Female Cross Hatch won't eat PLEASE help.

[love2skiutah]

2 weeks ago I purchased a 5 inch female cross hatch from the divers den. It came in and the box was smashed and there was only about 3-4 inches of water in the bag. The fish was alive, but since there was no water in the bag and it was leaking, I did not acclimate and just put it into my tank. I called Live Aquaria and they were fine with that and they told me they would extend the warranty on the fish.

It came in very skinny and it didn't look good. It swims a ton and is not shy at all. It's the most active fish in my tank. For the first 4 days I tried frozen brine, mysis, krill, scallops, blood worms and pretty much every single piece of frozen food at my local stores. I have tried a dozen different dried foods and I even went to the grocery store and tried a handful of different raw seafoods. Every time I feed my tank it takes 1 bit and then spits it out.

Last week, I tried giving it live fresh water ghost shrimp and she is taking them. So for a week, she has been eating 5-7 shrimp and she has fattened up quite a bit.

I really do not like feeding her the shrimp and do not want to start feeding live guppies because of the aggression it causes with all the fish in the tank, plus the chance of disease. I really didn't know what else to do.

So at this point, she looks a lot healthier, but she will not take anything else. One of the fish stores told me to starve her a little bit and feed the shrimp every 3 days and try to get her to eat other foods.

I really need some comments on that and or other suggestions on getting her t eat. And when I say, I've tried every food, I'm telling you, I've spent about $100 trying literally all the brands of dry and frozen I could find.



On another note, my small male crosshatch came today and I am going to try and pair them up.

 

[MrTuskfish]

IMO & IME; a fish that refuses all normal foods isn't going to start eating when you find a "magic food". Everyone with the same problem seems to do the same thing and they't try every food suggested. Of course, if the fish does eat, the new food gets the credit. Just a thing with me, but a reasonably healthy fish will eat in time and throwing money (new food) at him won't do it. If she's eating shrimp, I think she'll be OK. She won't eat other foods because she gets her favorite. I'd feed her shrimp for a few more days (or until you're satisfied that she is healthy with a well-rounded stomach. ; then introduce normal foods. Pieces of raw shrimp. frozen Formula I, etc. Let her go a day without the live shrimp, next time 2 days, etc. As long as she eats when she gets the live food, she'll start eating the other foods sooner or later. I think the LFS that offered similar advice is right. Just don't give in too soon. Once she's fat enough, she can wait a few days for food.

These are very shy fish, especially for Triggers. It may take weeks before she starts to come forward at feeding time, but she should.

LA really stands behind their guarantee, a great place to do business with. I'm sure they reported the condition of the box to Fed-Ex.

 

[love2skiutah]

IMO & IME; a fish that refuses all normal foods isn't going to start eating when you find a "magic food". Everyone with the same problem seems to do the same thing and they't try every food suggested. Of course, if the fish does eat, the new food gets the credit. Just a thing with me, but a reasonably healthy fish will eat in time and throwing money (new food) at him won't do it. If she's eating shrimp, I think she'll be OK. She won't eat other foods because she gets her favorite. I'd feed her shrimp for a few more days (or until you're satisfied that she is healthy with a well-rounded stomach. ; then introduce normal foods. Pieces of raw shrimp. frozen Formula I, etc. Let her go a day without the live shrimp, next time 2 days, etc. As long as she eats when she gets the live food, she'll start eating the other foods sooner or later. I think the LFS that offered similar advice is right. Just don't give in too soon. Once she's fat enough, she can wait a few days for food.

These are very shy fish, especially for Triggers. It may take weeks before she starts to come forward at feeding time, but she should.

LA really stands behind their guarantee, a great place to do business with. I'm sure they reported the condition of the box to Fed-Ex.

Yes, Fed Ex reported it all and we took pictures. Thanks for the feed back, I appreciate it. I normally don't flip out, I think it's just because I dropped $565 on a fish, so I was panicking. haha

I will give it another week or 2 and keep feeding her these shrimp and give an update later on. I'll post some pics of my new Male Cross Hatch as well

 

[triggerfreak]

Just keep feeding her what ever she will eat and at the same time thrown in some of the other food with the shrimp and soon she should bite.I had a male crosshatch like this also.I used raw shrimp and raw fich and soaked them in garlic,selcon and zoa for a bit and eventually he started to eat the food and then was a huge pig.

