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ASAP: Orange Spot Filefish needs the *right* home as soon as possible!

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Sandee

Sandee

Hey, I was going to post this in the Steals n Deals section (for members only), but I'm not looking for $$ or anything - just an opportunity to save this little guy's life ASAP! I knew they were hard to feed and generally finicky, buy they said he was eating frozen Brine - no go in my tank. He's starting to look really thin now and just perched on a coral, or in the corner.

Anyone within the Morris County area willing to give this guy a chance? I'd be happy to meet up somewhere half way, if needed. If I don't hear back by Wednesday night, I'll just return him to AF. Just wanted to make the offer ... and figured this was real emergency! I'm in Denville ...


Thanks ... PM me.

OrangeDotFileFish.jpg
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

I found a post by "the" matt pedersen (the guy who wrote the 4000 word coral article) - he suggests:

Long term, you should be able to get them to eat flakes, pellets, frozen mixes, mysis, everything. And long term, that's what you should give 'em. EVERYTHING. Mysis is far better than Brine Shrimp. I'd also soak your foods in Selcon. Frozen mixes should offer the nutritional diversity necessary..since we don't really know what the nutritional profile of coral flesh is, at this point, the best guess is to treat it as an omnivorous food source (coral flesh + zooxanthellae which is algae), so a well rounded, varied diet is probably the best. It's certainly enough to get my fish spawning with viable eggs, so, something is working right.

The basic method I used to train Files onto prepared foods was to coat coral frag skeletons with gel diets (i.e. Ocean Nutrition's Pygmy Angel Formula, or Rod's Food). It's a "natural presentation", and the fish pick at it, and eventually they're taking a much better food. But TIME is basically what it takes...when the fish learn to take food out of the water column, they become more apt to try other things, sometimes... Again, terribly difficult as a wild caught fish.
 
redfishbluefish

redfishbluefish

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Sandee, absolutely beautiful fish…..but known for their picky appetite. I was considering picking up a filefish for my aiptasia problem, but decided against it after reading up on them, and seeing that once the aiptasia is gone, so is the fish….to starvation.

Try some of Phil’s suggestions......if someone can do this, it's you. :) Otherwise, best of luck finding a caretaker for this beauty.
 
MadReefer

MadReefer

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My favorite file fish. Never got one because of all the info about hard to start eating in your tank.
Sandee, good luck with it or who ever takes it. Be sure to keep us posted.
 
M

mnat

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I love that fish so much, just don't have a tank for him to hang out in until I got him over to frozen food. Have you tried enticing him with live SPS just to get some meat on his bones?
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

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redfishbluefish said:
Sandee, absolutely beautiful fish…..but known for their picky appetite. I was considering picking up a filefish for my aiptasia problem, but decided against it after reading up on them, and seeing that once the aiptasia is gone, so is the fish….to starvation.

Try some of Phil’s suggestions......if someone can do this, it's you. :) Otherwise, best of luck finding a caretaker for this beauty.
Click to expand...

+1 I think you should give it a shot at least Sandee. You can do it!
 
Sandee

Sandee

tnx but ...

<< Have you tried enticing him with _____________ ... >>

Yes, I tried a few things (live brine, etc.). His behaviour changed as soon as I removed the Open Brain he was nibbling on (thanks go to Jim Roth for fostering that piece for me!).

My tank is very busy, yes too - lots of competition for food, so the FF keeps looking for small pieces but no go. I'd really like to see him go to some one's quiet tank ... he IS very cool, a great little fish. I just took this pix of him a few minutes ago ... he perches himself between the rock and coral, and holds on with his little "hat" ...


OrangeDotFileFishPerched.jpg
 
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