feeding PBT

clayspst

clayspst

Active member
So I order a few fish from live aquaria (always have good livestock) I ordered a large PBT, bristle tooth tomini tang and a rabbit fish. All are doing great, the one problem the PBT wont/hasn't eaten. All the fish were received Friday the 5th. I have tired nori, frozen brine mysis, flakes and pellets and he has touch anything. He still hides a lot. Any ideas on how to get him to eat? Does anyone know what liveaquaria feeds there fish?

other fish in the tank:
Foxface, 04 chromis, 02 blennies, 02 clownfish, 01 yellow coris wrasse and a leopard wrasse.
 
Can you see the outline of the spine?

If it's still hiding it's not likely to eat in front of you. Does the fish hide all of the time, or just when you can see it?

Shred some nori, sprinkle it in the tank and leave the room. That can trigger a feeding response that a clip of nori won't...new tangs have to learn what the nori clip is for.

An auto feeder might also help.

PBT's are usually pretty bold, if yours is hiding a lot it's important to keep the stress level low.
 
No you can't see the spine he is in great heatlh. I do feed then leave where he cant see me. When im not in the room he does swim around. I do have an auto feeder with pellets and no luck with that either. I will do the sherd nori thing and see how that goes.
 
I would try putting the nori on a piece of rubble rock use a rubber band. Spectrum pellets and Omega one veggie pellets my PBT loves them!
 
+1 live brine. Also..... Give to fish a day or two, its freaking out right now! He will eat when he feels comfortable
 
New fish, especially large (older and harder to acclimate) ) ones can hold out a lot longer than a week. Not time to panic yet. IME, new tangs will almost always eat meaty stuff (live brine, mysis) first. IMO & IME; a fish that isn't eating, even after he's been offered a variety of good foods, isn't going to start just because you offer something else. Is this tang in a QT or your DT? IF the DT, is he grazing on LR at all? If he is, I don't think you have a problem (except with the possible results of not using a QT). If he isn't even grazing a little, it may be something to be concerned about. The LR is a source of natural food for him, it may take longer to accept any prepared food.
 
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Keep us updated. I'm looking to order a PBT from LA myslf. From what I've read, you've probably got a really good specimen.

Hope everything works out--post some pics :)
 
MrTuskfish said:
Watch L.A.- Divers den too. They often feature some magnificent PBTs.
Click to expand...

I got a small one from DD in May 2010, it is a great fish! Has more than doubled in a year, this fish ate food from day one in QT. He eats everything and anything. I would highly recommend DD. :celeb1:
 
I got one from LA and he also ate from day 1 in a QT tank. He was the only fish and I think that helped him acclimate to prepared foods without the stress of tankmates. After 2 months, he was added to the display and has been doing well. Since your PBT was put right into the display, there is added stress, but he should begin to eat within a couple days. I second the live foods and shreaded nori. I would also soak the nori in seawater (w/ garlic and vitamins/selcon) to make the seaweed more palatable.
 
MrTuskfish said:
New fish, especially large (older and harder to acclimate) ) ones can hold out a lot longer than a week. Not time to panic yet. IME, new tangs will almost always eat meaty stuff (live brine, mysis) first. IMO & IME; a fish that isn't eating, even after he's been offered a variety of good foods, isn't going to start just because you offer something else. Is this tang in a QT or your DT? IF the DT, is he grazing on LR at all? If he is, I don't think you have a problem (except with the possible results of not using a QT). If he isn't even grazing a little, it may be something to be concerned about. The LR is a source of natural food for him, it may take longer to accept any prepared food.
Click to expand...
x2...I have mine for about 12-13 years now and it's constantly grazing around the tank....a balanced diet of greens and small meaty foods along with good current, lots of swimming space and also rock work with caves to feel secure ....
 
hes the biggest fish in the tank about 5inchs

Update i havent seen him eat but he is picking at the rocks now which is a good thing.
 
clayspst said:
hes the biggest fish in the tank about 5inchs

Update i havent seen him eat but he is picking at the rocks now which is a good thing.
Click to expand...

If he's picking at the rocks that's a good sign. I have a special trick to get tangs to eat. Instead of feeding an entire sheet of nori, what I do is putting the sheet of nori in the tank water and rub it with your fingers to break the nori into small pieces. The pieces float around the tank and tangs usually respond to it. Try that and see if it works.

You can also try tying the nori to a liverock with a rubberband.
 
Way back when mine were new they went crazy for omega one veggie FLAKES of all things--you would have thought I put filet in there!!!!

Mine will alos kill for Hikari A pellets for your sized one.
 
I picked up a large PBT from live aquaria a few moths back. He was not eating what I put on the tank but was grazing. Nori wrapped around a rock did the trick.
 
I would recommend calling LA and asking what they were feeding it before you got it. I have done this before with luck. Also I do metronidazole in the water in the QT with them for the first week on all my fish. Something about it settles their stomachs, kills bacteria or something and seems to work. I almost lost some tank raised clowns from Divers den before doing the metronidazole. They wouldn't eat until about 3 days into the metro. Then they ate everything they could catch.
 
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