Black Storm Clownfish NOT EATING

[Habachi_Grill]

Hey Everyone,

New to this page and was hoping to get some insight or advice to help myself out. I recently purchased 2 captive bred baby black storm clownfish from my LFS. Size is around 1 Inch or less so super small and my first fish to introduce into the tank. I purchased them back on Friday, May 28 and up until now I have had trouble getting them to eat. My tank conditions are pretty standard from Salinity of 34.6 to a temp of 78 degrees while being running around 8months now with a few soft corals. I have tried live brine shrimp, spectrum formula pellets, Bulk Supply Mysis Shrimp dry, frozen mysis shrimp, and even live rotifers. My best luck in getting them to pick at anything was the bulk supply Mysis Shrimp dry but they would only pick at it like 2-4 times before stopping. I have tried to feed them around 4 times a day but unfortunately not much luck and feeling a little worried. One thing to note tho is that there is interest being shown. I have done a little research in ordering the Kent's extreme Garlic and will try to mix that in but any suggestions on what else I can do? The Garlic will be coming in tomorrow so will give that a go. As of June 1st one of my babies were pooing the little white string and that's never a good sign :-/// PLEASE HELP

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

It is difficult to say if you have a disease problem or a food management issue here. Tiny clowns can be tricky to acclimate from whatever food they were being fed at the hatchery. Live baby brine shrimp, fortified with Selcon or other fatty acid would be one option, but takes a huge amount of work. Is Otohime larval fish food available to you? That's what I used to feed my young clowns. If you think there may be a disease issue going on, it helps to know more about the situation, here is a link:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Hey Everyone,

New to this page and was hoping to get some insight or advice to help myself out. I recently purchased 2 captive bred baby black storm clownfish from my LFS. Size is around 1 Inch or less so super small and my first fish to introduce into the tank. I purchased them back on Friday, May 28 and up until now I have had trouble getting them to eat. My tank conditions are pretty standard from Salinity of 34.6 to a temp of 78 degrees while being running around 8months now with a few soft corals. I have tried live brine shrimp, spectrum formula pellets, Bulk Supply Mysis Shrimp dry, frozen mysis shrimp, and even live rotifers. My best luck in getting them to pick at anything was the bulk supply Mysis Shrimp dry but they would only pick at it like 2-4 times before stopping. I have tried to feed them around 4 times a day but unfortunately not much luck and feeling a little worried. One thing to note tho is that there is interest being shown. I have done a little research in ordering the Kent's extreme Garlic and will try to mix that in but any suggestions on what else I can do? The Garlic will be coming in tomorrow so will give that a go. As of June 1st one of my babies were pooing the little white string and that's never a good sign :-/// PLEASE HELP

A lot of clownfish breeders use our TDO. You could try TDO Xtra-Small since it is in ideal size range for your fish.

If your LFS doesn't carry it, you can find it here: https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/tdo-c1-extra-small-chroma-boost-fish-food-3-oz-reef-nutrition/

 

[ZoWhat]

Clowns are pretty intelligent

They are use to a certain food source prior to you having them.

Practically every clown I've owned for 15yrs will taste-test the food and spit it back out for the first 7-10 days.

But they always eventually start eating when they realize that's their new food.

I've never seen a clown starve itself. Don't freak out, clowns don't burn a lot of calories and can go long periods without food.

Whatever you're feeding, best to lightly put some Seachem Garlic Guard on it to enhance the favor.

IMO get some frozen Mysis, thaw it IN a paper towel so a lot of the Mysis juice is absorbed by the paper towel. After that lightly soak the Mysis with Seachem Garlic Guard. They'll eventually take it.

They'll get with the program.



.
.

 

[Habachi_Grill]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

It is difficult to say if you have a disease problem or a food management issue here. Tiny clowns can be tricky to acclimate from whatever food they were being fed at the hatchery. Live baby brine shrimp, fortified with Selcon or other fatty acid would be one option, but takes a huge amount of work. Is Otohime larval fish food available to you? That's what I used to feed my young clowns. If you think there may be a disease issue going on, it helps to know more about the situation, here is a link:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Hey Jay,

I haven't heard much of Otohime larval fish however will do some research to see if its available near by! Thanks for the response!

 

[Habachi_Grill]

A lot of clownfish breeders use our TDO. You could try TDO Xtra-Small since it is in ideal size range for your fish.

If your LFS doesn't carry it, you can find it here: https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/tdo-c1-extra-small-chroma-boost-fish-food-3-oz-reef-nutrition/

Will give it a shot and update when I can

 

[Habachi_Grill]

Clowns are pretty intelligent

They are use to a certain food source prior to you having them.

Practically every clown I've owned for 15yrs will taste-test the food and spit it back out for the first 7-10 days.

But they always eventually start eating when they realize that's their new food.

I've never seen a clown starve itself. Don't freak out, clowns don't burn a lot of calories and can go long periods without food.

Whatever you're feeding, best to lightly put some Seachem Garlic Guard on it to enhance the favor.

IMO get some frozen Mysis, thaw it IN a paper towel so a lot of the Mysis juice is absorbed by the paper towel. After that lightly soak the Mysis with Seachem Garlic Guard. They'll eventually take it.

They'll get with the program.



.
.

Sounds like a plan, my frozen mysis might be bit big so I'll try to rip it apart and use the garlic! Thank you for the response!

 

[Magic City Reefer]

I had a similar situation and then tried Ocean Nutrition Formula Two flakes, which peaked their interest but still weren’t eating well enough for me to consider it a healthy feeding. Then I had the idea of taking the pinch of the flakes and putting it into a shot glass with ONE drop of Kent’s garlic extreme, and letting it soak for a bit, then dunking the cup in the tank. That’s what ultimately worked. After that, I started adding brine shrimp to the mix and they started eating it too. Just like that, my clowns gave up their finicky habits.