 

[humaguy]

Agree with Tuskfish...very common for them to be very shy and not eat for the firt 7-10 days...ch are very poor shippers and it takes them a while to adjust..did you try fresh clam...mine do love that...also try sheets of green nori...mine favor green over red, brown and purple...
I recommend to avoid any garlic....Selcon is okay...I would also keep the lights off for a few daysmaybe 3-5 and then run only actinics or moons for another 3-5 and let her get comfy...the fact that she is eating the shrimp is a great sign...
good luck and please keep us updated...

 

[caribfan]

I realize it's not a cross hatch, but when I first got my male blue throat, he didn't eat for 28 days. I would feed the tank and then literally hide and wait for up to 20 minutes, my wife thought and still thinks i'm nuts.

He finally started eating on day 28, I had literally been keeping track of the days. This was in a QT as well, so he had no other real competition. I usually keep some green chromis in there as dither fish, but otherwise no serious competition. \

Food for thought.

 

[SDguy]

IMO & IME; a fish that refuses all normal foods isn't going to start eating when you find a "magic food". Everyone with the same problem seems to do the same thing and they't try every food suggested. Of course, if the fish does eat, the new food gets the credit. Just a thing with me, but a reasonably healthy fish will eat in time and throwing money (new food) at him won't do it.

I respectfully disagree, if for nothing else, than anyone reading this thread. I think it is important to try every food under the sun for a difficult to feed fish. Maybe triggers are different... I can't comment on them. But with butterflies, there certainly can be that magic food that triggers not only a tasting response, but most importantly, a SWALLOWING response! Suggesting trying all these foods is a waste, to me, seems irresponsible. If your point is that the fish isn't eating due to disease or some other issue, that is another thing (and not clarified in your post). But suggesting that "throwing money" at a $500 fish in regards to various foods is somehow foolish just really bothers me... sorry if I misunderstood your post.

Another important thing to try... even if a fish spits a food out the first time, after a few days, it may swallow it. Don't change foods too quickly.

 

[love2skiutah]

I respectfully disagree, if for nothing else, than anyone reading this thread. I think it is important to try every food under the sun for a difficult to feed fish. Maybe triggers are different... I can't comment on them. But with butterflies, there certainly can be that magic food that triggers not only a tasting response, but most importantly, a SWALLOWING response! Suggesting trying all these foods is a waste, to me, seems irresponsible. If your point is that the fish isn't eating due to disease or some other issue, that is another thing (and not clarified in your post). But suggesting that "throwing money" at a $500 fish in regards to various foods is somehow foolish just really bothers me... sorry if I misunderstood your post.

Another important thing to try... even if a fish spits a food out the first time, after a few days, it may swallow it. Don't change foods too quickly.

I do feed about a dozen different food through out the week. I feed 4-5 times a day, very heavy.

 

[humaguy]

I also agree that every food must be tried...all fish are diff...though, ime, all trigs love fresh clams...beyond that it is a roll of the dice...I feed pe mysis and brine/spir brine evry day...fresh clams/fresh shrimp (not all my fish like the shrimp) 1-2 a week, silversides 2 times a week, sheets of nori 3-4 times a week...nls pellets 2-3 times a week but am phasing them out of their diet...very few of the 20 or so trigs I have eat frozen krill, so I rarely, if ever, use it..just my .02 cents....

 

[kirkaz]

The fish was eating at Diver's Den or they wouldn't have sent it, however with the medications fish go through at DD, they can stop eating for a while and get a little thin ime. Triggers are NOT picky eaters, if it's not eating it's because it's not comfortable in its new home yet, not because of the food it's being offered. Butterflies and Triggers are very different in feeding. My Crosshatch pair went through a similar quarantine procedure at Aquatouch that DD fish have, they still didn't eat much at first. I would try to be careful about letting her get hooked on ghost shrimp.

Just 2 more cents here....Good luck.

 

[SDguy]

That is very much to my point, actually, thanks for p[ointing it out. Many butterflies will stop eating foods they normally ate with gusto, once medicated, and will not get "back to normal" for quite a while after the meds have stopped. So it's important to try all sorts of foods that will sustain them until they become "re-acclimated"... I've had to feed liveblackworms on occasion every day until the fish started eating regular foods again. 2 weeks out of LADD's QT isn't very long, so I think what I'm saying here applies...

