Scribbled angel not eating.

[jay1985]

Hello all,

As the title suggests, I recently purchased a roughly 2" scribbled angel that I have not observed eating to this point.... it is in a 4' 75g observation tank solo with a good amount of established live rock;some old, some newer. One of the pieces has a considerable amount of sponge on it. Have offered kelp flakes, nori, RN flakes, masstick, a plethora of frozen, algae pellets, omnivores pellets and clam on the half shell which I saw it peck at once. Fish acts normal, grazing rocks which I can't imagine it's getting much of anything from but then again, the sponge?... reacts to me when I come to tank darting under cover but then wandering out. No behavioral or external appearance red flags.... stomach doesnt seem impacted but definitely not full either (wonder if it's eating when I leave the room)... wondering about adding dither fish to the aquarium like a trio of bangaii cardinals just to possibly inspire it to eat or at last effort, possibly chance adding him to a display where it'd have natural things to eat which I know is very risky but it was quite pricey.... have had the fish about 5 days. Any thoughts, experience or advice is more than welcomed. Thx.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

wonder if it's eating when I leave the room

You can check for this by setting up your phone/camera to record the fish when you walk out; give it like half an hour or so, then come back and check.

For getting it to eat, if it's pecking at the rocks, I would try turning sticking some food to a rock and seeing if it goes for that - for example, you could turn some of the food into a paste and smear it onto a rock in the tank. I don't know if it would help, but if that's how the fish is comfortable eating at the moment, then it may be worth a shot.

 

[jay1985]

You can check for this by setting up your phone/camera to record the fish when you walk out; give it like half an hour or so, then come back and check.

For getting it to eat, if it's pecking at the rocks, I would try turning sticking some food to a rock and seeing if it goes for that - for example, you could turn some of the food into a paste and smear it onto a rock in the tank. I don't know if it would help, but if that's how the fish is comfortable eating at the moment, then it may be worth a shot.

A friend of mine suggested the phone idea and yes, that would be worth a shot; will try that tonight.... as for the sticking to rock, I put a clam on the half shell in the rock work with no luck, have stuck masstick to the rock work; same result.... dusted the frozen mix onto the rock work with no flow for a good while - also unsuccessful.... last night, 3 seperate nori elsaticed to small rock into each ot the 3 rock piles; didn't appear to be touched.... a paste is an interesting thought tho....

I just noticed the supplier's website went from 4 in stock to 0 in stock all at once which makes me believe he may have lost all of his... I was told they were direct shipped to Canada from Australia so that amount of time I worry about amonia damage. Had a sailfin once that had amonia damage. Stopped eating and swam around for 3ish days before passing.... tough fish but I believe that the damage was done..... I hope I'm not in a similar situation.... although I don't see laboured breathing....

Thank you for the thoughts; I will try them.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

If it's not eating even when you leave the room, then I would see if @Jay Hemdal or another experienced reefer has any thoughts here.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello all,

As the title suggests, I recently purchased a roughly 2" scribbled angel that I have not observed eating to this point.... it is in a 4' 75g observation tank solo with a good amount of established live rock;some old, some newer. One of the pieces has a considerable amount of sponge on it. Have offered kelp flakes, nori, RN flakes, masstick, a plethora of frozen, algae pellets, omnivores pellets and clam on the half shell which I saw it peck at once. Fish acts normal, grazing rocks which I can't imagine it's getting much of anything from but then again, the sponge?... reacts to me when I come to tank darting under cover but then wandering out. No behavioral or external appearance red flags.... stomach doesnt seem impacted but definitely not full either (wonder if it's eating when I leave the room)... wondering about adding dither fish to the aquarium like a trio of bangaii cardinals just to possibly inspire it to eat or at last effort, possibly chance adding him to a display where it'd have natural things to eat which I know is very risky but it was quite pricey.... have had the fish about 5 days. Any thoughts, experience or advice is more than welcomed. Thx.

I've only imported larger specimens, and have never had any issue getting them to eat. Not sure about these small ones.

Can you hatch out some live baby brine shrimp and try some of that?
Can you post a video of the angel?

Beware of the common trap of trying tons of different foods on a fish that is not eating, only to have the tank become fouled due to all of the food going into it.

 

[danreef55]

I have had success with

I would give this a try. Best of luck

 

[jay1985]

If it's not eating even when you leave the room, then I would see if @Jay Hemdal or another experienced reefer has any thoughts here.

Thank you for your time and insights. It's appreciated and I'll try your suggestions.

 

[jay1985]

I've only imported larger specimens, and have never had any issue getting them to eat. Not sure about these small ones.

Can you hatch out some live baby brine shrimp and try some of that?
Can you post a video of the angel?

Beware of the common trap of trying tons of different foods on a fish that is not eating, only to have the tank become fouled due to all of the food going into it.

It's not so small that brine, mysis, blood worms, small pellets, flakes, masstick, nori, etc. Wouldn't be fine if it would acknowledge it's presence.... it just doesn't to this point. I've thought I'll also try putting some LR w algae and pods in his tank... and I have different types of sponge in another tank that I'll cut out and jam into his tank's LR.....

I've also thought of the baby brine shrimp idea.... have never done it but would certainly be worth a try....

I'm not too technically savy but can try to upload a utube video of it tonight.

I have been cautious of food amounts but will run a n03 test tonight to be sure it's not become an issue.

Appreciate your time and thoughts on this matter.