Feeding a geometric pygmy hawk

suta4242

Member
I have two p.inermis in my QT. They are about 2 and 1.3cm in size.

I got them a week ago and the smaller of the two eats like a raptor (live brine and a little frozen mysis).

But I haven't seen the big one eat at all. They appear healthy - no flashing, spots etc.. I just think the bigger one is on a hunger strike.

What do other pygmy hawk owners feed their fish?

Should I try live amphipods to see if he's interested? :rolleyes:

cheers
 
I had mine for about 2wks before I saw it actually eat.

All of the ones I saw in the LFS has sunken stomachs and the one I got was the best looking of the bunch. They were cheap and I really had to have it so I brought it home.

I feed a mix of NLS flakes, NLS pellets, Spirulina brine and PE Mysis all mixed and soaked in Kent Garlic Extreme. Now the only thing I have seen the little guy eat was the Mysis but it tears it up now!
 
I got mine before I started using a QT. He went right into my DT and dissapeared. I would occationally see him from week to week. It took him a few months, before he would come out regularly. He wasn't even coming out to eat. I asssume he was eatting pods.

He now comes out to eat and I can usually see him most of the time. He likes to eat frozen mysis and brine and sometimes he'll eat the prime reef flakes and hykari S pellets.

Does his stomach appear to be getting thinner?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14198516#post14198516 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by falconut
Does his stomach appear to be getting thinner?

Yes.

Other than that he appears completely healthy. As I said no external signs of disease and he breathes at a normal rate. No flashing, spots etc...

I'm worried if he doesn't start to feed soon, he'll get to a point of no return. Theres plenty of pods etc in the main display but I can't risk the health of my established fish by releasing him prematurely.:(

I was wondering if bigger prey might entice him?:confused: I'm going to try rounding up some live amphipods. I bought them as a pair, and it'd be a shame to lose one to starvation.


cheers
 
Yay! I just saw him take an amphipod:smokin:

I think he's been having a hard time adjusting to captivity and the barren QT.:rolleyes:

At this stage even if he only eats live food I'm happy. I can always wean him to frozen later!But he's still pretty thin so I hope he hasn't reached a point of no return:(



cheers
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14214259#post14214259 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dvmsn
Any signs of aggression?

No. Apparently they had about 10 of them in stock and these two were behaving more like a pair than any of the others. I think the retailer was fairly honest about this.

I've read all the old threads on p. inermis here and was a bit concerned about that too.:rolleyes: If it ever gets to a point where there is real aggression I'll have to rehome one. They'll be in quarantine for a couple of months as I'd like to grow them up a bit before they hit the display. So hopefully any disharmony will show up.


cheers
 
I had one, but the guy would only eat Live food. A real pain. I tried multiple techniques to get him to eat. He is still alive gave him to my buddy. I think he eats like copepods in his tank because it has probably been a total of a year owning him. Still only eats live food though and he is to slow to keep up with the other fish in both of the tanks.
 
Time for an update.:rolleyes:

At about 4 & 2.5 cm in size, they've grown a lot but are still too small for my DT.
Yesterday I transferred them from a small QT where they appeared to get on well, to my frag tank so they'll have a better environment and feast on the pods. They spend most of their time upside down under a small piece of LR.

However, there may be trouble in paradise. I just witnessed the larger one evicting the smaller from the rock. At first I thought it was a bit of dominance but I watched the big hawk bully the smaller fish into a nearby corner and he charged forward as though he was about to bite. :confused:

So I'll be keeping a close eye on the 'couple' in case they need to be separated. Must admit this really surprised me as its been 6 months since I bought them and this is the first time I've seen any aggression. :mad:
 
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