Rabbitfish Feeding Issue

Huskymaniac · Jan 12, 2020

I cant get my rabbitfish to eat nori. Need some ideas on how to get it going. Have had it since july and would only eat red ogo. Eventually I introduced ick in my tank from not quarantining the macro. Finally got my fish back in the display and trying again. Have put it on a clip and rubberbanded to a rock. Tried selcon and garlic as well. Still nothing. The fish is starving itself and gradually losing weight. I am not going down the live macro path again.

lilgrounchuck · Jan 12, 2020

Will it eat anything else? My one spot is a pig and is usually the first one attacking the frozen carnivore cubes when I drop it in. He’ll go after the nori sheets, but won’t touch them if there’s meaty stuff in there to eat first. Maybe try feeding mysis or something?

Huskymaniac · Jan 12, 2020

It eats pellets but I cant feed it enough to keep its weight up. It does eat mysis but it's a super skittish fish and is definitly not an aggressive eater.

Mmun · Jan 12, 2020

Huskymaniac said:
It eats pellets but I cant feed it enough to keep its weight up. It does eat mysis but it's a super skittish fish and is definitly not an aggressive eater.

Do the pellets have algae in it. Are there any other nori eating fish in the tank that eat nori. Sometimes monkey see monkey do. You said you can’t keep it’s weight up. There isn’t any internal issues? Right
Have you tried frozen food that has algae in it?

Huskymaniac · Jan 12, 2020

Mmun said:
Do the pellets have algae in it. Are there any other nori eating fish in the tank that eat nori. Sometimes monkey see monkey do. You said you can’t keep it’s weight up. There isn’t any internal issues? Right
Have you tried frozen food that has algae in it?

No internal issues that I am aware off. Poop is definitely normal. If I feed the macro the fish fills out. Doesnt really have interest in frozen just the herbivore pellets and red ogo. Have a kole tang that can care less about the nori and prefers to graze on the LR and sand.

Mmun · Jan 12, 2020

Huskymaniac said:
No internal issues that I am aware off. Poop is definitely normal. If I feed the macro the fish fills out. Doesnt really have interest in frozen just the herbivore pellets and red ogo. Have a kole tang that can care less about the nori and prefers to graze on the LR and sand.

Try LRS herbivore and seachem chlorella flakes.

Zack K · Jan 12, 2020

Have you tried live foods such as white/black worms or even fresh clams?

Huskymaniac · Jan 12, 2020

Zack K said:
Have you tried live foods such as white/black worms or even fresh clams?

Yup. No interest at all. Also tried live brine.

Huskymaniac · Jan 12, 2020

Mmun said:
Try LRS herbivore and seachem chlorella flakes.

Tried both the Herbivore version of Rods and LRS. It eats it but not crazy. I think this fish is a dud.

Mmun · Jan 12, 2020

Huskymaniac said:
Tried both the Herbivore version of Rods and LRS. It eats it but not crazy. I think this fish is a dud.

Try those flakes. I have trigggers, Naso tang Kole tang and a foxface all eat them

Huskymaniac · Jan 22, 2020

So the fish is picking off the rock and sand. It's starting to eat NLS pellets a bit. I thought rabbitfish were pigs but this is definitely the most difficult fish I have owned which is odd.

4FordFamily · Jan 22, 2020

I second the flakes -- I don't feed flakes as a staple of my fish's diet but it gets some herbivores to begin eating. My giant dussumeiri tang was the most recent culprit for this. All though quarantine he refused nori and any frozen food, or anything else I tried. I dropped flakes in there and the emaciated fish I had written off chowed down and is now fat and healthy. It kick started it's feeding, now he eats everything (and did from a day or two after on).

I've had similar experience with other tangs and fox face, I always forget about flakes. Of course, there are better sources of nutrition but it's better than nothing.

Also small sheets of nori in the tank can work. When a small glob of nori floats by, he may find it irresistible.

RedRaiderReefer · Jan 22, 2020

I added an orange spot to eat hair algae in a predator tank, it started eating meat with the other guys. Now it doesn't touch the algae and prefers to steal the shrimp and silversides off the tongs before my scorpion and eel and get them

nereefpat · Jan 22, 2020

That is odd. What species, out of curiosity?

Huskymaniac · Jan 22, 2020

4FordFamily said:
I second the flakes -- I don't feed flakes as a staple of my fish's diet but it gets some herbivores to begin eating. My giant dussumeiri tang was the most recent culprit for this. All though quarantine he refused nori and any frozen food, or anything else I tried. I dropped flakes in there and the emaciated fish I had written off chowed down and is now fat and healthy. It kick started it's feeding, now he eats everything (and did from a day or two after on).

I've had similar experience with other tangs and fox face, I always forget about flakes. Of course, there are better sources of nutrition but it's better than nothing.

Also small sheets of nori in the tank can work. When a small glob of nori floats by, he may find it irresistible.

Been trying the seachem flakes with no luck also. I feel like everytime food is in the water column the fish freaks and hides for a bit. With the pellets they sink right away and then it goes back and grabs a few. The fish isnt overall emanciated but definitly not as full as it could be. You can see the side bone to a degree but it still has a lot of reserve behind the head. I think its eating enough just to survive but not enough to grow and fill out.

Huskymaniac · Jan 22, 2020

nereefpat said:
That is odd. What species, out of curiosity?

Doliatus

Huskymaniac · Jan 22, 2020

4FordFamily said:
I second the flakes -- I don't feed flakes as a staple of my fish's diet but it gets some herbivores to begin eating. My giant dussumeiri tang was the most recent culprit for this. All though quarantine he refused nori and any frozen food, or anything else I tried. I dropped flakes in there and the emaciated fish I had written off chowed down and is now fat and healthy. It kick started it's feeding, now he eats everything (and did from a day or two after on).

I've had similar experience with other tangs and fox face, I always forget about flakes. Of course, there are better sources of nutrition but it's better than nothing.

Also small sheets of nori in the tank can work. When a small glob of nori floats by, he may find it irresistible.

I did end up putting a small amount of red ogo and swapping it out with nori every now and then and still no luck. This is what the fish looks like.

nereefpat · Jan 22, 2020

Huskymaniac said:
Doliatus

I kept a S. virgatus (close cousin) for a while that was just never quite right. It ate okay, as far as I remember, but was just lazy and always ugly brown. He went back to the fish store eventually.

4FordFamily · Jan 22, 2020

Huskymaniac said:
Been trying the seachem flakes with no luck also. I feel like everytime food is in the water column the fish freaks and hides for a bit. With the pellets they sink right away and then it goes back and grabs a few. The fish isnt overall emanciated but definitly not as full as it could be. You can see the side bone to a degree but it still has a lot of reserve behind the head. I think its eating enough just to survive but not enough to grow and fill out.

It may get better with time, some Fox face and rabbits are very docile and lack the courage to eat much when the boisterous tankmates are feeding. This could well get better as it grows, or even if it doesn’t, in time.

Huskymaniac · Jan 23, 2020

4FordFamily said:
It may get better with time, some Fox face and rabbits are very docile and lack the courage to eat much when the boisterous tankmates are feeding. This could well get better as it grows, or even if it doesn’t, in time.

SonI do have a slight Dino problem in the tank. I borrowed a scope last night and it looks like the type is ostreopsis which can be toxic? Any correlation, etc?