What is my anthias eating?!

[brett559]

I've had my female lyretail anthias for about a month. She was shy at first, but is now always out and about. Very active.

I feed exclusively a mix of NLS pellets and PE Mysis pellets. All my fish love them. I've maybe seen the anthias eat one or two pellets.

She's eating something, right?! She's not getting skinnier, and no way a fish like an anthias could survive a month unless she's eating something. Right?

Tank is about three years old, so maybe there's lots of little critters she's eating.

 

[Tripod1404]

I doubt the tank can generate enough planktonic food on its own to sustain anthias. IMO, unless it is eating something you provide, it is starving. It can take more than 2 months for a fish to starve to death, longer if it is eating very little. And anthias are naturally skinny looking, so it might be hard to say if it is starving or not based on looks.

You might want to try nutrimar ova or some type of frozen copepods.

 

[mcgyvr]

They eat pods..

 

[AlSimmons]

Maybe the fish is eating the pellets off the bottom of the tank once they soften up a little? A hard pellet can definitely deter a fish from eating sometimes. I've got a male Ocellaris Clownfish that won't eat the NLS pellets if I just throw them in. I need to soak them in a cup of water for about 5 minutes or so to soften them up first.

 

[brett559]

I think I have PE mysis in the freezer. I'll give that a try.