jollybluepunk Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 I just purchased my tank-raised false perc clown yesterday and he's not accepting any food. I acclimated him correctly and he is swimming around. However, though he shows interest in the frozen food and flake, he'll either follow it and lose interest or swallow it and spit it out. The lfs said that if they're hungry enough, they'll accept it (they were fed live brine at the shop). It's been about a day and a half and no eating, won't this cause additional stress to the fish and how will I get it to eat? Link to comment
Fant Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 Limit the stress on the fish and hope for the best. Only offer a little food each day. You dont want to keep tossing food in the tank. If it doesnt eat in a few days. Feed live brine, and then start mixing in some thawed frozen brine. Soak the brine in selcon 15 minutes prior to feeding. Once you see him taking the dead brine, start decreasing the amount of live brine. After he has begun accepting the frozen brine, ween it onto another food as brine is a poor food choice, low in nutrients and high in phosphates. Formula One is great for clowns. Also finely chopped squid/clams/krill. *Only soak the frozen brine in selcon, dont try soaking live in it. Just thought if clarify if that part was confusing (Edited by Fant at 12:40 am on June 17, 2002) Link to comment
HuBu Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 i had the same problem with my two tank raised percs. they would follow it yet wont eat it. the 1st clown died 2 days after i bought it. the 2nd lasted a wk. he would eat formula 1 brine shrimp once, then wouldnt eat it the second time i try to feed him. dont know what happened. my water parameters were good. Link to comment
jollybluepunk Posted June 17, 2002 Author Share Posted June 17, 2002 Tried feeding again...and he still won't eat...if he doesn't go for it again tomorrow...i'm gonna go get some live brine...i'm sad... Link to comment
NanoReefer53 Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 try a different variety of foods. when i had my first clown he didn't accept flake foods. I had to feed him frozen brine shrimp for a while. He then go use to seeing me feed him so I tried some flakes but I had to sink them so he could see them to eat. Eventually knowing that i feed him and that flakes are edible, he started eating flakes off the surface. Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted June 18, 2002 Share Posted June 18, 2002 My pair (tank-raised) took quite awhile before they started acting "normal"- they swam quite happily but they did what you're talking about- spat the food out- and the female henpecked the male constantly. Now, they're eating fine and getting along well. Give them time, and like someone else said, don't keep putting a lot of food in the tank- wait 2 days then try again. I think mine were a week or better before they were eating. If it was eating live brine at the shop, try that too. They will taste and spit out food they're not used to, or so mine seem to do. If he is swimming around with that clownfish "wag" and seems otherwise happy, just let him get used to his new surroundings. Tasha Link to comment
jollybluepunk Posted June 18, 2002 Author Share Posted June 18, 2002 I went to the lfs that I purchased the clown from and it seems that they feed their fish flake and brine. Since they won't take the flake and the frozen food, I decided to have a go at the live brine. They still won't eat it...just look at it... thanks for the replies guys, i'll just hope for the best...::crosses fingers:: Link to comment
Sahin Posted June 18, 2002 Share Posted June 18, 2002 I should think it will take a few days for them to get used to thier new surroundings. Thus dont worry too much. Once they get used to you and the new tank, they should come round. Hunger will most likely take precedance over being afraid and I think they will start to eat in a few days. This I found to be a commmon occurance when I had all kinds of freshwater fishes. Link to comment
SaltyDog Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I just went throught this with a pair of clowns I just picked up. Yeah, this is normal, and there are getting used to their new surroundings. Of the 2, the older one took food about 2 days after putting them into the tank. The younger 3-3.25 days. My 2 pennies. Link to comment
mattdog Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 I'm glad that I didn't run into this problem. My clowns would eat non-stop if I would feed them that way. They know when I pick up the food packaging to start heading to the top of the tank. It's so cute. Could they be eating something else? Mine stay up about 2 hours after I turn the lights off hunting bugs. I don't have many so they have to rely on my feedings. I hope they start eating man. Good luck. Matt Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted June 19, 2002 Share Posted June 19, 2002 Mine have a hard time eating flake that is just floating at the top, so I take a pinch with my fingers and actually let go of it under water. They like to catch it as it drifts. Tasha Link to comment
jollybluepunk Posted June 19, 2002 Author Share Posted June 19, 2002 I THINK HE'S SHOWING INTEREST IN EATING!!! AAAAA!! yay...not as much interest as I'd hope he would have...but hey...it's a start!! he would still do that swallow and spit out thing but he's actually swallowing some of the food!!! i was so ready to lose hope on the second day of his hunger strike..again, thanks for all the help!!! Link to comment
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