Blue Trigger that wont eat??

[chris1121]

I purchased a medium sized male blue throated trigger fish on Tues of this week.. I acclimated him for about an hour and introduced him to my tank. He began swimming instantly and really didn't hide at all. He appears to be healthy and is out and about all day. The problem I'm having is he's not accepting any type of food. I've tried formula one, freeze dried krill, shrimp and different types of carnivore pellets. No luck at all, hes getting noticeably thinner and I'm concerned hes not going to make it.(its been 6 days with no food) Any help in getting him to eat would be greatly appreciated. I have a 72 reef and his only tank mates are a clown, 4 yellow tails and a yellow tang.

salinity 1.025
temp 79
cal 420
mag 1200
dkh 8
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
amm 0

[Frankie]

Try Large frozen mysis shrimp. Sometimes it takes time for them to get use to there new enviroment. Relax. he can go quite a while without food and also might be feeding at night. How many fish in the system and are they feeding well? Other fish feeding will help trigger (no pun intended ) him feeding.

[chris1121]

Thanks.... That does make me feel better, his tank mates are a yellow tang ,4 yellow tails, and a clown.. They all are very good eaters. The yellow tang would literally eat all day if I let him. I will try your suggestion.

[cheeks69]

What condition was he in when you purchased the fish ? Was he eating at the LFS ? Was he thin or robust ? How did the Yellow Tang take to the Trigger, is he chasing or nipping at the Trigger ?

I agree with Frankie, try mysis shrimp. My fish never really liked krill and if the Formula One your using has gel binders that can be a problem for picky fish.

[DaveK]

You might also try crab that you get from the seafood shop. It should be raw. Crabs are often a triggers native food.

You can also try live brine shrimp. It's worthless as a food, but as something to get a fish to eat it's good.

Another trick to try is to mount a toothpick on a dowel, and then use this tool to waive the food in front of the trigger.

Also look for possible disease problems. Feeding triggers is usually restricted to keeping up with their appetites. You may have a sick fish.

[chris1121]

Thanks for all the good info guys. The trigger was fat and very active at the LFS. I monitored him for about a week before buying him. He is still very active and there is no bullying at all by the yellow tang. They follow each other around quite a bit. I did notice last night that the trigger is showing signs of lymphocycts(spelling?) on his fins. I've dealt with this before in other fish and it never really seems to effect the fish at all. I'm going shopping for different types of food today, I hope I can find something he will eat. Thanks all.

Chris

[lcstorc]

My New Fish Won't Eat! Tips

[chris1121]

Just a quick update. I bought fresh shrimp from king kullen, cut it into small pieces and attached it to a dowel. He finally ate! What a spoiled brat! I don't even get shrimp for dinner!


Chris

[nightfire76]

glad to hear its eating,fish are funny where they wont eat for say a week and then itll pig out for months if you let it lol