New fish questions!

[PuffersKick]

OK, over the weekend I finished my 215 gallon tank stocking. I got an adult Emperor Angel, a Foxface Lo, and a Harlequin Tusk. My questions are regarding my Emperor and my Tusk.

1) At the store the Emperor was eating everything they put in the tank. I had them feed brine shrimp & flakes. So far (it's only been about a day and a half) he is eating the flakes, but won't eat any of the frozen food I feed (brine, spirulina brine, mysis, angel formula). Is this just something he will have to warm up to? They were feeding him live brine at the LFS.

2) My Foxface and Tusk were terrorized by my Sohal tang for the first day. Now the foxface has settled in nicely and is eating fine, but my Tusk has not. The Sohal is not picking on him anymore, but he remains hiding at the top of the tank next to one of the powerheads. He will not come out to eat or anything. I don't know what to do with him. Should I just leave him alone or remove him or what?

 

[emperior911]

i've had 3 tusks do that... one died, the rest i got fed up with and returned to the store. they dont take beatings well. I had a emperor angel do what your sohal did

 

[PuffersKick]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7193062#post7193062 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by emperior911
i've had 3 tusks do that... one died, the rest i got fed up with and returned to the store. they dont take beatings well. I had a emperor angel do what your sohal did

so there is a pretty good chance he won't make it in my tank then? I don't know how long I should wait before I take him out. I paid $70 and won't get near that if I return him...

it's amazing b/c he looks like such a sturdy mean fish, but is apparently a sissy.

Meanwhile my Foxface got the crap beat out of him the first day and now has settled in like he's been there the whole time..

 

[I like Triggers]

maybe use some eggcrating to block off a small section of the tank for the tusk so he can recover and get used to eating. and then in a few weeks when he is broken in, remove the egg crate. it is also a great way to introduce aggressive fish to each other.

 

[LRS078]

A couple tricks to help with "problem children".....if you can catch the sohol/aggressive fish put them in a critter keeper or large tupperware with many holes drilled in it. Then throw that in the tank and let his friends laugh at him in "time out".

You can also leave the lights off....this will calm everyone down. Easy, cheesy, but often overlooked.

The tusks can be shy to begin with, when they get picked on this only gets worse. Make sure the aquascaping gives abundant caves for everyone.

If your angel is eating flake but not anything frozen you can try thawing the frozen preparations and mixing in with the flake. Try feeding it as a paste. BTW, brine shrimp are nutrionally useless....kinda of like fishy popcorn. Soak in spirulina/vitamins if you are going to feed or if the fish is only eating live.

Hope this helps...

 

[PuffersKick]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7197790#post7197790 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LRS078
A couple tricks to help with "problem children".....if you can catch the sohol/aggressive fish put them in a critter keeper or large tupperware with many holes drilled in it. Then throw that in the tank and let his friends laugh at him in "time out".

You can also leave the lights off....this will calm everyone down. Easy, cheesy, but often overlooked.

The tusks can be shy to begin with, when they get picked on this only gets worse. Make sure the aquascaping gives abundant caves for everyone.

If your angel is eating flake but not anything frozen you can try thawing the frozen preparations and mixing in with the flake. Try feeding it as a paste. BTW, brine shrimp are nutrionally useless....kinda of like fishy popcorn. Soak in spirulina/vitamins if you are going to feed or if the fish is only eating live.

Hope this helps...

I feed the Hikari vitamin enriched frozen food. Are there any specific foods that an Emperor needs? He pounds the spectrum pellets and flakes that I feed and those supposively have a variety of vitamins and minerals which is great for all fish. And it even has a picture of an Emperor on the container. I just read that sponge is a natural part of their diet and so far he won't touch the angel formula with the sponge.

And regarding my Tusk I've decided to sell him. All the other fish are perfectly happy. I don't want to upset my Sohal by catching him. It's not his fault he's dominant.

 

[thor32766]

yeah its funny how the tusk are such a shy fish. Great fish just really shy.