Pyramid Butterflyfish only eats Nori

[makers marc]

Hello,

Like the title says, I got a Pyramid Butterflyfish 1 week ago from my LFS. They had received it 24 hrs earlier only. When asked to watch them eat, they put in some large PE mysis that only 2/6 showed interest in (chewed and spit out), one which was mine.

The past week, it ignores mysis and NLS pellets but when I get a strip of nori and soak it in water, then tear it up into hundreds of pieces it the fish goes crazy for it.

So, my question is since I know these fish need protein or normally eat plankton/mysis, will it survive only eating Nori soaked in selcon?

Secondly, anyone else experience this and if so, how did you wean it onto frozen or pellets?

Spare the whole "shoulda let it wait at the LFS longer" schtick lol, because I can assure you that my LFS wouldnt have tried all the various foods like I have.

 

[Pastey]

When I had a pair of pyramids, I fed zero nori sheets and they were the most voracious eaters in the tank. If you have no tangs and the butterfly seems healthy, I would hold off on feeding nori a few days at a time and feed nothing but what you normally feed (outside of the nori). I feed pellets multiple times a day, half a sheet of nori once a day and frozen mix once every 2 days. The idea is, given the fish is healthy, if you take away what it "wants" for long enough periods, it should get hungry enough and interested in what you want it to eat (aka what it needs).

 

[caribfan]

So what have you fed so far, just nls and mysis?

These guys are planktivores, I'd continue feeding mysis in small amounts multiple times daily. I'd also add brine into the mix, just in the short term.

Which brand of mysis are you feeding? For some reason, it seems like people have success with the smallest size of hikari when it comes to finicky eaters. I personally use PE extensively, but that can be a little too large for some fish.

Is this fish in a quarantine tank? If so, you might try adding extra flow via a power head to help keep the food in suspension.

I'd ditch the nori for a bit to see if you can get a feeding response from the brine or mysis/plankton.

 

[makers marc]

Ok. Good to know other Pyramids do this, I was just under the impression they are easy to feed anythung.

Maybe Ill stop feeding it nori in a few days, wanted to make sure it was acclimated well first and wanted it to eat to survive theae first dew days.

Ive fed it nori, nls, hikari mysis, and some green frozen cubes which I forget the name but its majority veggies.

I wonder if it can survive on nori only in the long run? I do not have any tangs, so I can eliminate nori for a few days without stressing other livestock.

 

[ca1ore]

Spare the whole "shoulda let it wait at the LFS longer" schtick lol, because I can assure you that my LFS wouldnt have tried all the various foods like I have.

How about the 'should'a rejected a fish that wasn't eating' schtick ..... :hmm2: In my experience, pyramids are voracious eaters and will devour just about anything. However, they also don't seem to ship/acclimate very well, and I have had some that just would not eat at all and did not survive. That yours is eating nori is a good sign, and it will be fine on just that for a while. Keep offering a broad range of foods and hopefully it will begin to take them.

 

[lifeoffaith]

I'd try LRS reef frenzy. My LFS uses this for all his picky eaters and they all eat it quite willingly. I just picked some up to try at home, though all my fish eat healthily already. I can't tell you if it works, only what my LFS says they've experienced. Obviously have to take that with a grain of salt, but you could try it.

 

[caribfan]

I'd try LRS reef frenzy. My LFS uses this for all his picky eaters and they all eat it quite willingly. I just picked some up to try at home, though all my fish eat healthily already. I can't tell you if it works, only what my LFS says they've experienced. Obviously have to take that with a grain of salt, but you could try it.

That's a good quality food in my opinion.

 

[makers marc]

How about the 'should'a rejected a fish that wasn't eating' schtick ..... :hmm2:

That comment would only make sense if I was whining about the money I lost buying a fish that wont eat, which im not.

Just wanted to preemptively save the thread from getting derailed from such comments. I know the risk I took on by buying a fish that wasnt eating regularly at the LFS, that risk was $45.

 

[caribfan]

Just a heads up, watch for any kind of inflammation around the mouth. Both of my pyramids developed mouth infections that had to be treated. I started with three and ended up losing one of those.

I believe others have had similar issues as well with pyramids.

 

[makers marc]

Just a heads up, watch for any kind of inflammation around the mouth. Both of my pyramids developed mouth infections that had to be treated. I started with three and ended up losing one of those.

I believe others have had similar issues as well with pyramids.

Thanks. I did read about that. Was it pretty obvious that it was inflammed? Right now, its face is blackish gray as expected but its lips have white outlines to them. I was concerned but not sure if that is just normal coloration.

 

[caribfan]

Do you have any nitrofuracin green powder? Might be worth running a treatment on them, if my memelory is correct, I think that's how it started.

Did this guy go directly into your display tank?

 

[hogfanreefer]

Agree with Ca1ore. My pyramids are the most aggressive eaters in a tank full of wrasses. They will eat anything. Just keep trying.

One thing that has worked for me with picky eaters is frozen blood worms. Live blackworms would be even better if available locally. I've had a couple of hard to keep fish that ate bloodworms as their first food and then rapidly converted to other foods (Potters wrasse was one)/

 

[ca1ore]

How about the 'should'a rejected a fish that wasn't eating' schtick ..... :hmm2:

That comment would only make sense if I was whining about the money I lost buying a fish that wont eat, which im not.

Just wanted to preemptively save the thread from getting derailed from such comments. I know the risk I took on by buying a fish that wasnt eating regularly at the LFS, that risk was $45.

Then I suggest you search for prior threads on these fish. Doubt there's much to add here that isn't there.

 

[makers marc]

Then I suggest you search for prior threads on these fish. Doubt there's much to add here that isn't there.

Defensive. Butt hurt. Whatever it is. Get over yourself. Ive read alot of threads on RC, thereeftank, etc. I had a specific question regarding a nori only diet being odd.. its not like its not eating at all, there are a ton of those threads.

Messageboard tough guy you are

 

[ca1ore]

:lolspin: Pretty much the response I expected based on your first post ........

 

[makers marc]

:lolspin: Pretty much the response I expected based on your first post ........

Pretty much the response I expect from a guy who lives in Stamford