Tube feeding fish

[Peng1606]

Does anyone have much experience on tube feeding fish that refuse to eat?
I have done it twice before but would like advice from those that may have done it more.
I currently have a regal angel and a blue velvet angel in quarantine. They both were by a supplier for almost 2 months and regal was only eating spirulina brine shrimp. He was in an outdoor coral propagation tank with corals but didn’t seem to touch them. Other angel eating everything.
Both angels got 90 minute acriflavine bath and freshwater dips before going in quarantine. The regal was hiding but blue velvet out and about. Regal had only taken one or two bites of spirulina brine shrimp every other day… other one eats everything. Have kept a regal in past when was in UK for 4 years and had to sell when moving away. Have kept marine fish since 2003 so not a noob trying out an expert only fish.

I have the them a week now and have tried brine shrimp, live baby brine shrimp (maybe too small for regal to be interested), masstick, clams (frozen cooked - can’t get live, and beaches closed so can’t go dig for some), mysis, nori, pellets etc. I’m worried it will starve itself to death.

1) I’m contemplating tube feeding after sedating with clove oil. Have BSD golden pearls larval diet and spirulina powder that I mixed in past with selcon, vitamins into paste to feed.

2) Should I watch or just start tube feeding every day/other day?

I’m not using copper in this quarantine due to appetite suppressant. Have had one dose prazipro so far. Even considering putting into display but decided not going to risk 80+ other fish in my 750 gallon system. Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Does anyone have much experience on tube feeding fish that refuse to eat?
I have done it twice before but would like advice from those that may have done it more.
I currently have a regal angel and a blue velvet angel in quarantine. They both were by a supplier for almost 2 months and regal was only eating spirulina brine shrimp. He was in an outdoor coral propagation tank with corals but didn’t seem to touch them. Other angel eating everything.
Both angels got 90 minute acriflavine bath and freshwater dips before going in quarantine. The regal was hiding but blue velvet out and about. Regal had only taken one or two bites of spirulina brine shrimp every other day… other one eats everything. Have kept a regal in past when was in UK for 4 years and had to sell when moving away. Have kept marine fish since 2003 so not a noob trying out an expert only fish.

I have the them a week now and have tried brine shrimp, live baby brine shrimp (maybe too small for regal to be interested), masstick, clams (frozen cooked - can’t get live, and beaches closed so can’t go dig for some), mysis, nori, pellets etc. I’m worried it will starve itself to death.

1) I’m contemplating tube feeding after sedating with clove oil. Have BSD golden pearls larval diet and spirulina powder that I mixed in past with selcon, vitamins into paste to feed.

2) Should I watch or just start tube feeding every day/other day?

I’m not using copper in this quarantine due to appetite suppressant. Have had one dose prazipro so far. Even considering putting into display but decided not going to risk 80+ other fish in my 750 gallon system. Any advise would be appreciated.

Not sure if you've seen this, but here is a link to an article I wrote about a decade ago on chronic anorexia in fishes. It also has a section on tube-feeding. I've never used close oil during tube feeding, but it should work if you dose it correctly. I don't think that your angel is a good candidate for tube feeding - some/many regals just don't accept food well in captivity. Tube feeding is really a stop gap measure to get a fish past some health hurdle.

Chronic Anorexia in Aquarium Fishes

Don't fall into the trap of assuming the fish will begin feeding when it gets hungry enough, or conclude it must be eating something, just not when you are watching.

reefs.com

Jay

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Does anyone have much experience on tube feeding fish that refuse to eat?
I have done it twice before but would like advice from those that may have done it more.
I currently have a regal angel and a blue velvet angel in quarantine. They both were by a supplier for almost 2 months and regal was only eating spirulina brine shrimp. He was in an outdoor coral propagation tank with corals but didn’t seem to touch them. Other angel eating everything.
Both angels got 90 minute acriflavine bath and freshwater dips before going in quarantine. The regal was hiding but blue velvet out and about. Regal had only taken one or two bites of spirulina brine shrimp every other day… other one eats everything. Have kept a regal in past when was in UK for 4 years and had to sell when moving away. Have kept marine fish since 2003 so not a noob trying out an expert only fish.

I have the them a week now and have tried brine shrimp, live baby brine shrimp (maybe too small for regal to be interested), masstick, clams (frozen cooked - can’t get live, and beaches closed so can’t go dig for some), mysis, nori, pellets etc. I’m worried it will starve itself to death.

1) I’m contemplating tube feeding after sedating with clove oil. Have BSD golden pearls larval diet and spirulina powder that I mixed in past with selcon, vitamins into paste to feed.

2) Should I watch or just start tube feeding every day/other day?

I’m not using copper in this quarantine due to appetite suppressant. Have had one dose prazipro so far. Even considering putting into display but decided not going to risk 80+ other fish in my 750 gallon system. Any advise would be appreciated.

I had some time this morning, so I posted my full article on tube/force feeding:

Tube / Force Feeding Fish

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

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[Malcontent]

The vet tube-fed one of my fish nearly ten years ago. He had a bacterial infection of the gills, hadn't eaten in weeks, and was losing weight (they weighed him each visit). Nine years later, the fish is still with me.

It was done under anesthesia with MS-222. If you use clove oil I would seriously consider mixing it with ethanol as recommended by most veterinary references. MS-222 needs to be used with a buffer in freshwater due to its acidity but I'm not sure if that's necessary with saltwater.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The vet tube-fed one of my fish nearly ten years ago. He had a bacterial infection of the gills, hadn't eaten in weeks, and was losing weight (they weighed him each visit). Nine years later, the fish is still with me.

It was done under anesthesia with MS-222. If you use clove oil I would seriously consider mixing it with ethanol as recommended by most veterinary references. MS-222 needs to be used with a buffer in freshwater due to its acidity but I'm not sure if that's necessary with saltwater.

I usually don't bother buffering MS-222 in seawater. Our vets will insist on doing that though (grin). I've seen some weird issues when mixing bicarb and MS-222 at the same time - weird bubbles and an oily residue. If I do it, I always dose each material separately.

I wish I had more experience with clove oil, as I fully understand that home aquarists can't really get MS-222....and I want to be able to give them an option that would work....

Jay

 

[Malcontent]

I usually don't bother buffering MS-222 in seawater. Our vets will insist on doing that though (grin). I've seen some weird issues when mixing bicarb and MS-222 at the same time - weird bubbles and an oily residue. If I do it, I always dose each material separately.

I wish I had more experience with clove oil, as I fully understand that home aquarists can't really get MS-222....and I want to be able to give them an option that would work....

Syncaine (FormerlyTricaine-S and MS 222) | Disease Treatment

FDA Approved Fish Anesthetic!DESCRIPTION Syndels Syncaine® (also known as MS-222, TMS, tricaine methanesulfonate) is a fish anesthetic used for the temporary immobilization of fish, amphibians, and other aquatic cold-blooded...

www.thepondoutlet.com

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15222055.2013.783519