Long Nose Hawk Fish Feeding

[cocoaandme]

I got a nice long nose hawkfish about a month ago and when he was at the store he was eating pretty well but when I put him in my tank he didn't seem to want to eat anything. I noticed that he was hunting for amphipods and so I figured everything was alright but he is starting to look a little thin.

I tried feeding him mysis but he sucks them in and then after a short while spits them out. Is this normal beahavior? I also tried with frozen plankton and he does the same thing. I put some garlic to entice him but still nothing.

What should I do to get him eating again? Thanks for the help!

 

[DarthAWM]

I got a nice long nose hawkfish about a month ago and when he was at the store he was eating pretty well but when I put him in my tank he didn't seem to want to eat anything. I noticed that he was hunting for amphipods and so I figured everything was alright but he is starting to look a little thin.

I tried feeding him mysis but he sucks them in and then after a short while spits them out. Is this normal beahavior? I also tried with frozen plankton and he does the same thing. I put some garlic to entice him but still nothing.

What should I do to get him eating again? Thanks for the help!

You could try brine shrimp to entice appitite

 

[flameangel88]

I got a nice long nose hawkfish about a month ago and when he was at the store he was eating pretty well but when I put him in my tank he didn't seem to want to eat anything. I noticed that he was hunting for amphipods and so I figured everything was alright but he is starting to look a little thin.


What was it eating so well at the store?

I tried feeding him mysis but he sucks them in and then after a short while spits them out. Is this normal beahavior?

Did it swallow a lot then spit out? My Cuban and Peppermint hogfish does that then goes back to take smaller amount. What they spit out appears to be crushed a bit so probably too much to swallow down. Some of mine delicate fish does that when they start to learn to eat prepared food.

I also tried with frozen plankton and he does the same thing. I put some garlic to entice him but still nothing.

What should I do to get him eating again? Thanks for the help!


I would continue feeding different type of food till you find the one it likes to eat. This is key with new additions. If it still doesn't eat then try live brine. I tend to feed live food only as the last resort with new addition. Good luck with your new hawkfish.

 

[cocoaandme]

At the store they gave him formula 1 and he really ate it up which surprised me. In my tank he only sucks in one at a time so not that much. He is about 4 inches long. What other foods should I try? Is there some additive that I can use to make the food more palatable for him?

 

[flameangel88]

I would try soaking frozen brine with garlic or try Reef Nutrition's Arti-pods. My primary concern is whether the fish was treated for possible internal parasite.

 

[cocoaandme]

I tried live brine today and he seemed to swallow them fine. He has not been treated for internal parasites. What would be the best treatment?

 

[flameangel88]

If your fish is eating live brine then continue feeding for couple of days then slowly mix frozen brine and soak a little garlic.

Not knowing your fish well it's hard for me to say you need to treat with internal parasite so I would just continue to monitor closely. The most simple way to treat for flukes/internal parasite for me is to dose 2 rounds (6 days each round and 33 water change in between round) of Prazipro.

 

[cocoaandme]

It seems like he can taste which ones are good and which ones are bad. He will swallow some of them but spit others out. It seems like he is picky taste wise. I used garlic with the mysis and he still spit them out. What are other good flavor enhancers?

 

[flameangel88]

As long as it's eating something you're fine for the time being. It'll eventually learn to eat prepared food. Also slowly feed some New Life Spectrum pellets.

 

[cocoaandme]

Ok. He wasn't accepting them in the beginning but I will try to coax him into trying some with the brine. Sometimes he seems hungry and comes to the top and rests on my frag rack and follows me around and tries out what I put in there. Other times he just sits lower in the tank. Thanks for the help by the way. I really appreciate it.

 

[flameangel88]

You're welcome...that's what we are here for to learn and helping each other out.

 

[cocoaandme]

Oh news! I tried feeding with frozen krill today and he ate half a krill. When I tried feeding him another he took it and bashed it against my corals and then spit it out. Could it be he was full or he just didn't feel like going through the effort of breaking it down to size? Here are some pics I took of him today.

That seems to be his feeding station.

 

[COreefer]

Interesting...I picked up a LN Hawk in early Nov. It ate like a pig for the firt week, then stopped completely. He still had a strong feeding response and went hard for the mysis, it just didn't eat any. Evidently it had to be eating pods, bc it didn't eat anything I fed for over a month. About a week ago I noticed the fish coming to the turkey baster as I blasted the tank with mysis. instead of blasting it I let a couple seep out of the end of the baster. The hawk went for them, and ate one. Over the last week it is eating much more. The fish is very deliberate and seemingly picky. It also seems like there is something wrong with its vision, because sometimes it lunges for the food but misses. Oh well...just thought it was coincidence because when mine started doing this I researched the problem and couldn't find any info.

 

[cocoaandme]

Yeah that sounds a lot like the behavior of mine! Hmm very weird. Although now it seems as though he is taking broken pieces of krill. If the piece is too big he will try to bash it but then give up and spit it out. He is being really picky! I have to make sure the piece is big enough to entice him but small enough for him to want to swallow. He does however show interest whenever I put my hand above the water which I guess is good.