Wild Caught Potters Won't Eat

[asonitez]

Guys,
I recently lost 2 newly purchased fish along with 40% of the fish in my tank due to a velvet outbreak...

I mostly lost my prized potters and flame angel. I repurchased 2 new beautiful specimens and they are getting acclimated to each other and not displaying any aggression with both of them in a 20 breeder seperated by a tank divider.


The flame is eating and all the other fish are as well. The tank itself is fine with only minimal traces of ammonia which are immediately squashed by the established biofilter. I am running copper through the system now to treat for ich and its been about 4 days since sunday. I have tried feeding the following


Mysis Shrimp
Flake Food
Fish Roe
Pellets (small)
Pellets (large)
Nori (a decent sized sheet)
Froze Brine Shrimp


I THINK I have seen him pick at a few pieces and he has not lost any weight. He is not displaying any thing else wrong with him. Can anyone else advise what might be causing the issue with him eating?

Today I'm going to try some live blackworms and maybe some live brine shrimp. I don't want to loose him.

The Copper Treatment should be over this weekend. If not I can drain 50% of the tank and treat him with Prazipro instead.

 

[ken6217]

How long have you had him?

I had a potters that I did not see him eat for at least two months. He picked at the rocks but never ate anything that I fed him until I had him for about 2 months. He was fine.
Ken

 

[humaguy]

copper is very tough on centropyge and may def prevent them from eating.
are you using cupramine? if so, be very, very cautious...
prazi acts as an appetite suppressant...

did you make sure they were eating before treating?
velvet is still in your dt- that needs immed. attention...

 

[asonitez]

At the store he was fat and healthy. I did not see him eat (stupid me). I did ask and they said he was eating in the store (frozen)

Velvet in the main tank is gone.
The Liverock and the live sand were all treated to like a gallon of hydrogen peroxide run through the entire system while in freshwater for 2 weeks.
Then a full tank drain, freshwater with hydrogen peroxide run through the entire tank.
A full tank refill with new water and. The Tank was cycled with Dr. Tim's and currently has a few corals moved back in. A mated pair of melanarus and 2 chromis are the tanks only occupants atm until the new fish have passed through qurantine.

I am treating with Cupramine. I test Twice a day and my wife tests once a day. I perform a 50% water change every 4 days weather or not its needed. I also have 50% water change ready on hand at all times. Qurantine tank is 20 gallons. I have not started a Prazi Pro Regiment yet.

 

[humaguy]

At the store he was fat and healthy. I did not see him eat (stupid me). I did ask and they said he was eating in the store (frozen)

I am treating with Cupramine. I test Twice a day and my wife tests once a day. I perform a 50% water change every 4 days weather or not its needed. I also have 50% water change ready on hand at all times. Qurantine tank is 20 gallons. I have not started a Prazi Pro Regiment yet.

Cupramine can be deadly to centropyges...the doseage needs to be ramped up very slowly, much slower than the bottle recommends and the final dosage level should be lower than the 0.5 mg/l they recommend.
No ammonia binding agents like Prime should be used concurrently with cupra...

Why 50% water changes every 4 days?

 

[asonitez]

Because I can't always account for the badge being correct and I don't always trust the api tests. The 50% change is nothing to me as it rquires almost no effort and just maintains a very healthy level in the tank.

when you say that centropyges should be ramped up slowly and it should be lower than the 0.5 how exactly am i killing ich then? i thought 0.5 was the reccomended dosage for killing ich for any fish except ones that are scaleless?

 

[asonitez]

I'm treating for ich because the store i bought him in undoubtedly had ich on at least 1 of their fish in the shared system. the procedure i'm following is what i've always done as no one can ever be sure ich is gone or not present on a fish until it starts showing.

 

[humaguy]

I'm treating for ich because the store i bought him in undoubtedly had ich on at least 1 of their fish in the shared system. the procedure i'm following is what i've always done as no one can ever be sure ich is gone or not present on a fish until it starts showing.

lol, I hear ya...did you qt the fish you knew had ich before you added him to your dt?

 

[pixie4484]

I had a CBB that would not eat - blackworms were the ticket. After it ate them for a couple of days it started on Mysis and has been fine for the last yr.

 

[humaguy]

Because I can't always account for the badge being correct and I don't always trust the api tests. The 50% change is nothing to me as it rquires almost no effort and just maintains a very healthy level in the tank.

when you say that centropyges should be ramped up slowly and it should be lower than the 0.5 how exactly am i killing ich then? i thought 0.5 was the reccomended dosage for killing ich for any fish except ones that are scaleless?

you are doing a 50% water change every 4 days- not sure how you think that is going to help when seachem recommends dosing, waiting 48 hours, and repeating and then leaving in the tank for 14 days...

Seachem's recommended treatment is- "use 20 drops (1 mL) per 40 L (10.5 gallons) the first day, wait 48 hours, then repeat. On non-dropper caps, each inner ring is 1 mL. In freshwater, use half dose. Final copper concentration is 0.5 mg/L (0.25 mg/L in freshwater). Leave at this concentration for 14 days."

when treating centropyge some of us tend to use various configurations..
I use around 15 drops and wait 48 hours (or more if they are having a rough time with it) then 15 more drops...instead of topping out at 0.5 mg/l- we go to around 0.4-0.45...this is then repeated 2-3 times...

they also get 2-3 rounds of prazi but again many fish will not eat when going thru a prazi treatment...

good luck...

I qt for a min of 8-10 weeks...

 

[asonitez]

Just to be clear the display tank is ich free and has fish in it that went through quarantine and are healthy and disease free.

I maintain the 0.5 in the qurantine tank after the 50% water change by simply adding 20 drops to maintain the 0.5 needed to kill ich.

 

[snorvich]

copper is very tough on centropyge and may def prevent them from eating.
are you using cupramine? if so, be very, very cautious...
prazi acts as an appetite suppressant...

did you make sure they were eating before treating?
velvet is still in your dt- that needs immed. attention...

I agree. copper is definitely an appetite suppressant. If treating for ich, you need to maintain copper for 4 weeks.

 

[Shivsreef]

The Potter's Angelfish should be offered a variety of foods including Spirulina, marine algae, high-quality angelfish preparations, mysis or frozen shrimp, and other meaty items.I would recommend some frozen food or if you have corals feed them and them feed the fish this usually gets the fish "ready" to eat