My fish just stop eating!

Discussion in 'Tropical Fish' started by SaltyClown, Apr 20, 2013.

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  1. SaltyClown

    SaltyClown Sea Dragon

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    I have 2 false percula clownfish and a royal gramma in a 75 gal RR tank. Tank is almost 5 months old. My fish always ate like pigs. But then I gave them squid, soon that's all the gramma wanted. And then started eating less and less everyday. I normally feed my fish cyclop-eeze and even now, they pass that up. My female clownfish still eats a lot of artificial crab and shrimp. I really mix it up for my fish with, shrimp, squid, krill, fish, fish eggs and cyclop-eeze. Kinda wish I didn't offer them such a variety of food, because now they barely eat and the gramma I have not seen in a couple days. My Mom has a 30 gal FOWLR and she only feeds them prime reef flakes and all her fish look amazing and have been around for years.
     
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  3. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

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    Don't know if it's related, but it's generally not a good idea to feed cooked food to your livestock; artificial crab is cooked fish with artificial flavoring.

    Is your tank stable? Changes in parameters or temp can drastically affect fish's appetite, as can high nutrient levels.
     
  4. SaltyClown

    SaltyClown Sea Dragon

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    Oh...I've been told to never give raw items to your livestock. Always seemed a little odd since in the wild, everything they eat is raw.
     
  5. sailorguy

    sailorguy Torch Coral

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    I've always believed it was the opposite,didn't even know that marine fish would eat anything that was cooked.How often do you feed? I sometimes have found that my fish would seem to lose appetite at times and would just reduce feeding by skipping a day and they would return to normal.Most of us have a tendency to overfeed anyway as we all want our fish to have good health.
     
  6. DevinH

    DevinH Montipora Capricornis

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    Wow.
     
  7. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

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    Hmmm... don't know where you heard that one, but it's definitely wrong. You are correct, everything they eat in the wild is raw, and also usually live. :)

    FWIW, I've been feeding my fish with Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef and Formula One flakes for two years, now. A lot less messy, and my fish love it, including a Cleaner Wrasse, which is notoriously difficult to feed in captivity.