Help!! my male boxfish wont eat.

[myckei]

I have a male boxfish that will not eat. No matter what I offer it, it still wont eat. I tried frozen mysis,krill,planton,squid,crab,shrimp,live brine,formula 1,napa lettuse everything but my left arm!! I've tried the meat soaked in zoe or just plain, I've tried freeze dried. Nothing seems to work. I checked my water conditions and everything checked out at 0 and my ph is at 8.3. I even have a banded shrimp and emerald crab that he just looks at. I saw him eat at the lfs. There is nothing in the tank but damsels that stay out of his way. So what gives it's been 7 days.

 

[coconuttelegraph01]

it is common for this fish to be a problem feeder, and a fish that is fairly difficult to keep alive in captivity. From the sources i found is that to get one started the best foods are live blackworms and live enriched adult brine. early evening is the best time to feed (about 1 or 2 hours before lights out) it probably won't hurt to try a little after lights out either. be sure never to feed him at the top of the water as he may ingest air. In nature they take food from the substrate (LR or Sand) a common behavior is to blow into the sand bed to uncover buried food items. (feeding on the bottom of the tank will be your best chance)
Keep a real close eye on him. if he starts to look sick remove him from the system immediately as they are reported to have the highest concentration of ostracitoxin of any of the boxfish.
You probably knew all of this, but i thought i'd reply just incase.
good luck
[ September 04, 2001: Message edited by: CoconutTelegraph01 ]

 

[rmc]

I have had my male box fish for almost a year now and also purchased a female about 5 months ago. Coconut is right with all the info. When I got my first box it was the same thing, tried everything the book said. The problem is my box didnt read the book. My turned around when I added some Vita-Chem to the tank, not the full dose maybe 3/4 dose. Also they will only eat Life-Line both red and green (they prefer the green) and planton. Another thing they will also eat the flake Spriulina and you guessed right, off the top of the tank no matter how much I try to get it to sink. I also tried the sinking pellets they didnt work for me.

 

[puff(er) daddy]

DO YOU HAVE A HOSPITAL TANK? IF NOT I SUGGEST YOU GET ONE. SO WHEN YOU BUY A FISH FOR YOUR LFS HE CAN LIVE IN IT FOR A MONTH OR TWO SO YOU CAN MONITOR HIM. MAKE SURE HE'S FREE OF DISEASE BEFORE YOU ADD HIM TO THE DISPLAY TANK.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD HIM? IF YOU SAID YOU SAW HIM EAT BEFORE YOU BROUGHT HIM MAYBE HE'S JUST GETTING USE TO HIS NEW HOME. SOME TAKE LONGER THAN OTHERS TO AJUST.
JUST SUGGESTIONS HOPE EVERYTHING WORKS OUT.

 

[myckei]

Thank you everyone that replied. My box is now finaly eating. I got him to first start out with some napa lettuse on the advice from my lfs now he has finaly taken some formula one and mysis. Hopefully I can get him to take a larger selection of food to help him stay healthy, he was starting to get a little thin. I really am thankful to have all this support from you all!!