Royal Pencil Wrasse and Regal angel

[Breakthecycle2]

Hey guys. I am having a hard time getting both of these guys to eat. Both have been in QT for almost three weeks. I have tried mysis soaked in garlic, red and green nori, pellets, ROE and reef frenzy. The regal was picking on Nori and sometimes I see her pick of the bottom of the tank, but nothing substantial that I can tell. The pencil tried some mysis and then spits it out. Im not sure what else to try at this point. Any suggestions?

 

[eatbreakfast]

For the pencil wrasse put the mysis in high flow, that often elicits a feeding response from wrasses.

For the regal, shuck a live clam or oyster for it to graze on.

Others have had success using live black worms, this never worked for me.

Both can be difficult to feed, so no guarantees.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

For the pencil wrasse put the mysis in high flow, that often elicits a feeding response from wrasses.

For the regal, shuck a live clam or oyster for it to graze on.

Others have had success using live black worms, this never worked for me.

Both can be difficult to feed, so no guarantees.

I do feed with the flow of the HOB, which is rated for the double the size of the QT tank, so plenty of flow. I also did try black worms, neither was interested.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Anyone else with any suggestions?

 

[saltyhog]

Wow, surprised blackworms were ignored. I've had luck with frozen blood worms for picky eaters. It fired my Potter's wrasse up and got him eating.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Wow, surprised blackworms were ignored. I've had luck with frozen blood worms for picky eaters. It fired my Potter's wrasse up and got him eating.

Yeah they usually trigger a feeding response, but not with these guys. Im starting to get a little worried.

 

[Usctom]

Have you tried live brine shrimp. They are easy to hatch.

 

[miyags]

Did you try mysis with out garlic, raw shrimp/scallops cut in bite size piece's. Are they being treated with anything?

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Have you tried live brine shrimp. They are easy to hatch.

I have not yet. I guess that's next.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Did you try mysis with out garlic, raw shrimp/scallops cut in bite size piece's. Are they being treated with anything?

I have tried without garlic, yes. I have some cocktail shrimp, I'll try that. The only thing I treated was with Prazi last week.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Does anyone think they'd have a better chance at eating in the main tank with all the live rock and pods for the pencil?

 

[4FordFamily]

What's the temp? I had trouble getting finicky fish to eat due to two factors. Once fixed, they ate immediately.

1) temp was too low (was 75-76 changed to 78-79)
2) removed aggressive fish from the tank. It was an aggressive Achilles tang. It didn't bully the copperband or regal angel but the bickering with the other tangs still stressed them out. They both ate when I fed them just hours after making these two changes.

No guarantees but it's worth a shot. Do you have a digital thermometer?

 

[4FordFamily]

Does anyone think they'd have a better chance at eating in the main tank with all the live rock and pods for the pencil?

Don't risk it.

It's better to kill fish in qt than risk killing fish in DT when they bring something with them.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

What's the temp? I had trouble getting finicky fish to eat due to two factors. Once fixed, they ate immediately.

1) temp was too low (was 75-76 changed to 78-79)
2) removed aggressive fish from the tank. It was an aggressive Achilles tang. It didn't bully the copperband or regal angel but the bickering with the other tangs still stressed them out. They both ate when I fed them just hours after making these two changes.

No guarantees but it's worth a shot. Do you have a digital thermometer?

These two are the only two in QT. The current temp is between 76-77.

 

[4FordFamily]

These two are the only two in QT. The current temp is between 76-77.

Try 78-79. Can't hurt.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

OK, so I just bought some spiralina (sp) and clams on the half shell. The wrasse loves it. The regal is at least trying both.

 

[evolved]

FWIW, prazi can suppress appetites, but at a week old it's pretty much no longer active. Unless the condition warrents immediate use of prazi, I don't start it before everyone is eating.

 

[saltyhog]

I agree with Hunter! Eating comes first! Unless there is an obvious infectious process going on that is likely to kill the fish I do whatever I can to get them eating well. Then treatment is much easier and better tolerated. Of course with fish with an overwhelming infection that's not reasonable but when it's possible it increases our odds IMO.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

I fed them live brine yesterday and they both gobbled it up. Later, I went back to the spiralina brine and the regal ate a bunch of pieces and then stopped. It's a start I guess.