worried about flame hawkfish
- Thread starter m3rcury
- Start date
lee - a couple of other questions about feeding.
i have been using the forumla one (recommended by LFS. probably a mistake) and supplementing that with frozen brine shrimp about every 3rd day. i only feed once a day (which I'm realizing is a mistake).
so, based on your feeding article, it seems i should do the following things:
1) go to twice a day feeding
2) buy vitamins (vito-chem, zoe, or selco)
3) buy fat supplements (zoecon or selcon)
4) for the sick flame, rinse the frozen brine shrimp with a brine net, then soak in the vitamins for about 20minutes once a day (say in the morning).
5) do the same with the fat supplements (can i mix the fat and vitamins and soak in both at the same time?)
6) get beta glucan (what do i do with this?)
7) for the second feeding, can i keep using the forumla one, or should i get something else?
8) use active carbon in the main tank for about a week (in case some kind of toxin is in there that was upsetting the flame and needs to be removed).
sorry for all of the questions, but i really want to treat my animals the best that i possibly can. there is so much information to learn. this makes getting my PhD look easy by comparison
i have been using the forumla one (recommended by LFS. probably a mistake) and supplementing that with frozen brine shrimp about every 3rd day. i only feed once a day (which I'm realizing is a mistake).
so, based on your feeding article, it seems i should do the following things:
1) go to twice a day feeding
2) buy vitamins (vito-chem, zoe, or selco)
3) buy fat supplements (zoecon or selcon)
4) for the sick flame, rinse the frozen brine shrimp with a brine net, then soak in the vitamins for about 20minutes once a day (say in the morning).
5) do the same with the fat supplements (can i mix the fat and vitamins and soak in both at the same time?)
6) get beta glucan (what do i do with this?)
7) for the second feeding, can i keep using the forumla one, or should i get something else?
8) use active carbon in the main tank for about a week (in case some kind of toxin is in there that was upsetting the flame and needs to be removed).
sorry for all of the questions, but i really want to treat my animals the best that i possibly can. there is so much information to learn. this makes getting my PhD look easy by comparison
I'm impressed by your enthusiasm and effort to be the best aquarist you can. :thumbsup: Most people just go about half-way.
Your Hawkfish is quite the carnivore. Skip the brine shrimp altogether. Follow the guidelines under "Carnivore." You should be feeding whole organisms (frozen plankton, krill, whole shrimp, mysis shrimp, etc.). Your fish eats crustaceans, too (snails, crabs, etc.) and should be offered some chopped meats from these kinds of marine animals.
A single feeding per day is not wrong for this fish, but twice a day with chopped crab and mysis shrimp would be okay. If you feed krill, you can do that once a day and then feed again the next day.
Don't mix the fat and vitamin supplements together.
Beta glucan is found in a (human) health food store and is the same powder in capsules we take. You want to add about 15mg to its food, once a day.
The other things you mention are okay, although 8) the carbon isn't a must, but if you're not using carbon or some other organic absorbing material (there are several available), it will help. Are you using a skimmer?
Your Hawkfish is quite the carnivore. Skip the brine shrimp altogether. Follow the guidelines under "Carnivore." You should be feeding whole organisms (frozen plankton, krill, whole shrimp, mysis shrimp, etc.). Your fish eats crustaceans, too (snails, crabs, etc.) and should be offered some chopped meats from these kinds of marine animals.
A single feeding per day is not wrong for this fish, but twice a day with chopped crab and mysis shrimp would be okay. If you feed krill, you can do that once a day and then feed again the next day.
Don't mix the fat and vitamin supplements together.
Beta glucan is found in a (human) health food store and is the same powder in capsules we take. You want to add about 15mg to its food, once a day.
