Tips on getting a new fish to eat?

FishyFish · Feb 23, 2019

I added a longnose hawkfish to my 30g tank yesterday afternoon. He's a little guy, only 1.5-2" maybe and so far he seems to be doing well, but he hasn't been eating much and I'm a little concerned. When I feed the tank he swims excitedly up to the top and pokes around at the surface but then ignores the food. I did see him swallow at least one thawed mysis so he has eaten something but not as much as I'd like. He also has access to the flakes and pellets that I feed my clowns but I know hawkfish don't usually eat flakes or pellets. Are there any other foods that I could try to tempt him with?

Fudsey · Feb 23, 2019

Live black worms usually stimulate a feeding response, if you can get them.

RJinPV · Feb 24, 2019

I had a coral beauty angel that wouldn't eat for about 2 weeks. It was active and normal in every other way. The LFS said it was eating pellets and frozen foods, but it would not eat in my tank. Then one day it started eating and it won't stop. I tried garlic, I tried the same food the LFS used, and none of it worked until the fish just started eating. Did the hawkfish eat in the LFS?

kichimark · Feb 24, 2019

Fudsey said:
Live black worms usually stimulate a feeding response, if you can get them.

This has always worked for me.

FishyFish · Feb 24, 2019

Thanks everyone for your help, I'll go out for some garlic and black worms later this morning. I didn't see him eat in the store, they said he was eating but I guess I should have waited and saw for myself.

Lesson learned. I put a small chunk of frozen mysis in the tank this morning and he took a few chunks out of it so maybe he's just weird and prefers it totally frozen. I still couldn't tell how much he actually swallowed but it was encouraging to see him going for it at least.

Jon Fishman · Feb 24, 2019

I was told (preface I have no idea) that if the fish was wild caught, and very small/young they can be very difficult to get to eat. The local fish shop actually offers to keep a fish for me for 2 weeks or so, so they ensure it eats etc. Otherwise they said they don't do "refunds" but give a 30% off on replacements if they die in the first few days. Basically they will replace at their cost.

I plan on letting my local shop "hold" all fish I get in the future

FishyFish · Feb 24, 2019

Well I'm not having any luck finding live black worms anywhere. Does anyone know where to get them? I picked up a couple of ghost shrimp and some different frozen foods, gonna keep trying different things until I find something he likes. He's still very energetic so I'm not too worried just yet.

Fudsey · Feb 24, 2019

Mine took a bit to start eating heavily. Now, he comes right up and almost eats out of my hand when feeding frozen LRS Reef Frenzy.

Gareth elliott · Feb 24, 2019

I also like live fresh hatched brine and roe.

FishyFish · Feb 25, 2019

I got him to take another bite or two of frozen mysis. He won't touch it when it's thawed he only nibbles at the frozen cube but then he doesn't seem to really like it either. I caught him stalking one of the ghost shrimp last night too but I can't tell if he got it or not. Thanks again for all of the great tips! I'll see if I can find some fresh brine and roe later today.

JerseyClowns · Feb 25, 2019

FishyFish said:
I added a longnose hawkfish to my 30g tank yesterday afternoon. He's a little guy, only 1.5-2" maybe and so far he seems to be doing well, but he hasn't been eating much and I'm a little concerned. When I feed the tank he swims excitedly up to the top and pokes around at the surface but then ignores the food. I did see him swallow at least one thawed mysis so he has eaten something but not as much as I'd like. He also has access to the flakes and pellets that I feed my clowns but I know hawkfish don't usually eat flakes or pellets. Are there any other foods that I could try to tempt him with?

Try live foods, something that will stimulate the fish to eat. You can also try soaking frozen/thawed food with the likes of a Selcon or something similar. One thing I've found over the years is that when the fish gets hungry, they'll eat.

FishyFish · Feb 27, 2019

Good news, the little jerk has finally decided to start eating! Still not quite as much as I'd like but he gobbled down several bites of frozen mysis today without spitting any back up. He's been eating a tiny bit more each time I feed him and now he's even started swimming up to the surface when I turn the pump off to feed the tank. Hopefully he keeps it up, he's a really cool fish and I can't wait to watch him grow up!

Nburg's Reef · Feb 27, 2019

Not uncommon. I usually don't attempt to feed until day 2, and then its usually just a couple mysis shrimps to see if they will eat, if they do, I add a few more. I usually don't panic until several days out. Lots fish won't have much of an appetite until day 3ish in my experience, while others will eat food in the bag if you tried it.