Need Help!!!

[dealinfoam]

Hi everyone. I picked up my first blue spot on Friday and am having trouble geting him to eat. I made sure at the LFS that he was eating both pellet and mysis, but he has been in the tank now for 4 days and I have yet to see him eat. I have tried live brine, as well as frozen mysis and spirulina mixed with cyclopeeze. He his hidden in a burrow at the rear corner of my tank, so I have been target feeding him with a turkey baster, but even then he will not eat and my mystery wrasse gets its.

Do you have any ideas on how i can "trick" him into eating? Also, my sand bed is a little too shallow for him and I was thinking of adding sand to the side of the tank he has been staying on. Do you guys have any tricks for doing so without having the water become all cloudy?

I have read through just about every post in this club and it has been extremely helpful. It is a beautiful fish and i want to do everything in my power to make him happy!

Thanks!

[lcstorc]

Have you given him lots of rubble to build with? I know when I first got Sunshine she went on a food strike until I gave her more and larger rubble. It is amazing how large of a piece of rock or shell they use to build with.
Mine will eat pretty much any meaty food.

[dealinfoam]

No i have not, I have been more on a mission to get him to eat. How do you make the rubble? i have some LR in the sump. Should I take it out and smash it with a hammer?

Also,, any ideas on how I can make my sand bed deeper without removint the 120#'s of LR in the display?

[lcstorc]

That is exactly what I do. Be sure that whatever you use to smash the rock does not have any chemicals etc. Sunshine and Moonshine both use anything from a small piece of crushed coral to pieces quite a bit larger than they are. They also tend to like a variety of sizes of sand. Basically they need to build and move to keep themselves happy. Sunshine has always stayed in the same part of the tank but she pretty much tears it down a re-builds almost daily. I have no idea where she has stashed all of the rock I have given her over time. They also like shells of various sizes. If you get them from the beach or something then be sure to sterilize them.
As far as adding the sand, just go ahead and add it. You can add it to the bottom through a piece of PVC to try to minimize the sand storm but you will have some no matter what you do.

[dealinfoam]

Well, I am gonna go smash some rock right now and see what happens. How much, in weight, do you think I should add?

Oh, and thanks for your help!

[dealinfoam]

Should i place the rubble in the front of the display where he fisrt started to burrow, or where he is at now with no signs of burrowing?

[lcstorc]

I would put the rubble pretty much anywhere/everywhere. Mine move it to where they want it regardless. Just try not to drop it on their head (though I have and it has been fine.)
As far as the weight, I have absolutely no clue. I try to do lighter pieces of rock and shells and smaller pieces of more dense rock but really it just depends on what is handy.
I add a handfull or so every other week.

[dealinfoam]

Thanks for your help. I just got home from work and he is out in the open next to the front glass, but still wont eat. I hope he is not starving himself. Put the rubble in last night, but doesnt look like he has touched it.

[lcstorc]

That doesn't sound good.
All you can do is try to reduce stress as much as possible. Try dimming the lights and reducing movement around the tank if possible.
Hopefully he will perk up and find/build a home.

[Neptunesghost]

How deep is your sand bed? My jawfish wasn't happy with less than 4-6 inches in which to burrow.

[bluespotjawfish]

He can go a few weeks without eating. If he hasn't found a burrow yet, he is not likely to eat. Focus on getting him settled in rather than feeding. Everyone elses recommendations to reduce stress are good.


Mysis and krill are the first foods that I would recommend. How are you feeding it? Some like to be spot fed and others do not. Make sure it floats by him and he doesn't have to go find it.