Trigger hiding and stopped eating

[wentom7]

Hi, I have a juvenile picasso trigger I've had a few months. Very small and thin when I got him. Been feeding him very well and he is fat and thriving. A few days ago he stopped eating and comes out very little. He does come out when I feed but doesn't eat. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks

 

[TheTodd]

What are your water parameters? Has anything changed with the tank recently? Are there any visible signs of disease? Fish don't typically stop eating unless something is up.

 

[wentom7]

I know, thats why I'm so confused. Parameters are spot on, nothing new in the tank, he was doing so well. So sudden. I just love him, so bummed. (ya know, now that I think of it I increased my water changes from 5 to 10 gal. a week. The tank is 75gal. and with refug. it probably amounts to about 95gal. of water. Have some big eaters.) Thanks

 

[TheTodd]

How often are you feeding?

 

[wentom7]

Two times a day.

 

[TheTodd]

Wow...that is a lot , especially having a trigger that is such a sloppy eater (at least my Picasso is). I would try feeding every other day. Let it get hungry and maybe that will trigger a feeding response (no pun intended).

 

[Gaynor90]

I would try an stick feed him not free feed.. An keep it near him.. An yea massive water changes could stress him especialll when salt water level fluctuate like that

 

[wentom7]

Good ideas. Thanks, he's really taken to picking Nori off the tang clip. So I put a tad of prawn in it and occasionally he'll pick at that too. (a bite every other day or so, but when I watched him he spit it out later, hoping it was just too big.) I'll try anything right now. Looks pretty thin. Yeah, he doesn't eat at all when the others are fed. Thanks for the input!