Emperor Angel Not Eating

[Kipps]

I have a 190 gallon FOWLR and my pride and joy 12 a 11 inch Emperor Angel which I have had for about 5 years. He was about 4 inches when I got him
.
The last 3-4 days he has stopped eating – usually he leads the pack to the food. He is swimming around as normal although he seems to spend more time hiding behind the rocks, or stuck up in a cave.

I normally feed twice a day and vary diet between frozen brine and Mysis, Rod’s food and good quality flake food. I also feed nori every 2-3 days.

I checked water PH yesterday and it was around 8.0 – also did fifteen gal water change.

Any help or comments would be appreciated.

Rodd

 

[Herefishyfishy]

What is filtration system, how much live rock, and how often do you change how much water?
As a side note, angels/tangs should have a much higher proportion of green food. Mixed seaweed/ fish and inverts such as clams, squid, oysters, chopped whole shrimp are vastly better than brine/mysis which offers poor nutrition.

 

[Kipps]

I have a large bio filter and a superior skimmer which I installed about 6 months ago - I also feed with frozen formulae 1&2 - so they get a really good variety of food - Rod's Food also contains a good mix of inverts that you can see from their website. http://rodsfood.com/predator.html

I have about 100lbs of live rock and live sand – I do a water change every two weeks – one week 25 gal and 2nd week 15 gal.

Can one by whole shrimp from Safeway and feed chopped up?

I have attached a short video of my tank that I took about 3 weeks ago.

Thanks for your help.

Rodd

 

[Krish]

I'll move to Lee's forum to see if he has any tips or info he could add here.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

On a glance, the tank has way too much bioload for the amount of filtration you have. Dr office type artificial type systems often have problems due to stress from lack of stability. Nitrates and ammonia go up and down along with the PH and Alk. I would add more rock, some live plants and a better mix of food. Fresh shrimp and other seafoods from the grocery is fine. Rods is good stuff. The wider variety of natural foods, the better

 

[NC2WA]

I agree with Mike, not enough LR for filtration.

Are you getting at least one cup full of skimmate from your skimmer weekly? if not, then your skimmer is not doing its job.

what are your water parameters?
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrates
Salinity
pH

 

[leebca]

The fish may be in a slump or it may have come to the end of its captive life. These large Angels can live up to 30 years in captivity, but only under the best of conditions which include:
1) proper food
2) proper quantity of food
3) enough space
4) exceptional water quality, and
5) proper environment.

If the fish is in a slump it may come around to eating again. Just keep offering food. There is no 'magic food' that will get the fish to eat. If it doesn't want to eat, it doesn't matter whether or not it is its usual food or something different.

You can try a massive water change. Over 80%. If you can't manage a massive water change, then forget it. If you can, then follow these guidelines: How to Make a Successful Water Change.

 

[Kipps]

Thanks for all your comments they are greatly appreciated.

On the way home last night I purchased a live oyster and a couple of prawns (raw) from our local Safeway. I chopped these up and threw them into the tank. The Emperor tucked into this meal with vigor and seems far more energetic this morning - so he probably was in a slump. I will feed the same twice a week.

I agree that my bio load is probalya bit stressed but I have not lost a fish in three years, so I must be doing something right. However, I think I could part with my Longnosed Butterfly (6"0), my Pinktail Triger (7.5") and my Coral Beauty Angel (2.5") - I was given the Coral Beauty free from Barrier Reef as he had previously had HILT, which is still prevelant- if anyone is prepared to come by (I live in Newcastle between Renton and Bellevue) - they can have them for free.

The protein skimmer is cleaned every 2 days and normally has about 2" of waste in the container - so this would probably be a full container once a week.

Again, thanks for the comments.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Glad to hear your pet is back to eating :>)
Any chance you could add a large sump and fill it with live rock?