Flame Angel not eating - HELP!

villi

villi

New Member
I have my flame angel, sleeper goby, a small blue tang, b&w ocellaris, and a lyretail anthis undergoing hypo in my 20g QT right now. Ich kept occuring in my DT (just the flame and blue tang), so I had to put them in QT that was not completely cycled. I did almost daily 25% water changes to help them out also added AmQuel+ with the water changes. I put them in QT and hypo around 1/25, and I last saw ich on 1/31 (blue tang).
The flame was eating well until about 2 weeks ago; the flame started taking and spitting out the mysis. At this point ammonia was zero and nitrites were hovering just under one. I stepped up the water changes. I also started adding brine to the mix. He was eating brine but not mysis.
Fast forward to yesterday. I finally have nitrites down to almost undectectible (~.1). The other parameters have been consistent for awhile (at least two weeks). Temp-79, pH-7.8-8, salinity-11ppt(1.0085), ammonia-0, nitrates <10. The flame angel stopped eating yesterday. He comes up close and looks, then swims away. Tried just brine, tried brine with fake garlic juice, tried brine with real garlic juice and chunks. He just looks and swims away.
One other side note - his fins have been starting to look tattered, but I havent seen anyone approach him. He has a corner and no one really comes close to it when he is there. I also have a 5.5g QT running if he needs to be isolated.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
are you only feeding mysis? pull him out so that he doesnt have to fight for food. Get him eating again. Try Pygy angel food forumla with algae. This is more of its natural diet. Cut this up into smaller chunks. I take a sharp knife and cut about a 1/4 sliver off and then finaly chop that up into smaller bit sized pieces. Mix in an algae sheet once a week and the mysis as well. Frozen brine shrimp has little nutrition so stay away from it.
 
villi

villi

New Member
Ok, so I had the flame angel trade places with the other clowns. The flame angel is now in the 5.5g QT by himself, and there are now three ocellaris in the 20g QT. Hopefully the clowns can play nicely for the next 10-13 days (3 more hypo, then bringing salinity up).
I am having trouble finding the pygmy angel formula locally; 5 local places have the regular angel stuff, but not pygmy formula. SWF doesn't carry it. I found one another co. selling it, but they only ship on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month; missed it by a day. I will continue to try mysis, garlic, formulas I and II until I find the other formula.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks!
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by villi
http:///forum/post/2969532
Ok, so I had the flame angel trade places with the other clowns. The flame angel is now in the 5.5g QT by himself, and there are now three ocellaris in the 20g QT. Hopefully the clowns can play nicely for the next 10-13 days (3 more hypo, then bringing salinity up).
I am having trouble finding the pygmy angel formula locally; 5 local places have the regular angel stuff, but not pygmy formula. SWF doesn't carry it. I found one another co. selling it, but they only ship on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month; missed it by a day. I will continue to try mysis, garlic, formulas I and II until I find the other formula.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks!
The Angel formula is great, but this fish will eat anything. Pick up a formula food, or a good frozen that has a variety of meats and plants. Is he eating at all in the smaller tank?
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
Algae sheets are another great way to feed him. Dont feed just the sheets. Mix it up but try those and see if he will eat it.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
I feed my fish, including my Cherub Angel, Marine Supreme by Pro Salt. It is a very excellent blend. You can make your own food too.
 
villi

villi

New Member
...a little. I don't know if it is because of isolation, or if it was the formula II, but I think he actually swallowed some food. He wasted a ton because the pieces weren't small enough, but I believe a very small amount was swallowed. He kept taking some in and 95% got spit back out, over and over until tiny pieces finally went down.
I also tried mysis, and while 99% was wasted, I do believe he might have swallowed a tiny piece or two. He was also picking on the glass an PVC.
So the isolation or formula II...don't know, but I am fine with that. Thanks sep and crypt, I was so focused on the LFS telling me he will always eat brine that I didn't think about the fact that algae is a huge part of a flame angel's diet.
I will update with tomorrow's feeding.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by villi
http:///forum/post/2969671
...a little. I don't know if it is because of isolation, or if it was the formula II, but I think he actually swallowed some food. He wasted a ton because the pieces weren't small enough, but I believe a very small amount was swallowed. He kept taking some in and 95% got spit back out, over and over until tiny pieces finally went down.
I also tried mysis, and while 99% was wasted, I do believe he might have swallowed a tiny piece or two. He was also picking on the glass an PVC.
So the isolation or formula II...don't know, but I am fine with that. Thanks sep and crypt, I was so focused on the LFS telling me he will always eat brine that I didn't think about the fact that algae is a huge part of a flame angel's diet.
I will update with tomorrow's feeding.
That is how they eat though. They take in a piece then keep spitting it out and sucking some back in. They eat small pieces. Don't bother with a large amount, that will foul the water. Break it up with your fingers.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Eh, I use food that does not have a gel binder. I break off what I need, defrost it with some vitamins added, then just rub it between my fingers under the water. Everyone pigs out.
 
villi

villi

New Member
I started with a 1/16th of a cube and used a knife to chop it up. I'll just make sure I do a better job tomorrow...some of the pieces ended up bigger than his mouth.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by villi
http:///forum/post/2969688
I started with a 1/16th of a cube and used a knife to chop it up. I'll just make sure I do a better job tomorrow...some of the pieces ended up bigger than his mouth.
Go with food without the Gel, or you can cut it even smaller. It is up to you. Either will work.
 
villi

villi

New Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2969687
Eh, I use food that does not have a gel binder. I break off what I need, defrost it with some vitamins added, then just rub it between my fingers under the water. Everyone pigs out.
Yeah, I am not a huge fan of the gel binder. Pain in the butt to prepare for feeding. Once I get everyone settled back into the DT (and eating) in two weeks, I need to see what else is out there.
The only thing that the cubes are good for are for feeding my cleaner shrimp that were left in the DT, to prevent them from picking at the RBTA. I can basically hand them each a cube and the 2 shrimp have at it.
 
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