Taking on a difficult challenge (2 expert fish)

carlson · Mar 31, 2018

tangtime said:
Pleas don’t put a Idol is a 75g. It is far too small of a tank for those!

We're already past that dude

carlson · Mar 31, 2018

tangtime said:
Glad you took the idol out, they don’t belong in a 75g. As for the cbb they don’t always eat aiptasia. Try a clam on the half shell as well. They are not too difficult of a fish.

I've tried clams, it didn't work

tangtime · Mar 31, 2018

carlson said:
We're already past that dude

Yep see I edited my post.

tangtime · Mar 31, 2018

carlson said:
I've tried clams, it didn't work

Have any feather dusters? They love those. My experience is after they picked clean the rocks then they start accepting frozen.

carlson · Mar 31, 2018

tangtime said:
Have any feather dusters? They love those. My experience is after they picked clean the rocks then they start accepting frozen.

Yea, there's some feather dusters in there too, not any huge ones but some good sized ones. I'm worried now just bc he doesn't seem to be interested in eating at all. The only sign of parasites is one white spot on its beak and breathing a little heavy but not far from normal.

carlson · Mar 31, 2018

Eventually if he doesn't eat ill have to put him in the dt, maybe that will trigger it

tangtime · Mar 31, 2018

Qt’ing fish is just a stressor, best to just dump them in the dt, imo. When it comes to “difficult” fish, I’ve found this the best method, then again I don’t qt regardless.

carlson · Mar 31, 2018

this is all he's been doing lately

GoldeneyeRet · Mar 31, 2018

They often arrive with Injuries to the mouth. Check closely and treat with anti biotic if needed. Clams and live black worms are usually the best bet.

They are difficult fish at first, but if you can get them settled they do well.

Best of luck.

carlson · Mar 31, 2018

tangtime said:
Qt’ing fish is just a stressor, best to just dump them in the dt, imo. When it comes to “difficult” fish, I’ve found this the best method, then again I don’t qt regardless.

Well I thought that a qt tank might help getting him to start eating. I'm wondering if that might be the best idea though

carlson said:
this is all he's been doing lately

carlson · Mar 31, 2018

GoldeneyeRet said:
They often arrive with Injuries to the mouth. Check closely and treat with anti biotic if needed. Clams and live black worms are usually the best bet.

They are difficult fish at first, but if you can get them settled they do well.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the info, I don't think it has any since he was eating yesterday, I feel like he just quit from stress

GoldeneyeRet · Mar 31, 2018

carlson said:
Well I thought that a qt tank might help getting him to start eating. I'm wondering if that might be the best idea though

Only a good idea if you are comfortable in jeopardizing your existing fish.

Adding a dither fish to qt would be an option.

tangtime · Mar 31, 2018

GoldeneyeRet said:
Only a good idea if you are comfortable in jeopardizing your existing fish.

Adding a dither fish to qt would be an option.

Haven’t gt’d a fish in 11 years if the hobby, not gonna start now lol.

I post a lot on rc. You can see my regal angel, idol, cbb, blonde naso, etc. w/I ever gt’d and just as healthy as ever.

GoldeneyeRet · Mar 31, 2018

Tangtime,

Congratulations on your success. I was responding to the OP and never suggested that you should start qt.

eatbreakfast · Mar 31, 2018

Qting difficult and timid fish often can help them have success. They can get used to food without competition and can avoid any intimidation from tankmates.

carlson · Mar 31, 2018

I think if I had a qt tank that stayed running all the time and had stable parameters it would have worked better. I decided to put him in a chamber in my sump thats big enough for his size (he's only like an inch big rn) and sure enough he started picking and eating baby brine again. So from here, I feel like my options are to keep introducing different foods to him and hopefully he'll last long enough on the brine to adapt to another food source.

GoldeneyeRet · Mar 31, 2018

Hopefully it works out well. They are great fish and I think well worth the effort it takes to get them settled.

Brian1f1 · Mar 31, 2018

I really like how friendly R2R is, but I feel like this whole thread could be used in a campaign against the hobby. What in the world were you thinking? Why would you order an idol with your current set up? Sigh....

fishbox · Mar 31, 2018

carlson said:
Yea, there's some feather dusters in there too, not any huge ones but some good sized ones. I'm worried now just bc he doesn't seem to be interested in eating at all. The only sign of parasites is one white spot on its beak and breathing a little heavy but not far from normal.

Can you post a video of it's breathing? I can't see it in the one you posted, but I don't think there's anything wrong with his swim patterns in that video. Also, a good pic of the white spot would help but as mentioned above, beak injuries are common with transport of these guys. It could possibly be Lymphocystis which is very common with stressed out Copperbands but I think that usually starts on the fins (but I'm not sure). It's usually harmless and goes away on its own.

tangtime · Mar 31, 2018

eatbreakfast said:
Qting difficult and timid fish often can help them have success. They can get used to food without competition and can avoid any intimidation from tankmates.

Actually, the competition for food aids in getting difficult fish to eat, as it sees others eating and then begins to much such behavior. Creating a feeding frenzy is one of the best methods to get stubborn fish to eat.