Fish Not Eating - Why's this happening so often Down South

[asonitez]

In 10 years of reefing m fish have died of..

Ich
Worms
Brook
Popeye
HLLE
Stress
Osmotic Shock
New Tank Syndrome
And most Recently Marine Velvet.

Today I add a new death. Starvation.

Since my move to Central Jersey I have come to be comfortable in a few new routines. I get my Dry Goods and some mainstream fish from Hidden Reef, Different things/odds ends from Allaquatics, and my inverts from Fish Factory. What I have been noticing (and maybe its my desire to try NEW FISH) is that I've been struggling with FEEDING in Quarantine!...

For some reason fish purchased at Hidden Reef don't like to EAT! Last saturday I picked up (2 Lamarcks Angel's) and 1 Blue Eyed Mimic Tang. Not cheap fish... the Lamarck's angels are ~kinda eating... and I haven't seen the Mimic eat a damn thing. Both of them are spotless as far as diseases or bruises and all seem fat especially the Mimic.. just not eating.


Blackworms
Dry Sprulina (Hikari)
Green Algae
Red Algae
Hair Algae
Brine Shrimp
Cyclopeeze
Rods Food
Mysis Shrimp
Bread
Flakes


Nothing. Just stares at it. Before it die's I'm contemplating taking it back. I haven't seen it eat since Saturday. I never had fish NOT eat before.. and its very ODD. I have had it in since sunday in copper, which I know is a appetite suppressant.. but saturday night after acclimation I fed and it didn't eat either. I only dosed copper Sunday night. I'm thinking maybe I'll displace my yellow tang thats in my Frag tank and put this guy in there instead. Maybe he will livenup in a reef setting and start eating. If he does have a disease I can get him out of the frag tank very easily.

The other thing is why is this happening down south so much. I never had this problem with Mail Order/OGII/Feng others.. PETCO.... i mean eating is a basic requirement for fish. Even the sickest of fish will EAT.

 

[MatteZ]

Did you try putting in some rock or something. Band the nori to it maybe?

 

[asonitez]

I got a piece of LR in there.. I'll band the nori to it.. Maybe he will feel at home. If he wont eat I'm gonna catch him and feed him food in a syringe. lol.

 

[MatteZ]

You could move to Colorado and feed the fish pot.

 

[asonitez]

Or I can take it for a walk in Newark. Or the Frat House.

 

[jgraz]

Seems to be a common theme around the boards these days.
Hidden Reef>Fish>Death

Stick to dry goods from there.

 

[MatteZ]

Every time I go their the tanks are spotless. I never see any fish in the tanks. I was there this past sunday with the entire family I went over to the fw side for the first time. I have always wanted a piranha tank. my wife and I both looked t them and then we both told the kids that we were goong to set a piranha tank up and use it as a means of punishment!

 

[falconut]

I had an issue back in 2008, with every fish that I bought that year dying. After looking back, all my fish came from one store. So I stopped buying from them. I've had much better luck with fish since. Apparently it appears some stores just don't get quality live stock. Maybe it's cheaper, but if they die, not worth it.

It might be a descent idea to move the Tang to another tank. I had a Yellow Tang in QT that was getting skinny, even after I removed the cupramine. He just didn't seem to eat that good, wouldn't even touch nori. I had him for several years before he got sick and had to be treated. After 2 months of treatment, I moved him back to my display tank and he started to eat normally and as fattened up.

Genicanthius angels can have damaged swim bladders. Are your angels swimming normal or fighting to stay down in the water? They should be eating a lot, mine always did. Good luck with them. Personally, I would just move on to a different store.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Good article to read: http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/fo...g-New-Fish-To-Eat-In-Your-Marine-Aquarium.htm

From what I understand, the suppliers of wild-caught live fish tend to not feed the fish prior to shipping to the US. This is in order to avoid having the fish poop in the bag, which creates ammonia, which can cause loss of oxygen and leads to other problems and diseases. So, with a long shipping process, it can sometimes be a long while for a fish to be without a meal.

After a certain period of time, the fish ends up having a loss of appetite for some reason. This makes it hard to get them to start eating again, even if the food was a favorite staple of their diet before.

This is also another reason to try to get tank breed or tank raised fish rather than wild-caught, direct from importers. Granted, that's not always possible with some of the more rarer fish. The next best alternative would be to buy from someone who will quarantine/medicate/acclimate the wild caught fish to an aquarium for up to several months prior to selling them to the public. That way, you're not getting a fish that just won't eat because it hasn't for a while.

 

[JRWOHLER]

That is one reason I like buying from AO because all the fish have an arrival date, I rarely buy a new fish. And or I also buy CB fish. I have never had this particular problem. Good article George.

 

[Lostinthedark]

I was at Hidden Reef Saturday also for dry goods. Thats all I buy there. When I look at their tanks almost every fish had something wrong with it. In the tank next to the Lamark was a Fox Face that was almost rotted thru. Most of the fish just don't look healthy. I would guess they run the system at hypo salinity to control disease then it manifest itself when we acclimate it to our systems. They have the best prices for fish around but I feel its just not worth the chance.

 

[jgraz]

I was at Hidden Reef Saturday also for dry goods. Thats all I buy there. When I look at their tanks almost every fish had something wrong with it. In the tank next to the Lamark was a Fox Face that was almost rotted thru. Most of the fish just don't look healthy. I would guess they run the system at hypo salinity to control disease then it manifest itself when we acclimate it to our systems. They have the best prices for fish around but I feel its just not worth the chance.

The last fish I bought from them about 2 years ago was a 6-line. It took me about 6hrs to bring salinity up from 1.015 to 1.026. Needless to say it did not make it. I went there the next day and had a long heated conversation with Jason and the owner there. They came right out and told me that they keep the fish in hypo to keep disease at bay. Sad when you think about it. These places should be required to disclose these practices.

 

[grink]

It is also about which distributors they are ordering from and how the fish were initially captured. Two issues with chemicals. If the they were paralyzed with a chemical for capture the effects may not show up for a couple of months. If they were captured in deep water that same way the change in depth while they are not active can also do internal damage as they are brought to the surface. That too many not be readily apparent for a couple of months or sooner.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Have you tried feeding them THIS food? At a mere ten dollars a pound, I'd be willing to see if they would eat this stuff. Can't hurt.