hour and a half (shucking the mussels was the worst part...there are a bunch of them in a pound!). If you have a food processor, it pretty much does the work for you after you get everything cleaned and shucked.
If you want to see a video of someone making this recipe...go to youtube and search for DIY fish food....guys name is limpits reef.

 

[mony97]

So its coming up on the two week mark and this is what knowledge I have gained.. Keep in mind I am not an expert but hope it is sound advise/ info on these guys..
The single biggest thing IMO is the fish itself, when I got mine he looked very healthy and not skinny at all, he was also very curious about what I was doing in front of the glass but would look for shelter if I got to close or moved quickly, all in all the fish was alert and had plenty of mass.
Second he is only the fourth fish into my tank, and all of the tankmates are very docile and had no interest in harassing him. This seemed to help immensely with the shyness and his comfort..
I also have plenty of LR for him to graze on, and left the back of the tank a little dirty so he could feed off that as well.
Last out of all the things I tried for the first week to get him to eat the single biggest thing that seemed to help was a very set schedule for feeding, I feed once a day at 10:30pm and if I am unable to feed at that time I will usually not feed. I turn off one of my powerheads when I feed as well, and he seems to know now that this means food and will swim all around with his tankmates and has started to take there lead by tasting and usually eating some prepared food.
Hopefully this helps or is interesting

 

[handbanana]

Hows he doing Mony?
That is one good lookin fish. Im sure he will eat soon enough. My clown nibbled on everything than spat it out. I got worried untill one day I saw him chowin down on copepods off the glass! I guess if the fish gets hungry enough it will find food. IDK tho.
Homemade food sounds interesting. I did not know fish liked garlic tho. Do they encounter this in nature and eat it? I cant see how they would but then the ocean never ceases to amaze me.

 

[mony97]

He is doing amazing and looks to have even gained some weight so I am stoked about that!!! He still nibbles on the prepared food and eats it occasionally but he has plenty of rock to keep him happy.. He is very bold for this type of fish I read over and over that they would be hide and go seek fish (me being the seeker of course), but he is never hard to find and is usually out and about all day.. Again stoked haha
And as for the garlic to the best of my knowledge they do not encounter this in nature, however, the aroma of the garlic is very enticing for fish and can also help with there immune system.. Which is why you will see people using it on difficult fish to try and get them to eat as well as using products like garlic extreme for the health benefits..

 

[handbanana]

Hmmm

that is interesting. I did not know that. Enticing to fish...revolting to vampires. who knew?
So I saw something ridiculously strange at snack time this morning that I thought I would share.
I usually feed when I get home from work since I leave ten minutes after getting up in the morning and like to shut down my power heads and watch them for a bit. My finicky clown wont eat the flakes that i have for snacks. at least i didn't think so. But I saw the more dominant clown actually take a bit of food in his(or her?) mouth and bring it down to the bottom of the tank for the other clown, who of coarse ate it. The weirdness continues.
I'm glad the potters doing good. relief there. its scary when something you've wanted for so long doesn't act according to plan. then fish rarely do.

 

[mony97]

That is one of the oddest things I have heard, fish sharing food haha that may have just brought a tear to my eye ..
And yeah the Potters has been quite a good adventure, I read a lot about these guys and there natural habitat. Funny thing is though I still gave myself a 50 50 chance and still found myself saying "well here goes nothing"..
Oh and I like your feeding routine, I dont treat them to snacks in the morning (P.S that may be where your phosphates are coming from that is feeding the cyano?) but do feed when I get home at night turn off one of the powerheads and enjoy the tank for a minute