Mature Clown Stopped Eating

[Hef]

I know it's a tough thing to diagnose, but I have had this True Perc Clown for over 6 years now. He still looks healthy, defending his area as always. But he has not eaten in over a week. I only have 4 fish at the moment, so it's very clear who is eating.

I bought a bunch of new food yesterday, Frozen Mysis, Brine, Bloodworms, Differnet types of Flake, he looks like he wants to eat but just doesnt.

I'd hate to lose him. Any advice appreciated.

Hef

 

[dantodd]

Does he mouth the food and spit it out? Does his mouth open at all? Is there anything unusual about his mouth or gills (white spots etc.?)

I've always found that live brine will stimulate a feeding response. You can also try cyclop-eeze (available freeze dried and frozen) or arcti-pods etc.

 

[Hef]

He started by spitting out a bunch of food for a few days. Food he would normally eat. Mostly frozen stuff.
Nothing unusual looking about him.
Usually when a sick is fish, they go into hiding. He is not, hanging out where he always is.
I'm going out for the live brine tomorrow, and cyclopeze. . This fish could be a good 10 years old, I got him from another guy 6 years ago who had him for a while himself.

Thanks.

 

[MarinaP]

I prefer not to add purchased live brine to my tanks to avoid possible introduction of parasites.

Hatch your own

 

[Hef]

Good news, he's getting hungry again.
Put in some live brine today, he mouthed it and spit it out. But he was going after it. I added some flake food, he seemed to be eating that.
I then added frozen Cyclopeeze. He seemed to love it.

Looks like the crisis could be over. Guess maybe he simply wasnt feeling well.

Thanks for the help.

Hef

 

[dantodd]

Good to hear it!

 

[stykthyn]

you got a pic of him?

 

[Hef]

Sure, this is actually from about a year ago. Hanging out with the Clam.

 

[stykthyn]

OMG!! talk about an onyx!!! that fish is gorgeous. you should pair it up and mate it

 

[dantodd]

Hef, really is a beautiful fish. You might consider getting her a mate. Perhaps You can raise a couple batches of eggs and keep her around forever!

 

[Hef]

Well I never even considered it, I guess this is the right forum to talk about it.
Is there a way to tell the sex of my fish?

Give me some advise and I might do it.

Hef

 

[1jared1]

If that fish is 10 years old, and no other clowns in the tank, it is definatly female. It only takes about a year with no other clowns around to become female.

 

[dantodd]

all juvenile clownfish are asexual hermaphrodites. In an environment without a dominant secually mature pair it takes around 6 months for a juvenile to become male. If there is no female (or occasionally even when there is) the male will be promoted to female and the dominant juvenile will be promoted to male. This is a one way transition (some possible examples of transitioning backwards but not confirmed) and once a fish is male it cannot go back to juvenile and once female they don't become male again.

Based on that and the fact that she's been in your tank so long your fish is definately a female.

Look for a percula that is in with a group and not significantly larger than the rest and not super aggressive toward them. This will give you the greatest chance of getting a juvenile who would be most likely to submit and attempt to bond with your female.

If I were you I would be fairly selective about mates as you do have a particularly spectactular female. Rod B. sells onyx percula of excellent quality as does ORA through LFS. You can find more info about Rod's fish at www.rods-reef.com