My 2 clowns have just cleared quarantine and have been in my display since last night (First 2 - woohoo!). They're captive bred, so likely have never seen another aquatic creature other than their own kind until now, let alone had to share or compete for food with other species.
At the start of QT they would chase down the pellets pretty quick, snatching a couple of them up before they would hit bottom. Then they'd get to cleaning up the ones that fell right down to the glass. I was pretty liberal with the food, and siphoned out any soggy, uneaten pellets the next morning before feeding again.
During their month in QT they got lazy it seems, and I noticed they stopped chasing the pellets, instead following them down to the bottom, and then picking them off the glass almost casually.
Now they're in the DT, follow a few pellets down to the sand, ignore them and then head back up, seemingly hoping that more pellets are going to appear. Rinse, Repeat. Meanwhile, the shrimp, crabs and snails are all over the food on the substrate, leaving no food for the fish.
Hopefully they'll learn that there's now competition for the food... or have I taught them to be less competitive than they'll need to be to get their fair share?
At the start of QT they would chase down the pellets pretty quick, snatching a couple of them up before they would hit bottom. Then they'd get to cleaning up the ones that fell right down to the glass. I was pretty liberal with the food, and siphoned out any soggy, uneaten pellets the next morning before feeding again.
During their month in QT they got lazy it seems, and I noticed they stopped chasing the pellets, instead following them down to the bottom, and then picking them off the glass almost casually.
Now they're in the DT, follow a few pellets down to the sand, ignore them and then head back up, seemingly hoping that more pellets are going to appear. Rinse, Repeat. Meanwhile, the shrimp, crabs and snails are all over the food on the substrate, leaving no food for the fish.
Hopefully they'll learn that there's now competition for the food... or have I taught them to be less competitive than they'll need to be to get their fair share?
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