clownfish won't eat?

[drewposi]

i have a pair of false Perculas and the larger of the two hasnt eaten in a week. i've attempt4ed to feed it flake food brine, and small pieces of shrimp, and yet it wont eat? anyone have any advice?

 

[KurtsReef]

How long have you owned it? What has it eaten previously and did you change brands or type of food?

Does it exhibit any spots or other abnormalities?

 

[melosu58]

Have you tried soaking the food in garlic. It is supposed to work with finicky eaters. This is exactly the reason I dont buy any fish from my LFS unless I see it eat. It`s something you might want to check out in the future. Right now soak it in garlic.

 

[Leaf]

Good follow up questions.

FWIW...
I haven't tried any type of garlic soak for my clown fish -- I've had great success by soaking frozen foods (mysis shrimp, plankton, brine shrimp) in Selcon. My clown and Royal Gramma absolutely devour the food. If I don't use Selcon, they pretty much ignore the food.

 

[pinkie]

Garlic can make a world of difference with some fish, and no difference with others. For my puffers, if I drop just about anything in the tank they will eat until they nearly explode, with or without garlic. With my eel, I can poke him in the nose with krill, silversides, or anything without garlic and he will simply swim away. As soon as I use even a small amount of garlic to the food he goes into a feeding frenzy, literally.

 

[drewposi]

So just soak it in any kind of garlic? or like fresh garlic? or somthing premade?

 

[roka64]

I use garlic guard, but you can probably use fresh squeezed garlic. I only put two drops in for my 55G and let soak for 20-30 minutes.

 

[drewposi]

so like soak like brine in it? or flake food? or what for some reason i just cant picture this.

 

[pinkie]

I have only used Garlic Guard with Krill and Silversides. You can use it with mysis or brine shrimp as well, and I don't see why you couldn't with flake food. Simply thaw the food if frozen and put in in a glass or cup. Add a little bit of garlic, let it soak in, and pour everything in the tank.

 

[roka64]

I would tend to think soaking flake would just make it turn to mush. I rarely feed flakes and don't soak it, so I am not sure what the end result would be....

 

[pinkie]

I tried soaking flake food in garlic for my freshwater tank last night. If the flakes sat in the garlic for more than 30-45 seconds it would break up and get mushy as roka said. However, when I mixed the flakes and garlic for 10 seconds or so the flake food stayed pretty stable and it seemed to have soaked up a little of the garlic. I can't say whether it increased their appeitite or not since they always eat well, but maybe the scent of the garlic in the water near the food will help after you pour in the flakes. The scent alone in the water works with my Eel. If I want him to come out to show friends/family, I simply need to pour a LITTLE garlic guard in my sump and he will come out looking for food once the pump sucks it into the tank.

 

[drewposi]

is it true that the garlic helps strenghten the fishes ammune system? or somthing like that?

 

[WAX]

i have the same thing going on. i've had my clown for 2 weeks now and she wont eat a thing. i've tried spectrum and flake with no luck. and i was wondering if i should buy her a friend . she's the only clown fish i have

 

[melosu58]

What size tank? and what is in it? Can you post your water parameters so we can rule that out. Just make sure in the future that you watch it eat before you buy it. This is not just to you but we should all do this. Have you tried soaking the food in garlic? I sure hope all goes well. You might want to try frozen mysis or vitamin fortified brine shrimp.

 

[WAX]

i havent tried garlic. 10gal with O. clown and a royal gramma. dont know my water parameters. the pet store said everything was a ok. my specific gravity is at 1.022

 

[melosu58]

OK either go to the LFS and ask him for some garlic guard or any other garlic product he may have or go to your grocery store and get some garlic oil or minced garlic juice and add a few drops to your food in a cup of water. This has worked for others.

 

[WAX]

ok i'll try that i know they have kent garlic xtreme. hope that works. do u think i should add another clown ?

 

[Leaf]

ok i'll try that i know they have kent garlic xtreme. hope that works. do u think i should add another clown ?

IMO - make sure or get your original fish healthy first, then see about adding new fish.

 

[Leaf]

is it true that the garlic helps strenghten the fishes ammune system? or somthing like that?

I don't have links readily available at the moment, but..

Yes, some "proof" (hearsay, non-scientific observation, apply test trials from other "animals" to *all* animals, etc.) that garlic helps improve or boost the natural immune system of a fish.

A local fish guru in my area proposed that the garlic suppresses internal parasites enough for the fish to make a natural recovery (or immune system recovery.)

 

[roka64]

There was a link that a scientific study indicated the fish that were fed garlic were less likely to be reinfected. I read it myself, but can't recall the link. It also mentioned that they couldn't really prove that adding garlic would stimulate their feeding response.
I believe another member has success with garlic with some fish and others ignored it.
My fish love it.