Afraid it may be too late, but any help/advice appreciated

[DQDad]

I bought two pretty small false percs a little over a week ago. At the store they all tagged sinking pellets on the way down when I asked the LFS to feed them whatever they were eating. (I bought the same pellets they were eating) Now at home, I have questioned whether they were eating. I fear they are not. One, wont even chase food anymore, the other mouths things, but spits them out.

So far I have tried:
The sinking pellets (mouthed them, but spit them outfrom day 1 in my tank)
Marine flake that I have tried, pulverizing to very small pieces (they are pretty small fish) leaving flakes kind of big, and every size in between.
Frozen Mysis
and today, I picked up some live Brine (knowing its not the most healthy, but I wanted to see if they would chase something alive.

No luck.

They are FAR from as happy as they were when I brought them home. Chalking it up to a lesson learned, but if anyone has any other ideas, I fear the countdown is upon us.

(My rose goby, pistol shrimp and cleaner shrimp LOVE that they are not eating.)

 

[Rudimenta]

How long have you had them, after transport fish due tend to not eat due to the shock

 

[Rudimenta]

Wow bad typo can't correct...

 

[DQDad]

been well over a week maybe going on 2

 

[Rudimenta]

Mmm, wild or tank raised? If wild you can try some fresh shrimp, cut of the head and blend it. Can't believe they did not eat the brine... That's like candy to a six year old

 

[killagoby]

You might be able to soak the food in garlic

 

[mav3rick478]

Do you have pods in your tank, if so they can survive on them until they learn to eat. If not maybe buy a bottle of pods from your LFS if they sell and dump it in. I'm surprised they didn't eat the live brine shrimps.

 

[mbemount]

My go to food for picky clowns is PE Calanus. Yet to see a clown not eat when it's fed the PE Calanus.

 

[The Cat Burglar]

Try some frozen Lobster Eggs my clowns go nuts for the stuff.

 

[Serega]

Try live black worms. Usually fish go crazy for them. Any Petland Discount store by me carry them in stock. Good luck.

 

[DQDad]

Update:
So I lost the bigger of the two baby clowns. But, what is crazy about this whole experience is that while the bigger of the two, NEVER ate, or even mouthed anything, the smaller of the two always mouthed things but spit it out, I would have thought the sizes would have dictated the opposite behaviors. What is ALSO very interesting was the day the bigger of the two really started to decline, I pulled him out and set him in my brine shrimp tank, thinking if I had to go, and eating was not easy, throw me in a pizzeria for my final hours. Almost IMMEDIATELY the smaller of the two started swimming like a clown (both had kind of just shimmied in the water, much like I remember freshwater mollies swimming when I was a kid.) by swimming like a clown I mean serpentine like. He also IMMEDIATELY started eating brine (AFTER refusing for 3 days!) and has now started eating mysis, so much so that I will cut a frozen cube into quarters, throw it into a syringe and rest it in the flow of my filter return so every once in a while one gets pulled out by the water flow past the tip. This little sucker now CAMPS at the end of the syringe and yanks them out.

I think he will make it, LOL.

Thanks for all your help and thoughts.

My next issue is I have a baby bubble tip that will not put his foot down ANYWHERE.

 

[killagoby]

Update:
So I lost the bigger of the two baby clowns. But, what is crazy about this whole experience is that while the bigger of the two, NEVER ate, or even mouthed anything, the smaller of the two always mouthed things but spit it out, I would have thought the sizes would have dictated the opposite behaviors. What is ALSO very interesting was the day the bigger of the two really started to decline, I pulled him out and set him in my brine shrimp tank, thinking if I had to go, and eating was not easy, throw me in a pizzeria for my final hours. Almost IMMEDIATELY the smaller of the two started swimming like a clown (both had kind of just shimmied in the water, much like I remember freshwater mollies swimming when I was a kid.) by swimming like a clown I mean serpentine like. He also IMMEDIATELY started eating brine (AFTER refusing for 3 days!) and has now started eating mysis, so much so that I will cut a frozen cube into quarters, throw it into a syringe and rest it in the flow of my filter return so every once in a while one gets pulled out by the water flow past the tip. This little sucker now CAMPS at the end of the syringe and yanks them out.

I think he will make it, LOL.

Thanks for all your help and thoughts.

My next issue is I have a baby bubble tip that will not put his foot down ANYWHERE.

How long has this tank been up and running?