Potters Angel Won't Eat

[hogcr8]

I bought a potters angel from my LFS. He had been quar. and eating but after acc. him for 3 1/2 hours, I placed him in my main tank. Leaving the lights off for 24 hours he looked great and the other fish were not aggressive towards him but he stopped eating. On the third day I noticed he was covered with what looked like ICK. I gave him a 90 second fresh water dip and placed him a a quar. tank but he is still not eating (the white spots are now gone). I have tried Mysis, frozen brine, live brine, and Nori. I am at a loss. I think he has about another 3 or 4 days to live if he doesn't eat. Any suggestions.
Thanks
Cory
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate .15
Sal 1.024
PH 8.2

 

[jon321]

Live rock and lots of it. Do you have any live caulerpa or other macro algae? Formula 2 flakes are also good.
Jon

 

[hogcr8]

Right now he is in a quar. tank with no live rock but he seems to have gotten rid of all the white spots (I think because of the fresh water dip) so I was thinking about putting him back in the main tank. I just didn't want to rush putting him in the main and then him breaking out with ICK or whatever it is and have to dig him out again. That would be bad news......

 

[alyssia]

I did lots of research on Potter's b/c I wanted one. They have a dismal survival rate in captivity. Getting them to eat is a big part of the problem. They need tons (as in thousands of pounds) of LR to survive, and should only be kept in public aquariums that can provide that.

 

[hogcr8]

I took the jump and put him in the main tank. The other dwarf angels are leaving him alone and he seems to be pecking at the rock and the bottom so maybe all he needed was some tender loving care and lots of prayers. I will re-post any changes. Thanks to all. I love this site cause you folks really care and help a lot........ Til next time
Cory

 

[lion_crazz]

I am sorry, Cory, but this is definitely not a fish that should be kept in the home aquarium. Alyssia is right in that they need thousands of pounds to survive the long haul.
Good luck with the fish.

 

[renogaw]

wow i'm glad i didnt buy one then. my lfs was selling one for $65. and i couldnt justify buying it no matter how nice it looked.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by HogCr8
I took the jump and put him in the main tank. The other dwarf angels are leaving him alone and he seems to be pecking at the rock and the bottom so maybe all he needed was some tender loving care and lots of prayers. I will re-post any changes. Thanks to all. I love this site cause you folks really care and help a lot........ Til next time
Cory

How many angels do you have in there? How big is your tank?

 

[beth]

The white spots (ich) will return. You need to perform hyposalinity while the fish is in the QT. How big is your QT, and is it cycled?
Take a look at the hyposalinity post in the FAQ Thread at the top of this forum.

 

[hatessushi]

Making that jump and putting the Potter in the MT may have infected all the reswt of your fish with ich. That's why it is always stressed on this forum to go slowly. If the fish was in the QT and had ich it should have stayed there for the duration of hypo treatment. You will probably need to hypo all of the fish now.

 

[hogcr8]

Just wanted to let you all know that so far the potters is doing VERY WELL. After reading Alyssa's post I do hope that he survives the long haul but so far he is eating frozen brine soaked in garlic, picking at the rock and seems to have a lot of energy. I have a 90 with about 125 lbs of rock so hopefully that will be enough to sustain him. Thanks to all for the input.
Take care
Cory

 

[crox]

Do you have a pic of him?

 

[hogcr8]

Not the best pictures in the world. Had to take them with my phone. Don't even know if you will be able to see the attachments, but he seems to be doing GREAT. Going to add a long Nose Butterfly tonight........

 

[alyssia]

Unfortunately frozen brine has no nutritional value at all. Have you tried to get him to eat mysis instead?
Good luck with him, I hope he does well! :joy:

 

[hogcr8]

It is kind of a bummer that frozen brine has no nutrit. value. I soak the Brine in Selcon for about a hour before feeding. I do put Mysis in the tank but it seems that no one in the tank wants to eat it. I will keep trying with the Mysis because I know it's better for the fish. Thanks for the input.
Have a great evening.........
Cory

 

[hogcr8]

Just an update. The potters angel is still doing very well. He still does not seem to be eating the brine or mysis but I see him picking at the glass and rocks all the time. Figure a fish can't surive for 4 weeks without food so he has to be eating something.........

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by HogCr8
Just an update. The potters angel is still doing very well. He still does not seem to be eating the brine or mysis but I see him picking at the glass and rocks all the time. Figure a fish can't surive for 4 weeks without food so he has to be eating something.........

Have you tried seaweed?

 

[hogcr8]

I used Nori while he was in the QT but have not tried it since. That might not be a bad idea to try again now that he may not have as much stress and may at least pick at it.
Thanks for the idea........
Cory

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by HogCr8
I used Nori while he was in the QT but have not tried it since. That might not be a bad idea to try again now that he may not have as much stress and may at least pick at it.
Thanks for the idea........
Cory

Hope he eats it!

 

[hogcr8]

Alyssia
Just thought I'd let you know that he is still alive and kicking. Still haven't seen him eat so he must be picking at the rock while the lights are off. Thanks for you help.
Take care
Cory