The other things you mention are okay, although 8) the carbon isn't a must, but if you're not using carbon or some other organic absorbing material (there are several available), it will help. Are you using a skimmer?
yes, i'm using a skimmer right now. a bakpak 2. not a very good skimmer. as soon as i get paid next month i'll be getting one of the coralife ss.
just to be clear about the food.
you recommend that i use any of the following: frozen krill, mysis shrimp, or plankton (probably a combination)
as well as some chopped crab (just crab meat from the grocery store? or will my LFS sell frozen crab?)
do this twice a day (e.g. mysis in morning, chopped crab at night)
do i soak the frozen stuff and/or the chopped meat in the vitamins? can i soak in vitamins in the morning and then fat supplements at night?
thanks for your encouragement. the way i look at it, i have trapped this fish in a glass container and it has no way to get ANYTHING that i don't personally give to it. since it depends completely and totally on me, the only responsible thing is to try to find a way to actually provide it with everything it needs for a healthy life. if i get so much pleasure from his presence in my house, i hope i can provide a protective, healthy, and safe enviorment for him to live. maybe he will enjoy it a bit also
just to be clear about the food.
you recommend that i use any of the following: frozen krill, mysis shrimp, or plankton (probably a combination)
as well as some chopped crab (just crab meat from the grocery store? or will my LFS sell frozen crab?)
do this twice a day (e.g. mysis in morning, chopped crab at night)
do i soak the frozen stuff and/or the chopped meat in the vitamins? can i soak in vitamins in the morning and then fat supplements at night?
thanks for your encouragement. the way i look at it, i have trapped this fish in a glass container and it has no way to get ANYTHING that i don't personally give to it. since it depends completely and totally on me, the only responsible thing is to try to find a way to actually provide it with everything it needs for a healthy life. if i get so much pleasure from his presence in my house, i hope i can provide a protective, healthy, and safe enviorment for him to live. maybe he will enjoy it a bit also
You've got the food right. Take a look again at that feeding post. You'll get other ideas under the "Carnivore" section.
Soaking frozen foods is right (one at each feeding). You might try and see if the fish will eat some freeze-dried krill, freeze-dried mysis, and freeze-dried plankton. Those will soak up the vitamins and fats pretty well. Some fish take to it, others will prefer frozen.
Raw crab is sometimes not easy to come by. When it is caught for human consumption, it is often cooked right there on the crab boats. I go to my 'local' oriental market where all sorts of 'weird' foods are sold and can find living crabs there. But, you might just want to toss in a very small shell-less hermit crab now and then.
If you don't want to do the above, then some chopped scallop (you can buy those frozen and raw) will be good. It soaks up the supplements fairly well when thawed. Some ideas on how to prepare that:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=769435
It depends on how far you want to take the nutrition thing. Skip crab and scallop if it's not that convenient for you.
You're absolutely right. The only thing our fish have access to is what we put into their tank.
:rollface:
Soaking frozen foods is right (one at each feeding). You might try and see if the fish will eat some freeze-dried krill, freeze-dried mysis, and freeze-dried plankton. Those will soak up the vitamins and fats pretty well. Some fish take to it, others will prefer frozen.
Raw crab is sometimes not easy to come by. When it is caught for human consumption, it is often cooked right there on the crab boats. I go to my 'local' oriental market where all sorts of 'weird' foods are sold and can find living crabs there. But, you might just want to toss in a very small shell-less hermit crab now and then.
If you don't want to do the above, then some chopped scallop (you can buy those frozen and raw) will be good. It soaks up the supplements fairly well when thawed. Some ideas on how to prepare that:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=769435
It depends on how far you want to take the nutrition thing. Skip crab and scallop if it's not that convenient for you.
You're absolutely right. The only thing our fish have access to is what we put into their tank.
:rollface:
OK. had to go to 3 fish stores, but i got everything
it's weird. just moving the flame into the qt tank has calmed him down it seems. his breathing has slowed and he seems less agitated. maybe it is just me though.
so, i did the first dose of furan-2 tonight and i will follow the directions. i'll keep a very close eye on the water parameters and probably do a 1 gallon water change every day. i have sponge filter, heater, and some pcv elbows in there.
i'll post updates as i go along.
thanks for all the nutrition help. and everything else.
it's weird. just moving the flame into the qt tank has calmed him down it seems. his breathing has slowed and he seems less agitated. maybe it is just me though.
so, i did the first dose of furan-2 tonight and i will follow the directions. i'll keep a very close eye on the water parameters and probably do a 1 gallon water change every day. i have sponge filter, heater, and some pcv elbows in there.
i'll post updates as i go along.
thanks for all the nutrition help. and everything else.
just going to let you guys know that after about a week of being in QT, the flame seems to be doing about 100% better. bright, vivid red color when the light is on, very active, very slow breathing, extremely agressive eating. i'm still having to do water changes every day to keep the NH down, but that is a small price to pay to save this guy's life
thanks again for the help
thanks again for the help
