Help conspicuous still not eating after weeks of trying everything.

[chicago]

This is a sad story.. so I have an adult wild conspic that I picked up 5. weeks ago. Actually got him 5 weeks ago .. he did not eat the first week and as I was going out of town i asked the LFS to put him in the long race way tank with lots of live rock ect. Well I picked him up and we thought he was eating…. So he was in the race way tank for 4 week and I do not think he was eating much if at all. He is back at my house now for past 4 days or so and he is not eating at all still. I have him alone in a nice 40 gallon breeder. He comes to the top of the water and does not freak and is not shy.. but everything I put in he does not touch.. I have had fish for 40 years…. I have tried garlic, mysis, live brine, flake, pellet after pellet, open clam shells, krill, plankton and more… tomorrow i plan on getting a piece of shrimp or scallop and wrap it on a rock and see if that works.. he is alone in the breeder…. I was thinking would he do better with other first…. He is to the point of no return in my opinion… but I write this to see if anyone has other ideas.. I have been through this before….. Always a chance with wild adult angels…. I think he is just set in his ways…. He is so so so skinny there is no meat on him at all.. frankly other fish i have had in the past like this died weeks ago.. and yet this guy is still holding on… but not even a nip at anything..
sad deal is the company that sent him to the LFS confirmed he was eating before i put down the ok and go ahead to send him to the LFS.. Again,, I am not new at this and have plenty of hard to keep angels and have good success .. such as regales and other ones in the past… but again .. always on the look out for others suggestions… thanks

 

[fishguy242]

Sponges ? #fishmedic

 

[Rtaylor]

Do you have a really established tank you can put him in with lots of micro fauna? Have you tried live black worms? Freshly hatched baby brine shrimp? I’d try fresh live clams if you haven’t…..could try some lps coral….have you tried the frozen blend made specifically for angels that has sponge in it? Masstick?

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is a sad story.. so I have an adult wild conspic that I picked up 5. weeks ago. Actually got him 5 weeks ago .. he did not eat the first week and as I was going out of town i asked the LFS to put him in the long race way tank with lots of live rock ect. Well I picked him up and we thought he was eating…. So he was in the race way tank for 4 week and I do not think he was eating much if at all. He is back at my house now for past 4 days or so and he is not eating at all still. I have him alone in a nice 40 gallon breeder. He comes to the top of the water and does not freak and is not shy.. but everything I put in he does not touch.. I have had fish for 40 years…. I have tried garlic, mysis, live brine, flake, pellet after pellet, open clam shells, krill, plankton and more… tomorrow i plan on getting a piece of shrimp or scallop and wrap it on a rock and see if that works.. he is alone in the breeder…. I was thinking would he do better with other first…. He is to the point of no return in my opinion… but I write this to see if anyone has other ideas.. I have been through this before….. Always a chance with wild adult angels…. I think he is just set in his ways…. He is so so so skinny there is no meat on him at all.. frankly other fish i have had in the past like this died weeks ago.. and yet this guy is still holding on… but not even a nip at anything..
sad deal is the company that sent him to the LFS confirmed he was eating before i put down the ok and go ahead to send him to the LFS.. Again,, I am not new at this and have plenty of hard to keep angels and have good success .. such as regales and other ones in the past… but again .. always on the look out for others suggestions… thanks

Try live foods, algaes and angel formula containing sponge
Additionally, assure salinity, ammonia-oh- nitrates not elevated
Wild caught fish often a risk as they have to adapt and adjust to captive foods and environments
Low light may help as will enticers such as Seachem “ENTICE”.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This is a sad story.. so I have an adult wild conspic that I picked up 5. weeks ago. Actually got him 5 weeks ago .. he did not eat the first week and as I was going out of town i asked the LFS to put him in the long race way tank with lots of live rock ect. Well I picked him up and we thought he was eating…. So he was in the race way tank for 4 week and I do not think he was eating much if at all. He is back at my house now for past 4 days or so and he is not eating at all still. I have him alone in a nice 40 gallon breeder. He comes to the top of the water and does not freak and is not shy.. but everything I put in he does not touch.. I have had fish for 40 years…. I have tried garlic, mysis, live brine, flake, pellet after pellet, open clam shells, krill, plankton and more… tomorrow i plan on getting a piece of shrimp or scallop and wrap it on a rock and see if that works.. he is alone in the breeder…. I was thinking would he do better with other first…. He is to the point of no return in my opinion… but I write this to see if anyone has other ideas.. I have been through this before….. Always a chance with wild adult angels…. I think he is just set in his ways…. He is so so so skinny there is no meat on him at all.. frankly other fish i have had in the past like this died weeks ago.. and yet this guy is still holding on… but not even a nip at anything..
sad deal is the company that sent him to the LFS confirmed he was eating before i put down the ok and go ahead to send him to the LFS.. Again,, I am not new at this and have plenty of hard to keep angels and have good success .. such as regales and other ones in the past… but again .. always on the look out for others suggestions… thanks

