Orange Spotted File Fish Not Eating

hello all, i purchased an orange spotted file fish about 8 days ago. i read that they were very hard to keep in captivity but he was only $16, so i figured why not. well, he hasn't eaten since i bought him and he's starting to get skinny. i tried feeding him frozen blood worms, mysis,brine and even live brine. i have him in my well established 135 gal reef with corals and polyps.
i read that they only eat acropora polyps in the wild, i only have one sps( i think its a montipora) that just seemed to grow out of my live rock. he doesnt seem to be interested in that or any polyps either. he just swims all over and examines the food when i feed the fish.
Has anyone had these fish and is there any advise as to how i can get him to eat. thanks, Rob

 

Well I would always suggest researching your purchase before hand no matter how beautiful, tempting or how great the price. But now at this point I would suggest returning your fish to your LFS before it dies, JMO John

 

I would stick it out, returning him to the store WILL CAUSE HIS DEATH, but keeping may as well.Inhis case (itsa boy, ive decided that.... ) I would stick it out for about 4 days depending on when he was shipped in, if he was at the store for 3 days he probably hasnt eaten for over a week-a few. If he doesnt eat i a few i would isolate him in a QT tank if you have one, if you dont it make this trick harder. I take coral skeletonslike birds nest, favites, or anything with recesses rather than nodules like many acropora (even though it is specifically what they feed on) and smash afew different marine meats into it, mysis,BS, krill,squid,ect. and place it in an obvious place. This is my last resort to feed fish with his diet. The result vary greatly but if its eaten his chances of being weaned onto those foods are high. Hoipe you can save him. The best way to find fish to buy is research all the fish you can, find ones that fit your desires and abilities, and then searching the LFS with certain fish in mind rather than vise versa. I dont want to put anydown here just going to state a fact, Almost ALL marine reef fish that fail to eat once home die when returned, It sucks for everyone but mostly for the fish.

 

I was wondering if you could tell me if the file fish you were talking about is the Oxymonacanthus longirostris, if this is infact the fish that you have...i am leaning towards fletches idea....the only reason for this is because it really only eats the acro pora polyps...i am not at all saying not to try nicks idea because for all i know the little guy will take to it...but from what i have read most specimens die pretty soon unless they are in a reef tank with alot of acros....

Good luck

 

Sorry im not trying to be argumentive but death is assured should you return it.

 

according to Wet Web it was dead as soon as it left the ocean


http://www.wetwebmedia.com/filefish.htm

 

Stick it out and Try more foods...Cyclops eze maybe>>>ETC.

Taking him back to the fish store will assure his death at this point.

 

yup...poor little guy, best of luck