Having hard time with Pakistan Butterfly not eating... afraid he might die?

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

No.. I never said a mandarin was gonna compete with other fish for food. Only thing I've ever done is try to make sure there is a good pod population. I'll seed my refugium instead of the display. Compared to people who were saying theirs died in weeks I thought a year or so was good. That's one of the reasons why I don't mess with sun polyps, seahorse, etc. I can't hand feed stuff daily. I've read about people "training" mandarins to eat brine if you can isolate them... even with flow off... other fish will chase him off. I'm not gonna get crazy... there's enough other stuff to do with the tank. I think I have a good record considering how well everybody else is doing. 5-6 years is not the norm. And I don't feel bad at all. BUT any advice you have that is constructive is well appreciated. I want them to live as long as possible for sure.

 

[eengmd]

I would definitely try live blackworms. Every time I have had an acclimation issues (mainly with butterflies) live blackworms have been the key. They are a freshwater worm high in essential oils for fish. Once they hit saltwater, they squirm for a minute or so then die but the action of the worm really attracts fish. In addition, for most butterflies, worms are a primary staple to their diet. Bloodworms are not true worms.

If you read the copperband thread (another difficult fish) many suggest trying live blackworms. I hope this helps. After the blackworms, I mixed blackworms with PE mysis, then Rod's and Rogger's food. My butterfly also eats a homemade scallop, shrimp, squid blend fortified with selcon.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Blackworms are hard to find? I only see bloodworms. Did a google search and there's a few links about people selling them, hatching them, etc. Takes time to order stuff. Probably best to try mysis again... and the scallap/clam/shrimp from the grocer.

 

[dohc97]

I have been reading this thread because i almost bought that very same fish but decided against it because i know they can be tough to start eating. I dont know how big your town is but if you have a petco or petsmart that would be your place to get the hikari mysis. the fish might not be eating from being stressed due to the move or similar issues, this would not be the first time that a finicky fish ate with the good folks at liveaquaria and then wasted away in someones tank after not taking any food.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Ew... I do have those stores. I've been there twice now.. looking for other things.. but I'll check them again. I was gonna investigate those gel food blocks too. I know I did not see "black worms" anywhere.. but Hikari mysis maybe. I got that San Fran Bay mysis from Petco. Even the big stores here don't stock what other ones do. Have to ck it out. I've done everything you can think of. I think he was so happy at LiveAquaria he just wanted to go back and is now on a hunger strike.

 

[small alien]

http://blackworms-direct.com/ Never ordered from them but you may have time.

Don't give up! And Good Luck!

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Today I hit the local Publix (what they call it here) grocery. Nothing fresh. Just some "white shrimp" and "ocean scallop" all previously frozen. Nothing in the shell. I minced both up and... well, nobody really liked either one... not just the butterfly.

Next... take trip out of town for Hikari mysis, Live Brine, maybe another grocery store... oh yea, see if pet store has blackworms. I don't want to order 8 lbs or more of it. I know about live brine hatching. You can do it with a plastic container. Pretty simple.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

FWIW, my local Petsmart carries a good selection of Hikari brand products. $4.50 for a pack of Hikari Mysis.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Yea. The Petco and Petsmart I have here suck. Too small of a town I guess. In fact, the Petsmart... they had an empty fridge. No frozen stuff at all. I don't know what they're doing. The only thing I've ever found from there useful to me was some pumps.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

I took a trip and could only find.. frozen clams in shell (didn't buy)... no Hikari... but I did get live brine (Butterfly tried and spit out).. and finally some blackworms(partially worked). The blackworms he seemed real timid in trying. It's not like I'm starving gimme some of that. Once he ate a few he still didn't hunt the other floating ones down. It was like he wasn't hungry. But he did eat just a few... I put probably 30 in there. I have to watch him more and see if he's eating other stuff I guess. Otherwise I've exhausted myself on this one. Gotta go clean my skimmer out now b/c of all this food I've put in.