Harlequin Tusk not eating!!! Help!!!

[Ardee]

My HT has been a great eater. He has not eaten in the last 3 days at all and is hiding a little bit. Still swims a lot though. He has no spots that I see that could be ich. The tank has a panther, pink tail, and blue jaw. I do have a quarantine tank if needed. I need help.

 

[ndrwater]

3 days is not a super long time. Don't panic yet.
Is he being out competed for food? What do you normally feed? I have found that a fish that isn't eating may just be bored with the same food every day. Depending on the size of your fish, you might try some frozen Krill or even raw table shrimp to entice the tusk
HT can be somewhat shy occasionally. With the other fish you have, all generally aggressive eaters, he may just be being bullied a bit.

 

[Ardee]

I feed lrs. I thought maybe he was getting lit competed so I thawed it all and let go crazy. He was not even attempting. It's his behavior along with not eating that is really scaring me. He used to be the first to eat. I will try different food too.

 

[lion king]

Does he still have a fat belly, are you sure he is not eating. Mine is a bit sneaky, he's figured out how the food swirls around the rocks and he just sits and waits for the food to come to him. I've even seen him grab a chunk and head for the rocks to eat it, I think worried someone might take it from him. I noticed mine not coming out for feeding and just caught him waiting in a place in the rocks for food to come to him.

 

[kevindo123]

Try PE-MYSIS. Most finicky fish will eat it. The HT is a bottom feeder so when a large piece of PE Mysis falls to the ground it will try to chase and eat it. My HT does this. It likes PE Mysis the most. It only eat some LRS. I also train it to eat medium size formula 2 pellets on the sand bed. You can also try fresh clam in a half shell.

 

[eatbreakfast]

A couple of other things that could cause a hunger strike include stray current, high nitrates, a lot of activity in or around the tank, bullying.

As others have said, three days isn't too bad. Ghost shrimp will always elicit a response.

 

[4FordFamily]

Cryptic behavior and suddenly not eating (especially after being a good eater) are two symptoms of velvet. Watch closely, particularly be concerned if your fish swim in to the powerheads.

Any of your fish breathing heavily?

 

[kevindo123]

My HT is one of my hardiest and favorite fish. Last time he had a hunger strike for almost a full week while in QT after suffering from ich. He was just lying still in the QT tank. To get him eating I added a yellow tang to the QT and next day he was competing with the tang for food. Sometimes he just need to see other fish eating to get him to bite and he will start eating again. Try feeding small amount of his favorite food throughout the day. Does he show interest in food? Also is your tusk resting peacefully at night? I found that the Tusk will get restless and his appetite suppress if he doesn't get enough sleep.

Here is mine:

 

[kevindo123]

Any luck getting your HT to eat?

 

[Steve Blum]

My HT ate for the first 3 days just some mysis and a little Gumbo. He seems really finicky. How do I break him of this habit and also get him to eat more

 

[eatbreakfast]

My HT ate for the first 3 days just some mysis and a little Gumbo. He seems really finicky. How do I break him of this habit and also get him to eat more

Be patient. Offer him what he wants for now. He will eventually associate you with food and more readily eat.