Flame Angel in QT - Not Eating

[lespaul339]

I just got a Flame Angel on Thursday. He is in QT going through TTM with a Yellow Tang and the tang is eating. I was hoping it would see the tang eat and that would make it want to eat, but so far nothing. It shows interest in food but spits it out. So far it hasn't eaten anything. I've tried mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, live black worms, flake food, and nori. Tried all the above soaked in selcon, still nothing. So far he won't eat anything. I know it's somewhat normal for them to take a while to get to eat. I'm hoping to pick up some live clam tonight to give that a try. I just don't want to see this beautiful Flame Angel starve to death. I haven't tried soaking the food in garlic yet. Going to give that a try next. Any other tips?

 

[ThRoewer]

Try a rock with algae on it. Dwarf angels are at least in part herbivores.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Marshall O]

Try a rock with algae on it. Dwarf angels are at least in part herbivores.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

+1 They will pick at rocks all day long, eating pods and micro fauna. It will at least give it something to eat until will take prepared foods.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

 

[Shivsreef]

IME they can go as far as 3 weeks even a month without food although flames usually eat straight away and it's mainly other dwarf angels that take a while to start eating. Maybe he may have some internal parasite, although to get him to eat I'd try pe mysis soaked in Selcon and angelixir for 30 mins and that may work.

 

[ThRoewer]

As I found out the hard way, a 5" regal angel can go without food for 7 weeks, at least 4 of them without showing significant weight loss.

But anyone who went on a radical zero food diet can tell you that at some point you loose the feeling of hunger - that is one of the issues.
The other issue is that after some time of not eating the digestive tract starts to atrophy.

Once a fish reaches the no hunger phase it can become very difficult to get it eating again.

If a fish doesn't start looking for food within a week, I would start looking for an underlying cause.

 

[lespaul339]

He shows interest in food, he just won't eat it. He has tried a couple things but spit it out. I'm doing my third tank transfer on him today and this was going to be one of my prazi doses. Should I dose it or not since it can sometimes make fish lose their appetite? Since he is already not eating I don't want to do anything to affect that worse.

Couldn't get a clam last night. The place I get them from didn't have them. So can't try that just yet. Picked up some green nori, the other stuff I was trying to give him was purple. Maybe he will like the green better? Going to give that a try over my lunch break. Also going to try soaking mysis and brine shrimp in garlic. Hopefully he eats something today. I will update after my lunch break.

I did some research online, and found where someone said to let mysis and nori dry on a piece of rock in the sun. Then put that in the tank so the Flame can pick at the rock. Might give that a try tonight. Thought it sounded like a good idea.

 

[Marshall O]

Fyi, I've found they will take to meaty foods long before eating straight algae/nori. Live baby brine shrimp would be another option. If you are keeping it in sterile tanks for TTM, that is part of the problem.

For future reference, I would always get a fish eating before doing TTM. Once they take prepared foods, you can they do TTM knowing they will eat. At least that is what I would do.

And lastly, I would wait on Prazi. It can suppress appetites, which is the last thing you want.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk

 

[lespaul339]

Tried soaking mysis in garlic. He acted like he was going to eat one, chewed on it for a bit and then spit it out :headwall blue: So I put some green nori on a piece of rock and have that in the tank now. If he doesn't touch it, I'm going to take it out when I get home and let it bake in the sun until the nori drys on it. Running out of ideas/options. Hopefully I can get this fish to start eating!

Went ahead with the third tank transfer over my lunch hour. Decided to skip dosing prazi for now until I can get him eating.

 

[lespaul339]

So, last night he finally ate a few pieces of mysis that were soaked in garlic. Wasn't a whole lot, but at least he is eating! Hopefully it keeps it up!

 

[scooter31707]

I have went through 3 Flames from LA and 1 from my LFS within the past 2 months. All did not eat and seem disoriented, it seems like they may have been caught with cyanide (maybe not). I tried all the above also with no luck. Keep trying.

