longnose butterfly not eating.

[kgriffith]

Hey guys new to the forum but I have a question you. I have had a longnose butterfly just over a week and I have yet to find a way to get him to eat. I have tried:
mysid shrimp
brine shrimp
various frozen cubes in feeder clip
black worms
garlic on food
flakes
pellets
etc etc.

He mostly just hides...

 

[myerst2]

Well welcome to the world of reef keeping and reefcentral as well. Infortunately you chose a very very difficult fish to keep in a new tank and having little experience keeping fish. Even the most seasoned aquarist will have difficulty with these butterfly's. The best suggestion i can give you is to try and replicate their feeding behavior in the wild. stuff small pieces of clam, mysis and other meaty foods into the crevices of your rock work. In the wild they roam the reef and pick at small inverts, tube worms, etc that other fish can not reach. With the butterfly's long specialized feeding mouth they can reach therse food items where others can not. So you need to try and replicate this in your tank. Also getting a small ceramic dish and placing live black worms can sometimes entice them to start feeding. You can also try live brine. Also make sure if he has any other tank mates that they are very docile. As a suggestion do as did here and ask questions about a fish, but do it prior to buying the fish. Good luck and hope this helps. Regards, Tim

 

[snorvich]

Two weeks is not enough time for adding a butterfly fish. I agree with Tim in all ways on this one. Normally mysid and black worms work well. If you can take it back to the LFS, I would suggest that as a first course. It will not survive in your tank.

 

[ozadars]

I second that your tank is too new for a butterfly, however I dont think that longnose butterfly is a very difficult fish. They accept food quite easily if you know the trick.
Longnose butterfly is a very curious fish and like to explore the depths of little cracks in the liverock to find something to eat. Mine never actually showed interest to the foods in the water coloumn when I first introduced it. As he likes to get his nose into little holes and cracks, I found a little piece of dead Acropora skeleton and put blackworms in it. I highly doubt that a longnose butterfly can refuse to taste it.

 

[kgriffith]

Thanks for your input guys and I will give that a shot. I am newer to the hobby but the tank isn't new at all, it is an extremely stable tank that has been running for over 3 years. Of all of the fish in the tank the only one that is having any issues eating is the longnose, I have tried the foods you mentioned but rock stuffing had not occurred to me and I appreciate the suggestion.

 

[cthetoy]

Next time have the fish store feed the fish before buying. I ask all the time for any fish I buy

 

[chrisstie]

I know some people have had luck with the butterflies with this feeding behavior by preparing the food in a dish with some tank water and sucking it up a turkey baster. Then you hold the baster in the water and let them get their nose up in it to eat. They should be able to be trained this way since it mimicks the behavior. If you have time to try this along with finding the perfect crevice in your rock you may just have some luck.

Hope itworks out for you!

 

[JamesJR]

Live blackworms will probably work. I bet he would go for them if you can find them.

 

[Dakota Reef]

I'd be a bit concerned about a Long Nose Butterfly that just hides most of the time. Thats not normal behavior for them. They're usually roaming around even when fairly new to the tank.

What other fish do you have in the tank? I would suspect aggression from other fish and also check him closely for parasites.

You're trying all the right foods, so I don't think thats the issue although as others have mentioned the presentation is important for LNBs. They will inevitably lose out to other fish in the race to get food left in the water column.

Here's a feeder made from plastic tube thats worked quite well for me.

You might also try feeding him in the morning before the lights come on in the tank. I've noticed my LNB is the first fish out "hunting" in the morning while other fish are still hiding.

Good luck!!

 

[snorvich]

That is a great feeder!!

 

[chrisstie]

Heck yeah it is, any details on it you'd be willing to share? Is it attatched to something up top or is it just held in place by the hand? What was stored in it before?

 

[Dakota Reef]

The feeder is actually the plastic tube that attaches to the inlet of a Powersweep Powerhead. You probably know the powerheads with the oscillating output that works great for a week and then jams up repeatedly. Any kind of clear plastic tube should work though.

I just made the holes a little larger with a cordless drill and sanded the holes smooth so the fish won't damage their mouth. It came with a plastic cap and since I had two PH's I use one cap for the top and another for the bottom.

Originally I suspended the feeder in the tank with some fishing line but one day Cyrano (my LNB) got his fins caught in the line and tangled himself up in the rocks. That wasn't a pretty sight!! Fortunately he was no worse for wear....I've had him well over five years now.

Here's a pic of the older version

I've since made an acrylic bracket shaped like an "F". The top two arms slide onto my tank's eurobrace and ziptied the holder to the feeding tube. You can sort of see that in the first pic.

Hope that helps......I'm away from home at the moment so I can't take more pictures. I'm convinced that feeding this way has played a part in the longevity of my butterfly.

 

[snorvich]

Great idea!!!

 

[myerst2]

Great stuff Dakota!!!! Was that your idea? If so that is fantastic and being so simple makes it even better!!! Regards, Tim

 

[Dakota Reef]

It was just frustrating watching a perfectly healthy fish swim after food and always arrive a half second too late to get enough. I was able to keep my first LNB for almost a year but he never got enough to eat unless I totally overfed the tank and eventually got weaker and slower til he succumbed to ich. So I knew if I tried one again I needed to come up with a better way to feed him.

Squishing food in a piece of rock works to a point but its so messy and I could never get that much food to stay in place.

Now I just pop a frozen formula cube in the feeder and he pecks away for half a day. If you're gonna feed lots of mysis or worms keep the holes a little smaller.