Green Chromis won't eat

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

AquaBear

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jun 14, 2004
Messages
155
Location
Aurora CO
I just brought my first SW fish home 2 days ago, 4 Green Chromis. They've been in my QT since then, and they haven't eaten a thing. I've tried frozen brine shrimp, freeze-dried brine shrimp, freeze-dried plankton, bloodworms, tubifex worms, "Formula One" (frozen food) and yes, even tropical fish flakes. They pretend like they don't even know what they're supposed to do with food.

One of them is flailing on the bottom of the tank right now, and I don't know whether it's sick or starving to death, but I'm getting very concerned. Is it normal for new SW fish to not eat for a couple of days? Surely I shouldn't have to teach them eat in captivity. Any suggestions?

TIA,
--AquaBear
 
AquaBear,

I am currently having my own fish eating disorder problem. It is quite common for your new fish to not want to eat for awhile. I currently have a tank-raised percula clown in my QT that hasn't eaten for 9 days. I am becoming quite worried, because when my regal tang was in the QT she ate like a little piggy only after 4 days. Now, my clown won't even glance at the food I give him. And, I too, have tried a myriad of different things - bloodworms, prime reef, vhp, and mysis soaked in garlic. I was sure the mysis in garlic would work, but no. So, now I will suggest that to you. Try soaking some of your brine shrimp in something like Garlic X-treme. It is supposed to entice the fish to want to eat.

I hope you have better luck than I am having!
 
Soaking it in garlic would certainly make MY mouth water :eek: I'm not sure what it'll do for my fish though. Thanks for the suggestions.

Two of them are dead now, so there must be something else going on. I'll go put a post in the sick fish category.

--AquaBear
 
After the 3rd one died, I concluded that the tank was too toxic, so I moved the 4th one over to the main tank. He hung around the back mostly for the first couple of days, but now he's swimming freely throughout the tank. He still isn't eating. I just put some brine shrimp in and it swam through a little cloud of them like they weren't even there. I think this was the one that had just started to nibble in the QT before I moved him, so maybe he's still adjusting.

How long can a tiny chromis go without eating, does anybody know?

TIA,
--AquaBear
 
Aquabear,

Your chromis is probably about the size that my percula clown was. My clown went for 10 days of not eating before he died. I had thought he perhaps had internal parasites, but I just wasn't sure. He ended up not wanting to swim around, and just sitting at the bottom of the QT breathing heavily. Besides not eating is your chromis doing well otherwise? Did you try the garlic? I found a bottle of it at my LFS.
 
Well, this one was doing okay, but then today I've notice him just hanging around, floating near the top, not venturing out into the open. I guess I'm just going to have to conclude that this guy is suicidal and let nature take it's course, because I do NOT want to risk screwing up my tank by adding food if he won't eat. Maybe he isn't hungry because he's not in a group anymore? I'd go get more chromis if it would induce him to eat, but now I'm paranoid about getting more fish...what if they just don't want to eat around me? <sigh>

--Aquabear
 
I don't think having them in a group as anything to do w/ their feeding habit unless there is an extremely aggressive species in the tank that would harassing the chromis during feeding time.

I had 5 chromis that ate fine and started to separate them 2 by 2 until I'm down to the only 1 I have now. They all ate great but didn't really school together so they had to go. My one single chromis eats like how he always ate, with his 4 buds, with his 2 and even by himself.

Sounds like an internal parasite or just stubborness. My yellow eye tang still doesnt eat the fish I give him (after nearly 2 months). He seems happy with the diatoms growing on my LR. Maybe one day he'll eat from my hands...I wonder how the brittled teeth he has feel like...
 
Back
Top Bottom