 

[Shivsreef]

I have went through 3 Flames from LA and 1 from my LFS within the past 2 months. All did not eat and seem disoriented, it seems like they may have been caught with cyanide (maybe not). I tried all the above also with no luck. Keep trying.

If it's a hawaiian there is little to no chance that it was caught with cyanide, on the other hand if it was from another region, cyanide is a possibility. Did you check if the LFS one was eating before you purchased it?

 

[scooter31707]

If it's a hawaiian there is little to no chance that it was caught with cyanide, on the other hand if it was from another region, cyanide is a possibility. Did you check if the LFS one was eating before you purchased it?

I had actually got lucky, I went there to get some dry goods and they had got a shipment in and he was still in the bag, so never made it into their water. I took him home and adjusted by salinity and went through TTM and he died in the 3rd week in the observation tank.

 

[Shivsreef]

LA ships directly from Quality Marine unless you purchase a dd item, so all of them were probably not eating in the first place.

 

[lespaul339]

I have went through 3 Flames from LA and 1 from my LFS within the past 2 months. All did not eat and seem disoriented, it seems like they may have been caught with cyanide (maybe not). I tried all the above also with no luck. Keep trying.

I'm bummed to hear that. Mine is from the marshall islands. Got it from Blue Zoo Aquatics. Are they usually caught with cyanide from there?

 

[Shivsreef]

I'm bummed to hear that. Mine is from the marshall islands. Got it from Blue Zoo Aquatics. Are they usually caught with cyanide from there?

Marshall Islands collectors tend to be good, I was mainly referring to Christmas island varieties.

 

[lespaul339]

Glad to hear!

He ate about 3 or 4 mysis again over lunch. Still not much of an appetite, but I think it's a good start.

 

[scooter31707]

Good to hear. Maybe I will try my luck again. Everyone that die was in with other fish during quarantine and the other fish ate like champs.

 

[lespaul339]

Mine is in QT with a Yellow Tang. The Tang eats everything I put in except Nori. I'm hoping I can get the Flame to start eating live Black worms. He shows interest in those but spits them out. I make it a point to feed the Black Worms after I feed Mysis, hoping he will start eating them. The Tang loves the Black Worms.

 

[BlueDolphin123]

Hi there!:wave:
I'm sorry to hear that you're having a problem with your flame angel; even though they are quite hardy they're still very sensitive. I know what you're going through; I had the same trouble with flame angels, coral beauties, bicolor angels and emperor angels when I was younger.
Try not to think about what the shippers did wrong and start thinking about what you might have done wrong. How big is your QT tank? What are its water conditions? What's in it besides the angel? is there a sand bed and plenty of rock? Could you change what you're feeding it? Is there anything else you can alter to make the angel more comfortable? Did you read up on flame angel care? Did you properly treat your QT tank in between sessions? How did you treat your tank water? Most importantly, what is the copper level in the water? Copper is the kill-all angelfish destroyer.
Remember that the quarantine process is not always a good idea. The smaller, cramped conditions, not to mention the constant acclimation and medications, can be detrimental and almost fatal to the fish in question. Unless you do it right, you might be killing the fish. Sure, cyanide might be to blame, but so could your own aquarium conditions, especially considering that multiple specimens of Centropyge loriculahave died under your care. Do everything you can to make the angelfish more comfortable, and you'll have a radiant red, black and blue flame angel brightening up your tank in no time.
Keep up the good work!
-BlueDolphin123:fish1::fish2:

 

[Naraku]

Same experience. I also suspect cyanide or they are like tropheus cichlid where bacteria lives in the gut. Once you move them to a new environment, the bacteria die and they are screwed internally.

I gave up on flame angels a long time ago.

I'm bummed to hear that. Mine is from the marshall islands. Got it from Blue Zoo Aquatics. Are they usually caught with cyanide from there?