Proper food for Clowns

reefguy24

New member
I got 2 clowns a few weeks ago and at first they were eating the frozen shrimp cubes.

Now, they refuse to eat it.

So I have two other foods: marine flakes and "pellets". Both were purchased from the local fish store.

The clowns refuse to eat the flakes as they don't fall.....the flakes stay at the top of the water. The clowns will pick at them, but I don't see them feeding.

Feeding them the pellets is a challenge.....as the pellets sink (90% of them do) to the bottom as soon as I put them in the water. The clowns refuse to eat off the bottom of the tank.

So I have to time it when the clowns are in front of the tank and drop 2-3 small pellets. 50% of the time the clowns miss.


Is there a brand name of food you guys can recommend?


thanks
 
My clowns love Larrys Reef Frenzy.
But, they also eat flakes, pellets and mysis shrimp with no problem.
I also feed them some frozen veggie cubes, but the name escapes me.
They eat the flakes off the top and get the pellets before they hit the sand.
I toss in about 4 pellets at a time hard enough so they sink, they grab them no problem.
In short, mine eat anything that falls into the tank.
 
Clowns not eating? Sounds like a different problem than picky eaters. Clowns are very willing feeders and I have not met one that passed on frozen shrimp. Not doubting your skills as aquarist, instead, just double checking: when was your tank setup? Have you tested for ammonia and nitrite lately? Are there other tankmates? Do you have a testing kit at hand? Any changes in behavior or appearance?
Let me know and I will be able to give you a better informed suggestion.

Good luck with things!
 
When you put the flakes in, take a pinch between our fingers and swirl it under the water to disperse it.

What brand of flake and pellets did you buy? Both are specifically for marine fish, yes?
 
When you put the flakes in, take a pinch between our fingers and swirl it under the water to disperse it.

What brand of flake and pellets did you buy? Both are specifically for marine fish, yes?

+1. Also pre-soaking pellets will make them slightly more buoyant for when you drop them in.

But like others said...there's nothing my clowns DON'T eat (including me). I use a variety of ocean nutrition flakes. They also eat my IO marine chips....I've never bought any of it, I've only gotten it free, but they eat it. I also feed mysis.
 
My clowns behave the same from time to time as well. I use Formula 1 pellets for marine fish. They sink but slowly with my powerhead keeping them suspended for a bit. Before I got the power head (talking about my QT here) I would drop a pellet or two at a time and wait till it was eaten and so it didn't have a chance to make it to the bottom.

For what it is worth though, one of my clowns will eat from the bottom if I feed slightly less than what suffices his hunger. Eventually he will get over it and pick it off the bottom of the tank but he waits about 5 minutes to make sure I'm not dropping more.
 
+1 for the LRS reef frenzy! My clowns will eat any of the above too though, and right out of my fingers. If we do flakes/pellets, one prefers floaters and one prefers sinkers.

Good luck, hope it works out!
 
I have fed my clowns from my fingers from day one. It helps keep the food from dispersing all over the tank. Mine absolutely love mysis shrimp, but pellets and flakes are never a problem. The only thing I have trouble getting them to eat is frozen seaweed when I give them a vegetarian dinner, they pick at it and spit it back out. I don't blame them though, I would rather have shrimp than seaweed.
 
When I put flakes into the tank, I don't just drop them on the top. You have to get a pinch and hold it under water and let it soak for a few seconds and then "swish" fingers back and forth and it will stay suspended under the water.
 
Hi, thanks for all the replies.

I'm currently using:


1. Marine Chinps (by Instant Ocean). It comes in VERY small flakes.

2. Formula One Pellets "small pellet size".


The fish do want to eat....


My tank is cycled. Nitrates have just gotten below 20ppm (down from 60 about a week ago). Doing water changes (25%) every 2 days with Catalina/ro/di mixture (3 parts to 1 to get salinity down to 1.023).

The nitrates were actually at 20ppm this morning....and that was before the water change I just did a few minutes ago. So I expect them to be even lower once I check again in a few hours.


Ok, I take back my original post.....there are two clowns and a purple fish called a "false" something or other. Someone identified it as a dottyback, but I don't think that's the proper name.

All 3 fish play nice. Nobody beats up anyone else.

Anyways, one of the clowns eats all of the pellets before his friend can.

The clowns are about 3/4 inch in length and have been in the tank for about a week and a half. They both came in at the same time and they both appear to be sexually immature (same size).

So how do I make one clown share the food with the other? I drop 3-4 pellets in at the same time, only 1 gets eaten and the other 3 fall to the floor (where the cleanup crew takes care of it presumably). However, only so much food can accumulate on the bottom of the floor until it is considered "over feeding"......trying to determine what point that is?


However, how many pellets are "enough" for one day's worth of feeding?


The other thing is that when the pellets fall, they fall fast. The clowns aren't exactly agile swimmers.....in fact it's like they both have safety helmets on.

I also need to get the attention of the purple fish, otherwise he won't eat....and he's not the sharpest tool in the shed either.


thanks

0 ammonia
0 nitrites
 
You could also try Nutramar Ova. I feed it to my dragonete, but holy crap the clowns go wild for it. Another crack like item is frozen Cyclopeeze.

Like many have said, my clowns will eat anything. I have their food on rotation between two different kinds of pellets and several frozen foods (Rods Food, Hikari mysis, Hikari krill, and the two stated above). When I feed the pellets I place them in front of the powerheads so the fish have to catch them. I toss in a couple at a time to make sure they are actually eaten.

Do your clowns eat anything random floaters out of the water column? If so maybe they just need to be stimulated by movement other than sinking.
 
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