 

[kirkaz]

That is very much to my point, actually, thanks for p[ointing it out. Many butterflies will stop eating foods they normally ate with gusto, once medicated, and will not get "back to normal" for quite a while after the meds have stopped. So it's important to try all sorts of foods that will sustain them until they become "re-acclimated"... I've had to feed liveblackworms on occasion every day until the fish started eating regular foods again. 2 weeks out of LADD's QT isn't very long, so I think what I'm saying here applies...

I was only comparing Butterflies as we have all heard of certain Butterflies being sooooo difficult to get eating once people have them and we have all heard stories of them refusing food to the point of dieing. I have NEVER had or heard of a new and healthy Trigger (particularly from DD) dieing from not eating once introduced. I can certainly understand the OP being nervous considering the price of the fish, mine were half that price and I was still nervous when they wouldn't eat for a few days.

 

[SDguy]

I wasn't talking about coralivores or any other fish that doesn't eat prepared/aquarium foods.... The idea of a fish not eating well after meds applies to many fish...

 

[MrTuskfish]

I respectfully disagree, if for nothing else, than anyone reading this thread. I think it is important to try every food under the sun for a difficult to feed fish. Maybe triggers are different... I can't comment on them. But with butterflies, there certainly can be that magic food that triggers not only a tasting response, but most importantly, a SWALLOWING response! Suggesting trying all these foods is a waste, to me, seems irresponsible. If your point is that the fish isn't eating due to disease or some other issue, that is another thing (and not clarified in your post). But suggesting that "throwing money" at a $500 fish in regards to various foods is somehow foolish just really bothers me... sorry if I misunderstood your post.

Another important thing to try... even if a fish spits a food out the first time, after a few days, it may swallow it. Don't change foods too quickly.

"Throwing money....was a bad choice of words. I used it because money was in the last line of the OP. I'm sure neither of us meant to imply that thrift was even a consideration.

I do think most posts that involve a non-eating fish contain nothing but a list of foods to try. Sure, try anything; but the problem is most likely something else. If my dog isn't eating, switching brands probably won't do much.

 

[SDguy]

I understand.... I guess I just wanted to point out that things may be different for triggers vs other fish, in case anyone reads this thread and wants to apply the things written to any fish, since some of the posts here were very general, and not triggerfish specific. Triggers may be dogs, many other fish are not.

 

[JohnniG]

imo & ime; a fish that refuses all normal foods isn't going to start eating when you find a "magic food". Everyone with the same problem seems to do the same thing and they't try every food suggested. Of course, if the fish does eat, the new food gets the credit. Just a thing with me, but a reasonably healthy fish will eat in time and throwing money (new food) at him won't do it. If she's eating shrimp, i think she'll be ok. She won't eat other foods because she gets her favorite. I'd feed her shrimp for a few more days (or until you're satisfied that she is healthy with a well-rounded stomach. ; then introduce normal foods. Pieces of raw shrimp. Frozen formula i, etc. Let her go a day without the live shrimp, next time 2 days, etc. As long as she eats when she gets the live food, she'll start eating the other foods sooner or later. I think the lfs that offered similar advice is right. Just don't give in too soon. Once she's fat enough, she can wait a few days for food.

These are very shy fish, especially for triggers. It may take weeks before she starts to come forward at feeding time, but she should.

La really stands behind their guarantee, a great place to do business with. I'm sure they reported the condition of the box to fed-ex.

+1

 

[MrTuskfish]

I understand.... I guess I just wanted to point out that things may be different for triggers vs other fish, in case anyone reads this thread and wants to apply the things written to any fish, since some of the posts here were very general, and not triggerfish specific. Triggers may be dogs, many other fish are not.

.....and crosshatches and blue throats are not normal triggers.

 

[SDguy]

.....and crosshatches and blue throats are not normal triggers.

To the more sensitive end...

 

[humaguy]

ch, bt, and outriggers are def sensitive trigs...the ch and or often take a while to acclimate to new surroundings and it may take them a while to eat...ime male ch are the worst of the group..they do not ship well and it might take 7-10 days for them to relax and eat...

 

[love2skiutah]

It's a female and my male actually came in last night and I'm going to pick it up on monday. I took a silver side and clipped it to the glass and it eventually ate it this afternoon. Very good advice you guys. Thanks for the pointers. I have been really nervous about feeding it the ghost shrimp, but I was more nervous because of how skinny it was. I have been doing this for almost 10 years and I haven't had much experience with Triggers other than a Blue Jaw I have. Once again, I really appreciate the feed back.