Flame angel not eating

[rikwilliams]

Hello,

I purchased a flame angel last week and since I have introduced him, I have not seen him eat anything added to the tank. He had been in the LFS for some time, and looks healthy and fat, and was eating frozen brine at the LFS. He pecks at the rock all day, and looks well, will he get enough from this?
Tank is 8x2x2, 1 large foxface, 1 powder blue, 1 purple tang, 1 yellow tang, 2 clowns, 1 strawberry dottyback, 1 mandarin. I have not seen any aggression from the other fish, no nipped fins, and I feed new era flake, frozen brine/mysis, live newly hatched brine shrimp and ocean nutrion pellets plus nori each day. There are loads of little shrimp (up to 1cm) over the rocks, I have seen the strawberry eat them so I guess the flame might be?

Thanks

Richard.

[Wombat]

Could be, wild caught ones can be tricky to get onto feed, a good variety of quality feeds is the key thing to try in the first instance

[Horse29uk]

I put a UV on my aquarium a month ago, fish seemed alot more lively and constantly hungry

[C. Schuhmacher]

HI

it is normaly that an flame Angel will need some days till he eat on a good way
What you can try is to give some drops of garlic on the food !
They like the smell. Also good is are whole mussels but careful don´t let them so long in the tank.
Also possible the Liposome spray from new era
Let your fish a little bit time you will see that he will try in a few days all foods

Do not feed Artemia this food is not good for marine fishes and only to feed if nothing others will work.

Greetings Claude

[slappy]

Do not feed Artemia this food is not good for marine fishes and only to feed if nothing others will work.



Why isn't it good?
Most people I know, including myself feed Artemia which I believe is brine shrimp to our fishes.

[cajen]

I've had a couple of flames in the last 10 years (and friends with others)and something I've noticed is that some are so used to getting their food by pecking at the rock that they don't look for food in the water column - they smell the food but look on a rock for it. In my case it didn't take long for the flame to twig and start eating everything I offer with gusto. If it still isn't eating after a few days, try painting a rock with a mixture of liquidised food which has been left to harden.

[simon garratt]

Dont know whether Claude will agree here,

but my understanding of Artemia (salina... which i believe is the normal strain) is that becouse of its ceratinous (sp) shell, its good in small quantities as it cleans out the digestive tract (bit like us and roughage) but shouldnt be used as a bulk food as it can clog up the fishes internals leading to blocakages and internal dissorders/infections. Being from a highly saline environment as well (its not found in the sea) its also very highly saturated in sodium, way beyond the levels normaly found in marine prey foods. likewise this can also cause imbalances within the fishes organs.

Possibly the gut system, and renal system..

Going off the top of my head there as i dont claim to be a fish biologist. so im probably talking gobbledygook...;)

Regards

Si.

PS: as with Claude though, soaking in Garlic is a very good way to exite a fishes feeding response ime.

[rikwilliams]

Thanks for the replies, will give the garlic a try.

[instantsquid]

I put a UV on my aquarium a month ago, fish seemed alot more lively and constantly hungry
Apart from the placebo effect (on the owner!) do you have any thoughts as to why this could possibly be the case?

[rikwilliams]

Quick update, sadly the flame was found dead this morning, I suspect starved to death. I never saw him eat anything presented to him, I even saw brine shrimp and new era flake (that according to the LFS he was eating both aplenty) hit him in the face, but showed no interest. I don't know if it was because my tank was too busy (I never saw any bullying though) or what, will certainly never buy a fish again I don't see eating in the LFS first, very disappointed as this is my first marine fish lost, and sods law had to be the most expensive fish I ever bought.

[Wombat]

Sorry for your loss

Always worth thinking abut a quarantine tank too Much easier to treat before it goes on display

[angelfishman]

not a cheap fish to buy always try and make sure they are feeding before purchasing.a lot of dealers just put a little bit brineshrimp in the tank and say look its feeding.they need a variety of foods including alge.the pair i purchased were feeding well but never came out in my tank to feed for four days.i feed mine on mysis, brineshrimp,bloodworm,krill,alge and spirulina flake which they like the best.they have been in the tank for over twelve months and are doing well.derek