Sorry to hear. Back in the early 1980's, I worked with a guy who was bringing in shipments from New Caledonia. He would see this issue with adult conspics. I don't have a solution for you. I've also seen this with adult bluestripe angels from Taiwan. It doesn't seem to be an issue with the wrong food being offered, but that the fish will refuse any food.

Here is an article I wrote on tube-feeding fish, but to be honest, once a fish gets too thin, it has used up its liver for energy and getting food into them can actual hasten their death.

Tube / Force Feeding Fish

This article describes methods of tube-feeding and force-feeding fish

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[chicago]

Ok. Just not sure what to do. I should have made sure he was eating really welll. The importer said he was but really he was just picking. Not really eating. Did not know of using up liver energy. He is so so thin. I’ll post a pic. Just sad and frustrated.

 

[chicago]

Great article. Good read.

 

[bruno3047]

It might be too late for your guy but many years ago I bought a Chaetodontoplus Angelfish but it was not a Conspicuous, it was a Scribbled. For the first week he would not eat anything. I called the LFS where I bought him and I was told to tie a fresh piece of Romaine lettuce to a rock with a rubber band and put it into the tank. Sure enough, by the end of the first day he had a ripped that Romaine lettuce to shreds. Of course I then had to clean all the little pieces out of the tank, but I didn’t mind because I had gotten my prize angelfish eating. Might be too late for your guy but it’s worth a shot.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ok. Just not sure what to do. I should have made sure he was eating really welll. The importer said he was but really he was just picking. Not really eating. Did not know of using up liver energy. He is so so thin. I’ll post a pic. Just sad and frustrated.

Yes, it is a bit thin, but maybe tube feeding would help? It also seems to be breathing deeply/fast. That may be a function of you being close to video it, or it could have gill flukes.

Jay

 

[Zionas]

Poma Labs is your friend if you want Conspics. They might even be a bit cheaper than wild caught ones. If you want Blue Lines (another nice Angel of that genus) also get them from Poma Labs. They’re CB specimens. These are fish I’d have a hard time considering wild caught.

 

[chicago]

Sad day. He is gone. I am still at loss . Can’t believe how long he was able to go without eating. Terrible waste. Tried so hard and effort made by myself and LFS was just crazy.

 

[Zionas]

Dang I’m sorry to hear that. If you ever decide to try one again I’d highly recommend going for a captive bred specimen. Not sure how much you paid for this one but Poma Labs is currently selling theirs for 3000 bucks each. They’re not a cheap fish by any means so you really want to maximize your shot at success.

 

[Snoopy 67]

I had a friend that stuffed plate coral skeletons with clam meat so the angel could pick all day.
For the next one.

 

[chicago]

Sad day. He is gone. I am still at loss . Can’t believe how long he was able to go without eating. Terrible waste. Tried so hard and effort made by myself and LFS .

 

[chicago]

Thanks all. I tried that clam meat routine also. Awhile back I had good success with similar. Mine was more of a sushi roll. Nori, scallop clams and pellets rolled up then rubber banded to large clams shell.

 

[Zionas]

How big was this specimen?

 

[chicago]

was an adult. 6 - 7 inches.

 

[Zionas]

That’s a bit big to start with.

 

[Celestion]

Lower specific gravity , 81 degree water is my first go to, with 40 years experience I'm sure you did everything for this fish

 

[chicago]

The store and I did everything. he was living in a stores raceway tank with 100's of pounds of live rock. the owner of the store had sponge and more growing on the rock... he was in that race way with live rock and sponge and still lost weight and did not eat... Will stick with smaller ones... in the past I have a few.. They are such great angels.