Help! bird wrasse won't eat (1 Viewer)

[blackblaze11]

i bought a beautiful female bird wrasse from petco, still in the bag from the transhipper. Its been about a week and she won't eat anything i give her! I've tried omega one flakes, and then once in garlic juice, as well as frozen mysis plain and also in garlic, then finely chopped frozen shrimp. She is in a fully established 75 gal reef tank and hasnt bothered any of my corals, sps or softies. She is looking really thin, any ideas or suggestions? Thanks for any input!

 

[Scott]

rosy reds, ghost shrimp or saltwater guppies

 

[C3ntury]

Stick with ghost shrimp as they would be a more natural food item than fish, in general. The ghost shrimp should be fed mysis, enriched brine (selco, etc), or other nutrient rich food item before feeding so the wrasse receives actual vitamin supplementation.

 

[Guest]

Ghost Shrimp are definitely the best bet to start with and then ween her on to frozens. I had best luck with using tongs to put the live shrimp in, the fish then associates tongs with food. After the fish is more comfortable with the tongs they usually just attack the tongs allowing you to put enriched krill on them.

I have never had to do that with bird wrasses though, only with lions/ scorpions. Usually the wrasses catch on faster.

 

[BrianPlankis]

Have you tried putting the wrasse in a QT tank so it doesn't need to compete for food? That is one trick I've heard of before that sometimes works for fish that won't eat.

Brian