Female Clown won't eat

[Patrick Bateman]

I have a pair of Clownfish in my 20 gallon quarantine tank right now, doing everything right. . . sponge filter, mesh bag of main tank substrate for bio filter. Strong powerhead for movement and oxygenation. Water parameters are good (nitrite's a little high at .25, but ammonia is 0). I am currently treating with Cupramin to ward off any Ich they might be hosting, which I have heard can cause fish to temporarily lose their appetite.

I started out feeding Mysis shrimp since they are more nutricious than the traditional starter food, brine shrimp. I also add several drops of Boyd's Vita-Chem to the thawed food when I feed. The male has eaten voraciously since day-one, but the female refuses. She eats the food, holds it in her mouth for a few seconds, and then spits it right back out! What's going on?

Today I bough some of the loathsome brine shrimp to mix in with the Mysis in hopes that she would at least eat something, and get some nutrition from the Vita-Chem (about 1/4 Mysis and 3/4 brine plus the Vita-Chem), and again, the male took the food readily, while the female continued the same behavior of taking the food, holding it, then spitting it out.

I am completely perplexed by this behavior and hope someone has some insight as to what is going on here. I bought the pair at a very reputable LFS and asked to see them eat before the purchase. The associate dropped a few fingers full of pellets into the water, and all (or maybe most. . . there were probably 20-30 clowns in the tank, so it was hard to make sure they all got a piece!) went crazy over the food. I'm thinking about calling them tomorrow to see what they were feeding, but I would think that the a, frozen organism like Mysis or brine shrimp would be much more appealing to a Clownfish than a dry pellet.

She doesn't look too skinny yet, but I'm afraid if she continues to refuse to eat, she may succumb to some illness or simply die of starvation.

Any ideas?

 

[Innovator]

It is quite normal for fish to refuse food during a copper treatment, as you already know. Your best bet is using live brine shrimp (enriched with selco, spirulina, or other vitamin supplement) to coax her into feeding. You can also put a couple drops of garlic juice (no preservatives!) into the water as you feed in hopes of stimulating appetite.

About 10g-20g of live brine shrimp (without water) mixed with 100ml-150ml of freshwater. Add 1/8tspn. of selco or other additive and 1/4tspn. of spirulina and add rigid airline, slowly bubbling. I prefer selco because it doesn't allow the spirulina to bubble-over, but perhaps your additive will do the same. After 20mins. (I really do prefer 1hr.) you can rinse through a brine shrimp net in freshwater and serve

Edit: The mysis should be fed separately and not mixed into the same container as your live brine shrimp not to mention any liquid additive added to frozen food will wash away as soon as it is immersed in any liquid.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Thanks for the advice. How long will it take to raise the brine shrimp to maturity? The copper treatment will be complete on Feb. 8, so I'm thinking that by the time the brine shrimp are ready for her to eat, the water will be copper-free and things will start going back to normal. Am I understanding everything correctly here?

Perhaps the garlic will be the way to go on this one. Should I add some to the frozen food, or just put it in the water before I feed? Also--and I know this is a seemingly obvious question--do the garlic supplements actually smell extremely garlicky? Does it permeate the room, or is it a more subtle smell that dissipates because of the volume of water to which it is being added.

Should the garlic not work, I assume she will be okay not eating for another few days, since she's only been refusing food for about the last 2 days and I know aquarium fish can live for at least a week without food. Does the copper change this? It makes sense that it would, because I imagine the copper weakens the fish at least a little bit (anyone know for sure?) I also called the LFS where I purchased them to ask what they were feeding so I could try that (Formula 1 [surprise! haha]). So I bought some of that, which she also rejected.

My main question is, if I can't get her to eat in the next few days, would it be better to wait it out and let her continue not eating until the treatment is over, or to discontinue the copper treatment in hopes that she'll start eating again?

 

[Innovator]

Purchase live adult brine shrimp and follow my enrichment previously listed. You will be able to see the spirulina in their gut. I would try coaxing a feeding response before your copper treatment is over. You can just add a couple drops of garlic juice (no it won't fill the room with garlic) to the water volume when you feed. If you add to frozen food it is merely topical and will wash away as soon as it's submerged. Yes, most medications weaken the animal before their bodies can adjust and begin to heal again. You've already started the copper treatment so you might as well continue unless she begins to completely deteriorate (not likely with just 7 says left). The adult live brine enrichment won't necessarily add a gross amount of waste to the quarantine since you should be siphoning every day and performing regular water changes while maintaining the correct copper concentration so it won't hurt to try feed a little everyday.