Enrichment for tilefish in QT

[christinna77]

I'm going through an ich outbreak (I always QT all the fish, but I guess I accidentally cross contaminated DT :() and I'm looking for ways to keep fish happy in my two QT tanks.

My tilefish especially has to be in a 15g now and seems really bored. I designed a cave similar to the one I've got in the DT, so that's printing now. I also added a bit of sand to the QT (for my wrasse too), ordered roe and tigger pods, and feed a mix of frozen (reef frenzy, mysis, clam, blood worms, and krill).

I need more ideas - are there any live foods they absolutely love? Maybe some small shrimp it can hunt? Anything else that's not food related that could keep it happier for the next 6 weeks? I love this guy to pieces, so whatever I can get, I'll get lol.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

it is a beauty!

 

[i cant think]

I'm going through an ich outbreak (I always QT all the fish, but I guess I accidentally cross contaminated DT :() and I'm looking for ways to keep fish happy in my two QT tanks.

My tilefish especially has to be in a 15g now and seems really bored. I designed a cave similar to the one I've got in the DT, so that's printing now. I also added a bit of sand to the QT (for my wrasse too), ordered roe and tigger pods, and feed a mix of frozen (reef frenzy, mysis, clam, blood worms, and krill).

I need more ideas - are there any live foods they absolutely love? Maybe some small shrimp it can hunt? Anything else that's not food related that could keep it happier for the next 6 weeks? I love this guy to pieces, so whatever I can get, I'll get lol.

Interacting with him will keep him happy - these guys beg for attention! I used to just sit and play around with my one when I had a marcosi.

 

[christinna77]

I'm going through an ich outbreak (I always QT all the fish, but I guess I accidentally cross contaminated DT :() and I'm looking for ways to keep fish happy in my two QT tanks.

My tilefish especially has to be in a 15g now and seems really bored. I designed a cave similar to the one I've got in the DT, so that's printing now. I also added a bit of sand to the QT (for my wrasse too), ordered roe and tigger pods, and feed a mix of frozen (reef frenzy, mysis, clam, blood worms, and krill).

I need more ideas - are there any live foods they absolutely love? Maybe some small shrimp it can hunt? Anything else that's not food related that could keep it happier for the next 6 weeks? I love this guy to pieces, so whatever I can get, I'll get lol.

Interacting with him will keep him happy - these guys beg for attention! I used to just sit and play around with my one when I had a marcosi.

Aw yeah I do that! He watches me work and I feed him a little here and there throughout the day

But at night... that's a different story. Here's one from last night and another one from several days ago (still in DT). He usually goes to bed right after, but the splashes are so loud they wake me up. I wonder if he freaks out at his own reflection or something? It finally stopped happening every night when I moved him to DT and he was adjusting really well, but now we're back to square one.



Let's just say I'm glad I put so much effort into securing my lid!

 

[i cant think]

Aw yeah I do that! He watches me work and I feed him a little here and there throughout the day

But at night... that's a different story. Here's one from last night and another one from several days ago (still in DT). He usually goes to bed right after, but the splashes are so loud they wake me up. I wonder if he freaks out at his own reflection or something? It finally stopped happening every night when I moved him to DT and he was adjusting really well, but now we're back to square one.



Let's just say I'm glad I put so much effort into securing my lid!

Mine did that - unfortunately his ended up head first in a Mini maxi anemone after being moved from a holding set up to the display.
I can’t tell how dark the pipework is but I’d try add some more sand and see if there’s a way to darken the “caves”.

 

[christinna77]

Mine did that - unfortunately his ended up head first in a Mini maxi anemone after being moved from a holding set up to the display.
I can’t tell how dark the pipework is but I’d try add some more sand and see if there’s a way to darken the “caves”.

Oh no! I'm so sorry :( Tilefish are so precious. It's going to sound weird, but I'd give away all my other fish just for this guy to be happy. I was thinking of getting an RFA actually, but now I'm not so sure...

