New black misbar clown not eating

[lancer99]

Hi,
I got two juvenile ORA misbar black ocellaris two weeks ago, and the slightly larger one (1-1/4") quickly established dominance.

They both ate for a day or two, but now the smaller one isn't eating. He gets very excited every time I introduce food to the tank, but mostly lets it float by and won't eat.

It doesn't help that the larger one occasionally physically pushes him around during feeding time, but even when she (?) doesn't, he won't eat.

I've tried Mysis, Formula One Flake (pretty much ignored by both), Formula One pellets (completely ignored since they just sunk), and chopped shrimp. In the last week, I've only seen the smaller one eat two Mysis shrimp.

There is a slight possibility that they're eating "natural" food, since there are a couple of pieces of LR in my QT tank.

Because of their coloration, it's very difficult to tell if the smaller one is getting skinnier.

Any advice? Rather than losing the smaller one, I would rather move the him into another tank, fatten him up, and then reintroduce him, risky as that may be.

Any advice is appreciated,

-R

 

[reefman13]

The one that is pushing the other around has more than likely become the dominant fish, and if she hasn't already, turn into the female in the pair.

I would try brine shrimp mixed with some selcon solution (garlic solution) just to get the fish to eat. Then after a day or two, try adding some mysis to the mix, and begin leaving out the brine shrimp from the food mix day by day until you are no longer using mysis.

They could very well be doing that, however, they came from ORA and I would not be able to tell you whether or not because they were tank born and raised, that they will know what they are looking for in the rock work. I can say however, that the supply of food your rock has in any system under 100g will not be able to support them for very long.

HTH

 

[lancer99]

reefman,

Thx. I've avoided brine shrimp (eye candy!) till now, but will try it in the next couple of days, if the smaller one doesn't eat.

There are just a couple of pieces of LR in there, so I agree, it's doubtful that they're getting any food from there.

-R

 

[ILLiDaN]

umm when i got mine they did the same....try turning off your pump or syringing the food near there mouths...since they are tank raised they dont attack there food and so when you turn off the pump it will drop slowly giving them time to eat it...worked for me:-D

 

[lancer99]

illidan,
I tried that...but when the pumps are off, the littler one seems even less interested in food

I'll try it again, thx.

-R

 

[ILLiDaN]

np ...is the food small enough for them? also if worst comes to worse i would say try using a syringe and feeding it into its mouth...have any pics of da lil guys?

 

[PayasoDelMar]

Yea same for me, got two rods onyx (small) they didn't eat for almost a week, then i turned off the pumps and they chomped on everything. I use a turkey baster thing to break it down before i feed.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Ahh dont worry about it. As long as he eats something he should be ok. If it makes you feel any better those dudes up there (Illidan & PDM) called me whinnying like babies about their clowns not eating. :lol:

Read this thread maybe it can help you out

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1324693

 

[lancer99]

Okay mojo, I will try to stop worrying/obsessing

Illidan, here are a coupla pics of my lil' beauts:

"Adorable" isn't a word I use often, but it seems appropriate

Thx everyone for the help!

-R

 

[lancer99]

I should have kept worrying...as of tonight, I have ONE black misbar clown

But the good news is that it's the one that eats like a pig.

Strangely enough, I can't find the remains of the other one....maybe there is something I don't know about in the LR that killed & ate it.

-R

 

[chrisstie]

Did you get these from your LFS? How long had they been at the store before buying? Maybe we can try to help troubleshoot what happened.

In any case always try to make sure you get them to eat before leaving the store!

The ORA ones are really pretty healthy most of the time but the youngins don't always ship well (plane delays and who knows what else, plus being sloshed around in a tiny bag of water without any light) so if they were in a new shipment (a day or two) it could have just been some acclimation stress

Have you tried ORAglo food? I think thats what its called. At the LFS I work at there would be ora shipments and there were fish that dont normally eat frozen etc.. nearly every single darn fish in the store would take this particular pellet food made by ORA and we used it to ween them on to their proper diets. Pretty amazing stuff for a pellet. I try to use that as a last resort if mushed up bits of mysis in garlic and rods dont encourage a fish to eat.


Sorry for your loss but there are other fish in the sea so to speak

 

[lancer99]

Chrisstie,

Thx for your reply. They were from Blue Ribbon Koi, which (despite its name) is one of the best marine stores in the DC area. I don't know how long they had the clowns before I bought them, but they are an excellent outfit, and I'm sure it's in no way their fault.

The other clown is a total pig, and eats everything I've tried -- mysis, chopped shrimp, and Formula One flakes (not the pellets, but they sink too quickly, so that's understandable).

So I think I just had very bad luck with the other clown.

I've never heard of the ORAglo food, so will check that out.

Thx,
-R

 

[ILLiDaN]

let me know how that oraglo works bu the way nice pics