Caught by the Butterflies...Could Use a Hand

[livinlifeinBKK]

Hey reefers, today I was just walking around the market on a date near where I live in Bangkok and thought I'd show her how amazing the hobby is by visiting some of the shops...long story short I ended up buying a few inverts and 3 small butterflyfish that I plan to add to my FOWLR tank that's currently fallow after the fallow period ends. The shop owner barely spoke any English at all so I highly doubt she has any clue about them but she said she feeds them Artemia pellets....I know they're naturally corallivores and even though I plan to add them to a FOWLR tank, I need to figure out what they'll settle on eating and how to coax them to try new foods in the first place since they're picky eaters...does anyone have any experience with anything similar? I have them in QT right now. I'll include pics

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

 

[Snoopy 67]

I would have @ least bought some of the food she was using to start.
Matt Wittenrich has an article in an older Coral Magazine on trying these fish.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I would have @ least bought some of the food she was using to start.
Matt Wittenrich has an article in an older Coral Magazine on trying these fish.

I was going to buy some but the fish didn't seem very interested in the food she gave them and she wanted more than it seemed to be worth...I can always go back and get some but I don't think she was feeding them those pellets due to the fish eating them...they've only been there for a week

 

[HuduVudu]

@livinlifeinBKK

Oh boy.

Get some fresh mussels or clams. To try to tide them over.

Try black worms. You can usually find these in the fresh water shops.

Your best bet is white worms. You really need to get your hands on some of these, unfortunately these are usually cultured by aquarists and would be difficult to find in stores. Ask other hobbists. It takes time to get the cultures off the ground but if you do butterflies it is a must that you get these.

These creatures need to eat right away and you are going SERIOUSLY load your tank trying to find acceptable food. I hope your tank is mature.

Also a last resort will be live brine that you feed Selcon. Just drop it in the water with the brine they will eat it you will know because the water will clear up.

I hope you can keep these guys alive, but the prognosis isn't good.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Oh boy.

Get some fresh mussels or clams. To try to tide them over.

Try black worms. You can usually find these in the fresh water shops.

Your best bet is white worms. You really need to get your hands on some of these, unfortunately these are usually cultured by aquarists and would be difficult to find in stores. Ask other hobbists. It takes time to get the cultures off the ground but if you do butterflies it is a must that you get these.

These creatures need to eat right away and you are going SERIOUSLY load your tank trying to find acceptable food. I hope your tank is mature.

Also a last resort will be live brine that you feed Selcon. Just drop it in the water with the brine they will eat it you will know because the water will clear up.

I hope you can keep these guys alive, but the prognosis isn't good.

Thanks for all the helpful insight! To be honest, it was the type of shop that really doesn't care about taking care of their livestock as long as they turn a profit at the end of the day...I honestly felt like if I didn't grab em their outlook was more grim than would be with me...I'm going to do all I can to keep these guys alive and healthy...worst case scenario, do you think they would pick at a cheap sun coral until I can get my hands on those worms?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

+1 live brine or mysis.
You can get fresh fish eggs at the Asian market? I imagine so being in Singapore. Kool fish. Good luck!
D

 

[Rmckoy]

I would not buy them ….
unless you can assure they are eating . Adding the stress of moving them to a fallow system . Could be last straw …….

 

[HuduVudu]

Thanks for all the helpful insight! To be honest, it was the type of shop that really doesn't care about taking care of their livestock as long as they turn a profit at the end of the day...I honestly felt like if I didn't grab em their outlook was more grim than would be with me...I'm going to do all I can to keep these guys alive and healthy...worst case scenario, do you think they would pick at a cheap sun coral until I can get my hands on those worms?

No.

You are going to have to rotate through things until you might find something they are interested in. You may have to do this multiple times. Watch them closely for interest. Even mild interest might be enough. They are very hungry, and they might be so hungry they can't eat. Also they are likely medicated and this is going to also be a contributing factor because they will be coming off the meds.