Oh yep, good idea to darken it - the cave I'm printing should be pretty dark. I'll be done in the morning, so I'll see how it works then. He had a complex tunnel system in my DT, so I'm trying to mimic that.

 

[i cant think]

Oh no! I'm so sorry :( Tilefish are so precious. It's going to sound weird, but I'd give away all my other fish just for this guy to be happy. I was thinking of getting an RFA actually, but now I'm not so sure...

Oh yep, good idea to darken it - the cave I'm printing should be pretty dark. I'll be done in the morning, so I'll see how it works then. He had a complex tunnel system in my DT, so I'm trying to mimic that.

Yes! I love the tunnel systems they create, they’re one of the most fascinating animals to come across, puppy like behaviours, complex cave systems, and will dart out as soon as they get the chance.

Also, could he have been going for food? I know mine in a 4 foot used to zoom up to get his food if he was “late” to feeding times.

 

[christinna77]

Yes! I love the tunnel systems they create, they’re one of the most fascinating animals to come across, puppy like behaviours, complex cave systems, and will dart out as soon as they get the chance.

Also, could he have been going for food? I know mine in a 4 foot used to zoom up to get his food if he was “late” to feeding times.

Haha exactly. I regularly see him angrily carry away snails and even my pitho crab once when it got too close to his tunnel. One of his tunnels is dug so he can stick just his head out and observe everything. As soon as I approach the tank, he immediately comes out begging for food

I don’t think he's after food, since it always happens at night when I'm already asleep. He zooms around when my powerhead blows the food to the other side of the tank, he's like a little hunter lol. But I think these nightly freakouts must be caused by something spooking him out - I just haven't figured out what yet. I tried setting the light to 1% moonlight, but he didn't like that much either.

Have you tried feeding yours with any live food? I was going to get some grindal worms, as well as ghost shrimps. I figured he might like "hunting" those. I see him checking the sand bed quite often.

 

[i cant think]

Haha exactly. I regularly see him angrily carry away snails and even my pitho crab once when it got too close to his tunnel. One of his tunnels is dug so he can stick just his head out and observe everything. As soon as I approach the tank, he immediately comes out begging for food

I don’t think he's after food, since it always happens at night when I'm already asleep. He zooms around when my powerhead blows the food to the other side of the tank, he's like a little hunter lol. But I think these nightly freakouts must be caused by something spooking him out - I just haven't figured out what yet. I tried setting the light to 1% moonlight, but he didn't like that much either.

Have you tried feeding yours with any live food? I was going to get some grindal worms, as well as ghost shrimps. I figured he might like "hunting" those. I see him checking the sand bed quite often.

Mine used to love it when I threw baby brineshrimp into the tank, he also loved when I fed the corals (I feed quite heavily and LPS pellets are often in the mix).

 

[christinna77]

Mine used to love it when I threw baby brineshrimp into the tank, he also loved when I fed the corals (I feed quite heavily and LPS pellets are often in the mix).

Ohh, I just hatched some bbs for my wrasse, I'll hatch some more for the tilefish too!

 

[Charles2465]

I'm going through an ich outbreak (I always QT all the fish, but I guess I accidentally cross contaminated DT :() and I'm looking for ways to keep fish happy in my two QT tanks.

My tilefish especially has to be in a 15g now and seems really bored. I designed a cave similar to the one I've got in the DT, so that's printing now. I also added a bit of sand to the QT (for my wrasse too), ordered roe and tigger pods, and feed a mix of frozen (reef frenzy, mysis, clam, blood worms, and krill).

I need more ideas - are there any live foods they absolutely love? Maybe some small shrimp it can hunt? Anything else that's not food related that could keep it happier for the next 6 weeks? I love this guy to pieces, so whatever I can get, I'll get lol.

Interacting with him will keep him happy - these guys beg for attention! I used to just sit and play around with my one when I had a marcosi.

