Pictus won't eat

[anaya]

I did post this at the end of the frog fish files as well but the last post on there was a while back so I thought I'd be safest to post it here as well.

OK so... I can not get my little pictus to eat. His name is Mr. Pink (will try to get him a picture on here but I suck at it lol) he is 2.75" to 3.25" (way to tricky to measure with water bending the light). His water details are as follows. Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, Ammonia both forms 0, Salinity 1.023-1.025 depending on amount of evaporation when I test, 4"-8" sand bed, 29gal tank that was up a min of 6 months before I purchased him, PH at 8.3, temperature is 73-75.

He has been in the tank a week and a half. He has two pep. shrimp .75" and 1.25". He hunts/stalks them but never attempts to eat. Also tried a few FW ghost shrimp with no luck. Sorry for this next part but I also tried to hold a .75" damsel by the tail in front of him with no luck. I have tried frozen silversides, krill and octo. The frozen food I have tried is what the pet store I purchased him from had him eating. Mr Pink was at the LFS for 5 months before I purchased him and I witnessed him eat sm. damsels as well as the frozen items I previously mentioned.

His appearance seems normal... but I am no expert. He is very active, walking about the tank throughout the day seemingly stalking the pep shrimp. At dusk he will swim a bit but nothing looking like a stressed holy cow I gotta get out of here swim, just swims for a few seconds to the other side then slowly kinda hovers down to the bottom or on top of some macro plant. No apparent gas bubble issues, no Ick, No fuzzy white coating over him, eyes are clear and he moves them to look around all creepy like constantly. When I first got him home while acclimating I noticed his left eye was a bit cloudy but it cleared up within an hour of him being placed into his home.

I hope I am over reacting but as active as he is I think a 2 week break in meals is a tad bit extreme. If any one knows what I should try please tell me. Anything that may help me out either with my own mental distress (haha) or with Mr. Pinks would be greatly appreciated. I am already very fond of my new buddy and do not like the thought of losing him at all, let alone this early after obtaining him.

 

[namxas]

Tankmates?

How old is the tank? The reason I ask is if it contains a pod population, there's a good chance it's eating pods, and may not be hungry (this can also occur if the fish is "full" in general).

It also MIGHT be intimidated by the size of the food items. This isn't super common in anglers, but with smaller fish, it can happen. you might try guppy/molly fry.

73*F - 75*F is a tad low, so what also may be happening is you're slowing down the metabolism of a fish that already has a very low metabolism. I think 75*F - 77*F would be a better temp range for it. Don't worry, a couple of weeks with no food isn't a big deal for an angler.

Finally, you could try adding a little vit. C to the tank (we use Brightwell's), as this not only boosts appetite, but the immune system as well.

 

[anaya]

namxas: Mr. Pink is alone in his tank with the exception of the two pep shrimp.

I will move the temp up to 76 and see if that helps. I will also try to find some of the vitamin C you spoke of and order it, its prob best to at least have it on hand if I do need it at some point.
There is def a decent pod population, when I turn the lights on at night I see them all scamper to hiding.

Thank you for your reply