For the future, just know that you need to punish these stores by starving these stores out. Deny them money. Yes creatures will die, but the store loses money from this. Encourage their loss, by not buying from them. It is the only power we have as hobbists.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

No.

You are going to have to rotate through things until you might find something they are interested in. You may have to do this multiple times. Watch them closely for interest. Even mild interest might be enough. They are very hungry, and they might be so hungry they can't eat. Also they are likely medicated and this is going to also be a contributing factor because they will be coming off the meds.

For the future, just know that you need to punish these stores by starving these stores out. Deny them money. Yes creatures will die, but the store loses money from this. Encourage their loss, by not buying from them. It is the only power we have as hobbists.

I see...I offered them some Masstick and they definitely show some interest in it although I don't think they've taken a bite yet...they were picking at the bottom of my tank ...maybe first thing in the morning I'll try smearing some on a piece of live rock to see if that makes it more appealing. Then I'll start my search for the worms

 

[HuduVudu]

I see...I offered them some Masstick and they definitely show some interest in it although I don't think they've taken a bite yet...they were picking at the bottom of my tank ...maybe first thing in the morning I'll try smearing some on a piece of live rock to see if that makes it more appealing. Then I'll start my search for the worms

Stuff things in little crevices. This is likely where their natural food will be found.

 

[WVNed]

Butterflies and tiny angels do best when placed into an old dirty tank with stuff crawling everywhere. Second best is white worms that are easy to grow. Mine ate none of the usual things mentioned for several months. They will eat anything now.

 

[HuduVudu]

Butterflies and tiny angels do best when placed into an old dirty tank with stuff crawling everywhere. Second best is white worms that are easy to grow. Mine ate none of the usual things mentioned for several months. They will eat anything now.

I see this all the time. It's sad.

It is the shipping process that causes this. When I was in the PI I saw the same thing with wild fish. They will eat anything because food is scarce.

My Sunset eats flake now, but both of my butterflys eat white worms. They were pretty sceptical of everything when I first got them, but they took to the white worms after a few days.

Sometimes in a pinch I can get them to eat blood worms.

Gettting the white worm colonies right is tricky, and it takes a bit to get the hang of them.

Ohhhhh ... I forgot ... one other trick is to have a fish that is similar that is already eating. This helps a ton if you can get one eating it is very likely that they will monkey see monkey do.

 

[WVNed]

I see this all the time. It's sad.

It is the shipping process that causes this. When I was in the PI I saw the same thing with wild fish. They will eat anything because food is scarce.

My Sunset eats flake now, but both of my butterflys eat white worms. They were pretty sceptical of everything when I first got them, but they took to the white worms after a few days.

Sometimes in a pinch I can get them to eat blood worms.

Gettting the white worm colonies right is tricky, and it takes a bit to get the hang of them.

Ohhhhh ... I forgot ... one other trick is to have a fish that is similar that is already eating. This helps a ton if you can get one eating it is very likely that they will monkey see monkey do.

I have not had a problem with shipping or growing white worms.

I am ready to try my best for a fish before it arrives.

The best thing would be to stop purchasing fish on impulse and instead plan and be ready.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I see this all the time. It's sad.

It is the shipping process that causes this. When I was in the PI I saw the same thing with wild fish. They will eat anything because food is scarce.

My Sunset eats flake now, but both of my butterflys eat white worms. They were pretty sceptical of everything when I first got them, but they took to the white worms after a few days.

Sometimes in a pinch I can get them to eat blood worms.

Gettting the white worm colonies right is tricky, and it takes a bit to get the hang of them.

Ohhhhh ... I forgot ... one other trick is to have a fish that is similar that is already eating. This helps a ton if you can get one eating it is very likely that they will monkey see monkey do.

Is this kinda what they look like? It says these are worms for feeding newborn Betta fish

 

[HuduVudu]

Is this kinda what they look like? It says these are worms for feeding newborn Betta fish

A note on this person. He is feeding 85 freshwater tanks, so this method is a bit overkill. Also because he is moving so many worms his colonies crash. If you don't push the worms that hard you can keep the colonies much longer. This is the thing I had to figure out.