Picasso not eating

[rachelcb80]

I've had my pair of Picasso's for a little over a week now (from ORA). Both seem healthy and are active all day. One of them isn't eating well at all though and looks to me to be getting thinner. I have been alternating feeding freeze dried cyclopeeze, Formula One flakes and frozen mysis. The fish in question will swim around, acting interested in the food but will hardly eat anything. He will either eat it then spit it back out, or just pick at it but not even take it in his mouth. I'm worried about him and would really, really hate to lose him. Can anyone suggest something I should try to get him eating more?

 

[ocellaris123]

All I can tell you is too keep trying and to maybe soak your food in garlic or selcon. Try some other types of food also and find out from your LFS was feeding him. If he is still not eating than I would go ahead and try some frozen or live brine shrimp.

 

[landlord]

Re: Picasso not eating

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15055312#post15055312 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rachelcb80
Can anyone suggest something I should try to get him eating more?

I have read several times that vit b12 will stimulate appetite in clowns. Not sure on the dosage but you might try searching for it in RC or MOFIB (which is where I read it!)

 

[rkelman]

I'd get a batch of live brine shrimp going.

 

[Grunt]

+1 on live brine. Also try pellets instead of flake. It may be they arent used to flake. a trick I usually due is mix all my food in a small glass, and allow the pellets to soften before feeding, can also enrich them as well.

Hope this helps

 

[1geo]

Get yourself some Formalin, 37%, and be prepared to set up a QT tank for Formalin dips. Monitor your clown closely for parasites. Any odd behavior, not eating, mouth rapidly gapping, swimming erraticly, swimming at the surface and gasping for air, spots on the body, lesions on the body, slime from the gill area and mouth, lose of color, fraied fins, etc. If your clown has parasites then ALL the fish in your tank has parasites and must be treated even if they exhibit no symptoms. Your tank also has the parasites and must be treat. The most common parasites for clowns is Brooklynella and Ich which has a variety of forms; I include Marine velvet in with Ich since it has the same cure. Brook must be treated with Formalin. The accepted treatment for Ich is copper but it also can be treated with Formalin. The tank must be left fallow, fishless, for eight weeks. The reason is the parasite for Ich has an egg stage and can lay dormant in the substrata for up to eight weeks. When the eggs hatch and cannot find a host they die. Brook multiples by cell division, the new cell is called a swimmer. Swimmers can persist in a tank for up to six weeks; if they do not find a host they die. Read up on Formalin baths, you can search on Google and find a lot of information.

 

[davocean]

My new guys did same.
I ended up doing a variety of foods, cyclposeze, spectrum pellets, flake, mysis, brine.
Brine soaked in garlic got them started, not the most nutritious, but they started to adjust from that to small mysis, and they seem to like the spectrum pellets.
Live brine may be easiest, and nutritious, but IME it makes fish picky for live, but it's better than them not eating at all, and may be able to ween them back to prepd food.

 

[kerusso316]

They will not pass up massago.It is the orange egg on a sushi role.It is Salt water smelt roe.You can find it at an Asian grocery store.It along with brine shrimp will get the fishes digestion going, then start feeding flake and pellet.Look at it like a fast.You would not break a fast with a steak,you would start slow with chicken broth then jello then soup then light meat.Treat your fish the same way, only with fishy foods...Light and bright.Concerning the dipping of your fish..Only dip the fish if it is sick...The dip is stressfull.It may tip the fish over the edge...NEVER dip a healthy fish. Let us know how things g yea Massago is very fatty.After your fish is eating good Feed it like candy....only a little,Once or twice a week. Hey Rach I grew up in Byram Just south Of Jackson. Mitch May