JoelATX Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Hi All, I picked up another Square Anthias, from Niko's reef. The fish was in LA Sunday morning and in South Austin by 5pm, I waited for them to un-box him, that way he only had to do one accliamation yesterday. Anyway, he could care less about eating; I've tried flake, krill, mysis shrimp, and Fauna Marin-Ultra soft clownfish food. I know they need to eat 3 times a day, so he should be hungry by now. I read that they like New Life Spectrum Marine Fish Formula 1mm, so I've got some coming. Any other suggestions? Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Sometimes a soak in garlic extract might stimulate the appetite. Either that, or use some live brine shrimp and enrich them prior to feeding. I know its not the most nutritious food but use it as a starting point and slowly start adding other foods with the enriched live brine shrimp to hopefully train it to eat other prepared items such as mysis, flakes, and pellets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoelATX Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 He has at least come out from hiding, but only when I'm not looking. I'll get some live brine shrimp tomorrow when I'm heading home from work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 For hesitant eaters live food is almost a requirement. The motion often stimulates them in ways that pellet, flake, or frozen never can. The key is to get them eating quickly. Once you do that you can work on mixing prepared foods with the live food in an attempt to bring them around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I think you're going to need to start feeding really small stuff at the beginning and migrate to larger. They're open water planktavores in the wild so their food is very small. I've heard nutramar OVA prawn eggs are about the best thing out there for picky anthias, not sure if anyone stocks them locally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoelATX Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Well I guess no change is better than bad. He comes out a little but never really swims around. There was a good pod population in the tank and that appears to be lessening. With all the feeding; I checked the Ammonia and Nitrates, both are at or near Zero. I also read that lowering the salinity helps with the recovery. So I'm slowly taking it down to 1.02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoelATX Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Not dead yet! I thought he was dead when I got home, but he was just sleeping (or hiding, he hates bright light) all weird. Still very shy, but I haven't seen any spots on his skin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoelATX Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 Don't know if the Anthias has eaten, heres what I've tried: Pods that were in the tank Reef Nutrition Arcti-Pods Live Large Brine Shrimp Baby brine shrimp (I hatched them over the weekend) New Life Spectrum Marine Fish Formula 1mm Sinking Pellet Fish Food Fauna Marin Clownfish - small Freeze Dried brine and plankton with selcon added. My Chromis are getting fat though. I have some "Instant baby brine jar" coming today. I checked on Nutramar OVA prawn eggs, currently unavailable.. In the wild what size food is he eating? If the food is plankton size with you see him eating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoelATX Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 With all the feeding I was worried about water quality. Checked it last night. Ammonia 0 (it's not completely yellow) Nitrate 0 Ph 8.2 Calcium 440 dKH 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 whenever i get a zero nitrate, I pull out the reserve test kit. I have so much chaeto and like 5 mangroves that are flourishing, i KNOW i dont have zero. 5ish is perfect for my tank.... that test says zero and your nitrate "eaters" are still flourishing... more then likely that test kit is bad or you fumbled counting drops. (this happens to me about every 6 months). If the original kit still reads zero after the reserve kit doesnt... rotate that kit in, and buy a new kit for reserve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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