newbie question.

[moneylaw]

I got two clowns on Friday, and I tried feeding them flakes, pellets and frozen food (famous Rod's frozen food), but they haven't touch anything for 2 days. Is that normal? They seems to be moving around just fine, just not eating. I am worried. How long does it usually take a new fish to start eating? I know it depends on fishes, but I guess my question is what is the longest time it take before a new fish you get start eating. Thanks.

 

[trigger11]

Well, there are several factors actually.
1. Did you see the fish eating at the store? If so then my guess is they are not used to their new surroundings yet. How did you acclimate them? They may not be used to the water quality yet.
2. If you did not see the fish eating at the store then it is possible they are still in shock from all of the moving around. Could have been bad shipping.
3. Are the clowns wild caught or aquacultured? If wild caught will probably need to feed mysid shrimp, or some kind of live food.
If the clowns are aquacultured and water parameters are good then just need to give them some time.

 

[kazzy]

The only thing I can really add to this is that they may have been collected with cyanide(this is a real big may have), in which case they are doomed. This is probably only possible if they were collected somewhere besides the U.S., because it is banned in the U.S.

 

[moneylaw]

Originally Posted by trigger11
Well, there are several factors actually.
1. Did you see the fish eating at the store? If so then my guess is they are not used to their new surroundings yet. How did you acclimate them? They may not be used to the water quality yet.
2. If you did not see the fish eating at the store then it is possible they are still in shock from all of the moving around. Could have been bad shipping.
3. Are the clowns wild caught or aquacultured? If wild caught will probably need to feed mysid shrimp, or some kind of live food.
If the clowns are aquacultured and water parameters are good then just need to give them some time.
Didn't ask them to feed the fishes, so don't know whether they were eating or not. My guess would be they are wild caught. Even if they are wild caught, shouldn't they eat frozen food? Thanks for your reply.

 

[moneylaw]

Originally Posted by Kazzy
The only thing I can really add to this is that they may have been collected with cyanide(this is a real big may have), in which case they are doomed. This is probably only possible if they were collected somewhere besides the U.S., because it is banned in the U.S.
why would anyone use cyanide? I mean it is not like you only sell to your customers once. I mean, it is a business where you need to keep your customers happy so that they will keep buying from you. Is that really true that some people do that or is it just a rumor? How will I know whether the fishes are poison with cyanide? Thanks.

 

[kazzy]

Originally Posted by moneylaw
why would anyone use cyanide? I mean it is not like you only sell to your customers once. I mean, it is a business where you need to keep your customers happy so that they will keep buying from you. Is that really true that some people do that or is it just a rumor? How will I know whether the fishes are poison with cyanide? Thanks.
Because cyanide stuns the fish and you can literally just pick them up off whatever coral they landed on. It also tends to make their colors abnormally bright, therefore they are "prettier" specimens worth more money. And yes, probably hundreds of collectors used it at one point. Now there are not nearly as many, but there are some people who use it, especially in the Philippines.
P.S.
It is very difficult to discover whether a fish was collected with cyanide. They might not eat at all, or eat ravenously and die anyways. When you look at how dangerous a chemical cyanide is it's not really surprising what strange effects it has on fish.