Aw yeah I do that! He watches me work and I feed him a little here and there throughout the day

But at night... that's a different story. Here's one from last night and another one from several days ago (still in DT). He usually goes to bed right after, but the splashes are so loud they wake me up. I wonder if he freaks out at his own reflection or something? It finally stopped happening every night when I moved him to DT and he was adjusting really well, but now we're back to square one.



Let's just say I'm glad I put so much effort into securing my lid!

I trust you have a lid or net on to prevent the little guy from jumping out. Gald to see you are really doing yoyr best to keep him happy :). I had my foxface in qt for a while and they can be quite timid. Usually in my experience a flash of light could spook them at night or a sudden movement, otherwise I'm not sure.

My foxface would hide in qt and had a little picasso trigger as company. Even the little picasso would seek company with him. Once he went into the display and had more fishy buddies it was like night and day now he has picked up the others lottle buggers habits and swims up for food. I'd reccomended trying to make him feel more comfortable. Perhaps getting a black background to make him feel more secure. Not sure if it would be a good reccomendation, but maybe something like dither fish can help? Some mollies perhaps? They can are often used as gunie pigs because they can be converted to seawater. I've always had better survival rates if they have some buddies and that can probs act as inrichment aswell.

 

[Charles2465]

I'm going through an ich outbreak (I always QT all the fish, but I guess I accidentally cross contaminated DT :() and I'm looking for ways to keep fish happy in my two QT tanks.

My tilefish especially has to be in a 15g now and seems really bored. I designed a cave similar to the one I've got in the DT, so that's printing now. I also added a bit of sand to the QT (for my wrasse too), ordered roe and tigger pods, and feed a mix of frozen (reef frenzy, mysis, clam, blood worms, and krill).

I need more ideas - are there any live foods they absolutely love? Maybe some small shrimp it can hunt? Anything else that's not food related that could keep it happier for the next 6 weeks? I love this guy to pieces, so whatever I can get, I'll get lol.

Interacting with him will keep him happy - these guys beg for attention! I used to just sit and play around with my one when I had a marcosi.

Aw yeah I do that! He watches me work and I feed him a little here and there throughout the day

But at night... that's a different story. Here's one from last night and another one from several days ago (still in DT). He usually goes to bed right after, but the splashes are so loud they wake me up. I wonder if he freaks out at his own reflection or something? It finally stopped happening every night when I moved him to DT and he was adjusting really well, but now we're back to square one.



Let's just say I'm glad I put so much effort into securing my lid!

Unable to see, but make sure he has some sort of lid to prevent him from jumping out incase you haven't already.

 

[christinna77]

I trust you have a lid or net on to prevent the little guy from jumping out. Gald to see you are really doing yoyr best to keep him happy :). I had my foxface in qt for a while and they can be quite timid. Usually in my experience a flash of light could spook them at night or a sudden movement, otherwise I'm not sure.

My foxface would hide in qt and had a little picasso trigger as company. Even the little picasso would seek company with him. Once he went into the display and had more fishy buddies it was like night and day now he has picked up the others lottle buggers habits and swims up for food. I'd reccomended trying to make him feel more comfortable. Perhaps getting a black background to make him feel more secure. Not sure if it would be a good reccomendation, but maybe something like dither fish can help? Some mollies perhaps? They can are often used as gunie pigs because they can be converted to seawater. I've always had better survival rates if they have some buddies and that can probs act as inrichment aswell.

Hey, thanks for the suggestions!
I've gone to great lengths to secure my lid. I have custom Top Lids lids on both my DT and QT and I also 3D printed better inserts since I didn't like how loosely the original ones fit. My tilefish once got stuck between the light mount bracket and the tank wall under the lid, so I 3D printed an insert for that too. Last week I also installed a door sensor on each feeder door to alert me if it’s been open for more than 15 minutes, in case I ever forget to close it. And my QT feed door has some extra weight on it in case he's able to lift it up. I've really gone all out to keep this fish alive

You might be right about the light! I think it could be cars passing under my windows at night since my curtains let some light in. Both my QT and DT have black backgrounds, one side of my QT is covered, and another one faces a corner. Just the front glass really gets some traffic.

