Picky Perchlet

[SMB]

I added a Perchlet (AKA Pygmy Hawkfish) to my 45 cube about 6 months ago. After three weeks of not seeing it, the fish finally established a cave and started eating Mysis.
I am curious about their behavior. He never comes out much, in fact almost never, and after searching here that seems pretty normal. But he is very timid about eating. Only if I am able to get mysis to float by his cave will he dart out to eat. The tankmates are not aggressive but all good eaters, so there are days when the Perchlet seems to get nothing. (He might have something float into the back of the cave that I don't see.)
The rare times he does come out, he seems in good shape and not thin, no temporal wasting etc.
Should I just assume it is getting what it needs given its low activity level? Any thoughts from Perchlet keepers? They are a cool looking fish, just wish I saw more of him.

 

[eatbreakfast]

That's pretty normal. They can also pick at microfauna in the tank to supplement it's diet.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

My longnose hawkfish is a dainty eater too, he is very selective about what he eats and doesn't really dart into the feeding frenzy with the other fish, he sort of just hugs the outskirts and selects small meaty morsels to eat. If he looks good, then I wouldn't worry about it too much. You could also squirt a little bit of food into his cave after giving the other fish a good portion.

 

[SMB]

Thanks for your replies. In looking through a few threads, it seems most folks target feed their Perchlets, so that must be the norm.
I do seem to have a Peppermint Shrimp MIA; it was larger than the Perchlet, but maybe he is finding other sources of food!

 

[SMB]

Well the Perchlet didn't eat the shrimp. It was spotted out last night.
As ambush predators, Perchlets must do fine feeding in random spurts. Mine certainly does not burn a lot of energy!