New geometric pygmy hawkfish not eating yet?

joec · Nov 25, 2020

He's in QT with a royal gramma since Saturday and I have not seen him eat yet. I tried Reef Frenzy, RF w/garlic, live black worms and he's not take any

Are they picky eaters?

Jay Hemdal · Nov 25, 2020

Can you post a video (under white light, not blue)? I've only worked with a couple of these over the years, but did not have any specific issues with them, however, I've heard that others have had issues. Mine did seem a bit shy, and they preferred to have some vertical shelter to hide against. Could you try diced mysids?

Jay

joec · Nov 25, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
Can you post a video (under white light, not blue)? I've only worked with a couple of these over the years, but did not have any specific issues with them, however, I've heard that others have had issues. Mine did seem a bit shy, and they preferred to have some vertical shelter to hide against. Could you try diced mysids?

Jay

I diced up some Reef Frenzy. He didn't even react to the live blackworm which worries me.

He's very spooky. I did have some slight ammonia levels on monday which are fixed but I was bouncing all over the tank, water changes, testing multiple times throughout the day so that probably freaked him out trying to settle in

Jay Hemdal · Nov 26, 2020

joec said:
I diced up some Reef Frenzy. He didn't even react to the live blackworm which worries me.

He's very spooky. I did have some slight ammonia levels on monday which are fixed but I was bouncing all over the tank, water changes, testing multiple times throughout the day so that probably freaked him out trying to settle in

I wouldn't really expect these to eat live blackworms as those do not closely resemble their natural zooplankton diet. Live brine shrimp would be a better "starter food". I found some small frozen mysids once, but I forget the brand name, as I said, normal mysids will likely need to be diced up first.

Here is the primary issue: fish cannot be enticed to eat if there is an underlying issue that is causing them to not feed. I looked at your fish and it isn't breathing too fast, so that's good. I couldn't get a clear view, but it does seem a bit thin. Do you know this fish's history? Did it come from a LFS or did you have it shipped in? Was it feeding before you acquired it?

One underlying concern is that these fish are real "hiders" and live in deeper water. This means that the divers who collect them are under a lot of pressure (pardon the pun) to catch them as quickly as possible. In the Philippines and Indonesia, that means using cyanide to stun them. Fish collected in this manner have a much higher mortality rate than net collected ones. One of the common symptoms is lack of a feeding response...ugh.

Jay

joec · Nov 26, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
I wouldn't really expect these to eat live blackworms as those do not closely resemble their natural zooplankton diet. Live brine shrimp would be a better "starter food". I found some small frozen mysids once, but I forget the brand name, as I said, normal mysids will likely need to be diced up first.

Here is the primary issue: fish cannot be enticed to eat if there is an underlying issue that is causing them to not feed. I looked at your fish and it isn't breathing too fast, so that's good. I couldn't get a clear view, but it does seem a bit thin. Do you know this fish's history? Did it come from a LFS or did you have it shipped in? Was it feeding before you acquired it?

One underlying concern is that these fish are real "hiders" and live in deeper water. This means that the divers who collect them are under a lot of pressure (pardon the pun) to catch them as quickly as possible. In the Philippines and Indonesia, that means using cyanide to stun them. Fish collected in this manner have a much higher mortality rate than net collected ones. One of the common symptoms is lack of a feeding response...ugh.

Jay

I'll look for some live brine first thing in the morning, if not I 'll get some mysis, chop it and try that.

I bought it from a LFS, asked if it was eating and was told yes. He is a bit thin but not as thin as that video appears