Coral Beauty is not eating

[whitebear1020]

Hey Guys!
Does anyone know how long a Coral Beauty will survive without food? ???
I got mine last Tuesday. It has been 8 days and she is not taking any food. I got her from VividAquariums. They said to feed her with frozen mysis shrimp. I tried that and flakes and pellets. She ignores it. ??? They also said that it is very hard to keep a Coral Beauty anyway, "so when it dies we will replace it." I can't believe their attitude. It doesn't look like they care about their fish much.
Anyway, I read all the literature I could possibly find. Bob Fenner says that these hunger strikes should not be ignored but he really doesn't say what to do in this case. I have 65lb of live rock in my tank. She is very active and swims fast, nibs on rocks, but I am sure there is not enough algae to support her for long. I also was wondering, may be I should buy some algae. Do you know what kind would be the best for her? ???
I appreciate any input. Thank you!

 

[Phyl]

They like sponge, have you tried a frozen food for angels (Ocean Nutrition makes an Angel blend frozen cubes, if I'm not mistaken).

If you could catch her we could tube feed her.

Sounds like she wasn't eating when she was there, so they were expecting this. Try something live (blackworms, ghost shrimp, etc), you could try hanging Nori on a clip attached to the glass with a suction cup to see if she likes that.

What are your water parameters?

 

[whitebear1020]

I do use Ocean Nutrition cubes (I got some at MACNA). I also have a veggie clip.
I don't think I will be able to catch her. She is way too fast. The water parameters are good. I had a little bit of Nitrates, but I added a bag of carbon 3 weeks ago. It should be fine now, I will check again tonight.

 

[mnat]

I agree with Phyl with the nori clip, our angles eat that. We had a coral beauty for a while and fed it Rods Food and mysis. It just might not be weened onto frozen food yet and you might have to try some live food (again in agreement with Phyl). If the fish is swimming and active and picking at the rocks those are all good signs of health.

 

[Nickjr000]

It is a good sign it's pickin at your rocks. But I don't think that it's not eating all the food you mentioned is a good sign. Maybe try some blackworms or some live brine?

 

[whitebear1020]

Ok, here is an update on my coral beauty. No, she is still not eating. I am adding garlic and soaking seaweed in it as well. Doesn't help. I bough live brine shrimp. She looked really surprised like, what's this now? But didn't touch it. I have to admit, clowns had the same look on their faces. ;D
So, the question I have for everybody. What do I do with live shrimp? It's in a bag in my sump right now. How long is it going to stay alive?

 

[Phyl]

Just throw them in the tank. Something will eat them. Did you try black worms? Did you try some Rod's food?

 

[whitebear1020]

Yes, I tried Rod's food. I am feeding it once or twice a day along with the Angel Formula cube by Ocean Nutrition. She totally ignores it. ???
I also ordered Gracilaria verrucosa and Caulerpa prolifera. I am trying to firgure out how to attach it to rocks. I am hoping she will start eating at least something.
About brine shrimp... I have a half of bag, it seems a lot to put in 65g tank. Is there a way to keep them a live for a few days?

 

[1201139]

Yes, I tried Rod's food. I am feeding it once or twice a day along with the Angel Formula cube by Ocean Nutrition. She totally ignores it. ???
I also ordered Gracilaria verrucosa and Caulerpa prolifera. I am trying to firgure out how to attach it to rocks. I am hoping she will start eating at least something.
About brine shrimp... I have a half of bag, it seems a lot to put in 65g tank. Is there a way to keep them a live for a few days?

i kept mine in the refrigerator for a a couple days others i kept in a Tupperware container in my stand

 

[whitebear1020]

Another update. After 17 days of starvation, she finally tried one live brine shrimp. ;D Yuppy! With the next feeding she had two, then three and even tried some frozen food. ;D
My refrigirator is filled with dozen different types of food, I had to rearrange my entire tank to fit Gracilaria verrucosa and Caulerpa. It's amazing what you can do to accomodate a little picky devil so she can destroy your corals (my pulsing sinularia is no longer pulsing). :-[
Thank you everyone for help.

 

[Hawkeye]

great news!!!

regarding the gracilaria and caulerpa - are you trying to permanently keep them in the display?

If you are trying to figure out how to feed you could use a rubberband and attach the macro to a piece of pvc or small lr.

 

[whitebear1020]

regarding the gracilaria and caulerpa - are you trying to permanently keep them in the display?

I was not planning to keep them in my tank permanently. I was hoping fish will eat it fast but the shipment I got was huge (a lot larger than I expected). I have no place for it in my sump and I don't have a refugium. So, I split the plants into four piles. Three piles were tide to three different rocks and inserted between the rocks. The remaining pile I put in a in-tank holder/refugium. I really don't know what to do with it. If someone needs it, I will be glad to share. Plants adjusted well and I think they will be growing a lot faster than I expected. :-\

 

[Daggnabit]

Try mixing garlic extract in with the food. Most fish go nuts over it and is a great way to get the stubborn ones to finally eat.

 

[Hawkeye]

whitebear1020 - anyone aproach you about thinking about signing up to become a member? The club is gearing to be more conservation focused and reading your posts I think you are like-minded.

If it's something that you'd be interested in - just follow this link: Become a member..read this.

But if you're not sure - definitely try and check out a meeting and meet some people - perhaps that will help convince you.

Anyways - congrats again on getting the CB to eat! i am bolding so that future posters realize they do not have to post advice on it anymore! (dagganabit that wrasse hit you too hard in the head);D