New Clown not eating

[crazy cajun]

i bought a clown 5 days ago and he keeps to one side of the tank and have not really seen him eat anything, still looks ok just getting worried he is not swimming around the tank much and not eating, any advice? i do feed variety frozen foods soaked with garlic.

 

[dcantucson]

Seems like you're doing all you can. Not really much you can do except wait it out and hope he begins eating soon. I had a Tang that went over two weeks before he began eating food I put into the tank, but he was grazing on the rocks all along.

 

[Bifferwine]

Was he eating at the store before you bought him? If so, what? You could try feeding him some of that.

 

[wontonflip]

Garlic soak might help. Maybe try turning off all flow in the tank for a few minutes, and drop food right by him so it floats by his mouth. Do both.

 

[crazy cajun]

Did all of the above already !!!! i guess just sit and wait hopefully he starts eating

 

[dcantucson]

Sit and wait that's about all you can do once you've exhausted everything else. Sometimes they just won't eat. :(

 

[wontonflip]

Yeah, waiting is all you can do. No point qt'ing him, as he's already stressed now. My very first clowns did not eat for a few days, but eventually came around.

 

[yote]

From what I've seen of clowns,it sounds like you may have bought a sick one.
While its fairly normal for a new fish to go a few days without eating,clowns usually settle right in.

 

[kwsm]

+1 Yote and Biff


If you didn't ask to see him eat at the store, I would suggest to make sure you ask to see it next time. I'm sure almost all of us learned the hard way.

 

[the reef kid]

+1 everyone. The absolute best thing to do when buying a fish (that you've researched, of course) is to make sure that it's eating at the store. If it doesn't, don't buy, simple as that. If it does eat at the store, and doesn't when you get home, then that's different.

 

[crazy cajun]

thanks for the good advice ill be sure to make them feed what im about to purchase next time. he is still hanging in their i guess time will tell.

 

[crazy cajun]

whats the best way to catch a yellow tail damsel i noticed that he swims close to the new clown kinda intimidating him dont see any fin damage on the clown but im wondering if the damsel is intimidating him to stay on that one side of the tank maybe thats why he is not eating

 

[crazy cajun]

Caught the Damsel with a water bottle made into a fish trap and put him in the refugium can i leave him in their or should i bring him back to my LFS ?? any pro's and cons of leaving him in the refugium? will he eat my chaeto?

 

[yote]

You got lucky.:mrgreen:
I'd just return him to the LFS.

 

[Bifferwine]

He's not going to eat the chaeto.

 

[crazy cajun]

with him in their will it affect the refugium filtering qualities??

 

[Bifferwine]

No. No different than if he was in the display tank. Is the fuge 30 gallons like your signature says? If so, that will be enough space for him. Make sure any pump intakes are protected so he doesn't get sucked in and chopped up.

 

[crazy cajun]

yes he is protected by eggcrate that keeps the chaeto protected , i guess ill just have to throw him some food in their time to time