Should I be worried?

[Babayaga]

So I purchased a flame angel last Saturday and I made sure the LFS employee fed him in front of me but now since I’m home he hasn’t eaten anything. Don’t get me wrong he grazes on my rock work and picks at the rocks and sand bed but he won’t come out to eat when I feed my fish. His only tank mates are a pair of percula clowns and they don’t bother him at all. So far I’ve tried SA Hatchery diet and frozen mysis shrimp. I should also add he is a shy fish and only ventures out of my rock work occasionally. Any help would be greatly appreciated, don’t wanna lose this guy .

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So I purchased a flame angel last Saturday and I made sure the LFS employee fed him in front of me but now since I’m home he hasn’t eaten anything. Don’t get me wrong he grazes on my rock work and picks at the rocks and sand bed but he won’t come out to eat when I feed my fish. His only tank mates are a pair of percula clowns and they don’t bother him at all. So far I’ve tried SA Hatchery diet and frozen mysis shrimp. I should also add he is a shy fish and only ventures out of my rock work occasionally. Any help would be greatly appreciated, don’t wanna lose this guy .

What did the LFS demonstrate its feeding with, have you got the same food?
Jay

 

[Babayaga]

Hi Jay, the employee said is was a mix of mysis and brine shrimp.

 

[Babayaga]

The biggest problem I think is getting him to come out from the rock work during feeding time. The fish is very shy for a flame angel.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The biggest problem I think is getting him to come out from the rock work during feeding time. The fish is very shy for a flame angel.

Try dicing the mysids up into smaller pieces and each it feed from a dark room, or video the tank after you add food and leave the room. We need to rule out it not feeding due to shyness versus some disease or other problem.
Jay

 

[Babayaga]

Try dicing the mysids up into smaller pieces and each it feed from a dark room, or video the tank after you add food and leave the room. We need to rule out it not feeding due to shyness versus some disease or other problem.
Jay

Thank you, I’ll give that a try.

 

[Babayaga]

So I tried a different food. I had some marine cuisine in my freezer so I thawed it out in RO water and poured it into my net. I turned off all the lights in the room and shut the pumps off on the tank. He was behind a rock so I took a pinch of food from the net and let it drop behind the rock where he was. He ate it! It wasn’t as much as I’d like to see after a week but it’s a start. Going forward I’ll have to target feed him till he starts to venture out more. Can you recommend any other foods to try? Thank you for the advice Jay , I appreciate it!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

So I tried a different food. I had some marine cuisine in my freezer so I thawed it out in RO water and poured it into my net. I turned off all the lights in the room and shut the pumps off on the tank. He was behind a rock so I took a pinch of food from the net and let it drop behind the rock where he was. He ate it! It wasn’t as much as I’d like to see after a week but it’s a start. Going forward I’ll have to target feed him till he starts to venture out more. Can you recommend any other foods to try? Thank you for the advice Jay , I appreciate it!

It may be getting some sustenance from grazing and many times, it takes a day or so after they start tentatively trying food for them to get ramped up and feeding well. Does your store sell any fish eggs?
Jay

 

[Babayaga]

It may be getting some sustenance from grazing and many times, it takes a day or so after they start tentatively trying food for them to get ramped up and feeding well. Does your store sell any fish eggs?
Jay

I don’t think they have fish eggs. I was going to try just Brine shrimp , I know it’s not the most nutritious food but it may trigger him to try other things.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I don’t think they have fish eggs. I was going to try just Brine shrimp , I know it’s not the most nutritious food but it may trigger him to try other things.

Yes - brine shrimp can be a good trigger for fish to feed, but then, as you know, it isn't nutritious, so you need to switch to something else later on.

Jay

 

[Drich5150]

Give it time. Had a tang hide at feeding for 3 or 4 days then finally he started eating. He's still shy but does eat good now.

 

[Lavey29]

I just got a flame angel last month. Behaved identical to yours. Took several weeks before he understood the food bell. Try some sea weed flakes. Mine seems to love flakes over everything but eats pellets and frozen now.

 

[Babayaga]

Thanks for the help guys. I just didn’t realize that flame angels were that shy when newly added , I always thought they were kinda on the aggressive side. He ate again today but I also had to put the food near his hiding spot, he still doesn’t come out when it’s feeding time. I have no problem being patient just don’t want to lose this beautiful fish.

 

[Babayaga]

*Update* He now swims all throughout the tank and is even eating pellet food! I guess he was just shy in the beginning but now he eats like a pig and is doing great! Thank you all for the advice and help.

 

[G Santana]

*Update* He now swims all throughout the tank and is even eating pellet food! I guess he was just shy in the beginning but now he eats like a pig and is doing great! Thank you all for the advice and help.

Exactly how mine was, he'll eat just about anything now.
Good to hear!!!