Rescued butterflyfish not eating

[All Mixed Up]

On black Friday, I decided to drop by my local Petco. I saw this spot banded butterflyfish in one of the tanks, covered in ich, pale, and looking like death.

I decided to buy him since I convinced the store manager to let me purchase him for $5 due to his deteriorated state.

Today we're 7 days into the TTM, and he is looking much better. No visible signs of ich, and he is coloring up nicely!

The problem is, he hasn't eaten a single thing in a week.

So far I've tried:
Mysis soaked in garlic
Black worms
LRS reef frenzy
Live Clam on a half shell soaked in garlic
Live mussels
Live oysters
Brine Shrimp
Flakes
NLS pellets
Pods from my fuge in some chaeto
Nori soaked in garlic

I even tried few pieces of LR from my sump with feather dusters on them.

Nothing.

Any ideas? I knew he would be a challenge, but I hate watching him not eat.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

Have you tried freezing fresh mussels/clams/oysters and shaving them into small pieces? I like to use a cheese grater

 

[Paul C.]

They have the potential to nip at corals and eat invertebrates. Maybe try some cheap LPS frags, snail or maybe even a peppermint shrimp?

 

[All Mixed Up]

Have you tried freezing fresh mussels/clams/oysters and shaving them into small pieces? I like to use a cheese grater

I haven't tried freezing them yet but I will.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[All Mixed Up]

They have the potential to nip at corals and eat invertebrates. Maybe try some cheap LPS frags, snail or maybe even a peppermint shrimp?

I did read that about them, but I was trying to avoid "training" him to nip at corals, so I was hoping to avoid that route.

I may have to if I can't get it to eat anything else.

 

[Katrina71]

Are you leaving a powerhead on to feed? I've had 100% success with my little guys.

 

[All Mixed Up]

Are you leaving a powerhead on to feed? I've had 100% success with my little guys.

No powerhead in the tank, the hang-on power filter, I believe is a Fluval 50. It doesn't move a ton of water, since this is just a hospital tank for TTM.

Should I turn that off?

 

[Katrina71]

No powerhead in the tank, the hang-on power filter, I believe it's Fluval 50. It doesn't move a ton of water, since this is just a hospital tank for TTM.

Should I turn that off?

Do you have a little powerhead?

 

[All Mixed Up]

Do you have a little powerhead?

I have a few maxi jets laying around.

 

[Katrina71]

I have a few maxi jets laying around.

Try it

 

[All Mixed Up]

Small update:

Done with TTM.

Freshwater dipped and into the DT.

Still not eating offered food, but noticed him/her picking at pods on the liverock today. Very healthy pod population in the tank so hopefully this is a good sign.

Looks 200% better than it did the day I brought it home from Petco. No signs of ich, and color retuning to normal as opposed to the very pale state it was in at the store.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Great work you done there, glad to hear he/she eating something. Well done

 

[All Mixed Up]

Update #3

Almost 4 weeks in, today for the first time it started eating flakes. Up until this point I haven't seen it eat any offered foods, only pods that it has been picking of the rocks.

Some flakes floated by its face and it took a bite and apparently a light bulb went off in its head. Started darting around eating as many flakes as possible.

Looking healthier by the day!

 

[Sean Duggan]

Beautiful fish.

 

[nereefpat]

Great looking fish

 

[arturoo1977]

Very nice fish. Congrats on the recovery. Great deal for $5, although Petco should pay you for saving him/her!

 

[All Mixed Up]

Very nice fish. Congrats on the recovery. Great deal for $5, although Petco should pay you for saving him/her!

This fish is the exact reason I try to avoid going in my local Petco.

They don't have an aquatic specialist, just a bunch of part-time high school kids who don't care about the wellbeing of the fish.

Every time I go there, I see a fish I want to try and rescue.