Regarding dither fish - I've got 2-3 zebra bar gobies on my list already, yes! I also want another tilefish, most likely a purple one. I think them swimming together and sharing a cave would really calm them. I just haven't been able to secure one yet :(

 

[Charles2465]

I trust you have a lid or net on to prevent the little guy from jumping out. Gald to see you are really doing yoyr best to keep him happy :). I had my foxface in qt for a while and they can be quite timid. Usually in my experience a flash of light could spook them at night or a sudden movement, otherwise I'm not sure.

My foxface would hide in qt and had a little picasso trigger as company. Even the little picasso would seek company with him. Once he went into the display and had more fishy buddies it was like night and day now he has picked up the others lottle buggers habits and swims up for food. I'd reccomended trying to make him feel more comfortable. Perhaps getting a black background to make him feel more secure. Not sure if it would be a good reccomendation, but maybe something like dither fish can help? Some mollies perhaps? They can are often used as gunie pigs because they can be converted to seawater. I've always had better survival rates if they have some buddies and that can probs act as inrichment aswell.

Hey, thanks for the suggestions!
I've gone to great lengths to secure my lid. I have custom Top Lids lids on both my DT and QT and I also 3D printed better inserts since I didn't like how loosely the original ones fit. My tilefish once got stuck between the light mount bracket and the tank wall under the lid, so I 3D printed an insert for that too. Last week I also installed a door sensor on each feeder door to alert me if it’s been open for more than 15 minutes, in case I ever forget to close it. And my QT feed door has some extra weight on it in case he's able to lift it up. I've really gone all out to keep this fish alive

You might be right about the light! I think it could be cars passing under my windows at night since my curtains let some light in. Both my QT and DT have black backgrounds, one side of my QT is covered, and another one faces a corner. Just the front glass really gets some traffic.

Regarding dither fish - I've got 2-3 zebra bar gobies on my list already, yes! I also want another tilefish, most likely a purple one. I think them swimming together and sharing a cave would really calm them. I just haven't been able to secure one yet :(

Oki doki, well it looks like he is in good hands. Glad to see you have so much passion for the hobby and go to lenghts to keep him safe. Net is also quite nice because it's a softer than a hard lid. I had a firefish that got himself a mouth infection after having jumped into my lid or glass supports. Best of luck!

 

[christinna77]

Oki doki, well it looks like he is in good hands. Glad to see you have so much passion for the hobby and go to lenghts to keep him safe. Net is also quite nice because it's a softer than a hard lid. I had a firefish that got himself a mouth infection after having jumped into my lid or glass supports. Best of luck!

Sorry about your firefish, hope he was able to pull through! And thank you. My lid has a solid skeleton, but otherwise it's all mesh. I also try to keep the water level a bit lower so the tilefish has more room. I really think he just needs some buddies. Hopefully soon, once my fallow period is over.

 

[Should I]

Aw yeah I do that! He watches me work and I feed him a little here and there throughout the day

But at night... that's a different story. Here's one from last night and another one from several days ago (still in DT). He usually goes to bed right after, but the splashes are so loud they wake me up. I wonder if he freaks out at his own reflection or something? It finally stopped happening every night when I moved him to DT and he was adjusting really well, but now we're back to square one.



Let's just say I'm glad I put so much effort into securing my lid!

jesus hes like a rocket

 

[christinna77]

I 3D printed a new cave for Sushi a few days ago, and he loves it! Here he is exploring it as soon as I put it in. I also got more sand in!



I also went to my LFS today to grab some tiny FW shrimp to feed him - his reaction was priceless. Too bad I was too busy watching and didn't record it! At first he thought it was frozen food, but as soon as he was about to eat it and noticed the shrimp was moving, he got spooked and literally hid for a minute or two Only to come out again, then he nudged the shrimp and blew on it a few times. With the shrimp actively trying to escape, his little hunter instinct finally took over- he sped up to catch it and sucked it in like a little vacuum