My Orange Spot Filefish

[twiggyb]

I've been posting in another thread about mine, but I figured I'll give him his own :fun4: I've had him since May 3rd and he's been a roller coaster on trying to get him to continuously stick to a food. He had started out at the pet store eating roe fairly well, but when I got him home he hasn't touched it since. I got him to start eating arcti-pods, but then quit that a few days later. After that I mashed up some NLS and he loved it at first, but then quit that as well. I started trying my flake food and so far he likes to peck at it every now and then, but nothing to where it looks like he enjoys it. For the past week however he taken to brine and mysis very well. I don't know if it's because he is so small that he doesn't pig out, or if he just isn't that interested all the time. I also have a few slimer frags in the tank to graze on while I'm at work and so far he has fattened up very well. He is always constantly picking at the rocks and just recently the glass. Upon closer inspection he is eating the little "bugs" that are crawling around on it. It's still very early to say whether or not he is gonna pull through, but I have high hopes that he will continue to try new foods and hopefully find a staple one he enjoys. After I attain a bigger sump and skimmer I will be stocking my DT with acros so he can have a choice of what he would like to snack on, right now he is in my "mantis tank" that has no mantis because it is very hard to find the one I want so this will be his new home until he is eating more constantly instead of just picking two or three pieces in the cupfuls of food I dump in there twice a day. I do a water change about every other day because of how much I have to put in there. So far so good!:thumbsup: Here's some pics instead of all this mumbo jumbo.

first day

two days ago I think

He is only about 1 1/2in. so he's just a boy lol Maybe that will help with weening it to other foods other than coral. That's it for now, thanks for reading!

 

[LauraCline]

I hate to be a naysayer but the stomach being pinched in like that is not a good sign. Good luck though.

 

[twiggyb]

Yeah. Just hoping though. Not sure if he will start rounding out better. There was no stomach to begin with. Nothing to do but to continue feeding and hope for the best outcome. I'm not ignoring it's natural diet so I'm hoping either way he will make it.

 

[LauraCline]

I've got my fingers crossed for you. They really are spectacular looking fish aren't they?

 

[basser1]

I have a different take on your pics...... Looks to me like he's fattening up! The top down shot, you can see how the side and belly area are bulging. Same with the last pic, JMO!

Here's some links for you to look at:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1712447&highlight=orange+spotted+filefish

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1717276&highlight=orange+spotted+filefish

There are other posts as well, just do a search for them and Good Luck!

 

[uhuru]

You can try soaking the NLS in mysis juice before feeding it to see if you can get him back on it. I had the best results fattening mine up with NLS pellets. Mysis works great for me too but I feel the NLS is the staple of his diet and everything else is extra.

 

[twiggyb]

Thanks I'll have to try that. Idk though because I put everything in a cup and swirl it around with a stick then let it sit for about five mins. Maybe i'll try separating the pellets at a different time but still soak it in the juice to see if he'll take it. I won't crush them either to see if he likes them whole now

 

[twiggyb]

I bought a millepora yesterday and he loves it, however he hasn't touched the mysis anymore. He likes the millepora over the slimer so maybe this leads to some insight on what kind of acros some of these fish like to eat? Maybe they're region specific or everyone is just different. I'd like to find out.