My male percula

[carlos_fb]

I noticed that my male Percula is not looking all that great. He is eating and behaving normally but some of his fins look kind of chewed up. In the past I've seen the female bothering him but not lately.

Is there something I can do to help him?

 

[Jim Hart]

does he stand up to the female?

 

[Jim Hart]

the female will go after him and he should start to shimmy and secumb to her. if not they will fight till hes dead or becomes the female himseff.

 

[Jim Hart]

just my observation.

 

[carlos_fb]

No, he doesn't go after her. He is always the submissive one of the pair and lets her know she is the boss all the time.

 

[leebca]

That is Mother Nature's way. If you find it too disturbing to watch this, you might want to reconsider having a pair. Some females interact better than others and part of it is a matter of female fish personality. Two fish doesn't always mean there is the 'correct' formula for a mated pair.

As noted in above posts, this may be a mis-match.

 

[carlos_fb]

The thing is that it does not look like she did all of it. His fins look kind of faded on the orange part.

 

[leebca]

The fish could be succumbing to a bacterial infection. That happens when the water is high in organics and/or the fish isn't getting its proper nutrition.

 

[carlos_fb]

Well now that you mention it, my skimmer hasn't been working properly for a while now. Besides obviously fixing that problem, is there anything else that I can do for him? he eats very well, I mix a few frozen foods and add vitamins to it.

 

[leebca]

The fish is an omnivore and needs greens in its diet. The supplement is good. You can get a lot more detailed information here on the omnivore diet: Fish Health Through Proper Nutrition.

 

[carlos_fb]

Wonderful article Lee. What is the best source of greens in your opinion?

Thanks a lot!

 

[leebca]

Dried seaweed (from the ocean). There is also Spirulina which is a micro algae that is very nutritious. Find prepackaged foods with Spirulina in it, BUT you want a high quantity of Spirulina. Many foods contain some Spirulina, but few have as much as an omnivore really needs. You can try feeding blanched broccoli flowers on rare occasions. Any other land vegetable doesn't contain the right kinds of fats or an insufficient quantity of fat for our marine fishes.

 

[carlos_fb]

Lee, would you recommend any particular brand for Dried seaweed? Also, what do you think of this Spirulina?

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...rated_For_Fish__Corals_Cube_Tray~vendor~.html

 

[leebca]

Try all the algae you have available to you.

If the manufacturer lists the ingredients according to the largest to smallest quantity, then I'd say that food fits the bill fairly well. A lot of sea animals in it though.

 

[carlos_fb]

I went out and checked all of my LFS and the only Spirulina I could find was in flakes. Is that ok or should I try to order the frozen one online?

 

[leebca]

In general, I'd put flakes and pellets on the bottom of the foods-to-feed-marine-fish list. Favor the frozen. If you have to buy online, some of the shipping charges can offset any attractive price. Shop around by posting the name of the food in Google and see who else sells it and the cost of shipping. It is usually better to buy a few frozen foods at one time, since sometimes the shipping price is the same for a little food as well as a little more food.

 

[carlos_fb]

I spent 1 hour online looking for frozen spirulina and I could not find any. How about buying spirulina powder from www.brineshrimpdirect.com and adding it to the food?

 

[leebca]

I wouldn't do that unless you start making your own fish foods (see: Home Made Fish Foods).

Go with the one you found. Sometimes sponsors here at RF have frozen food sales and offerings. Check them out.

 

[Damsel13]

What about spirulina stuffed brine shrimp? Is there such a thing? Frozen I mean.

 

[leebca]

Absolutely. There are HUFA, Vitamin, and/or Spirulina fed Brine Shrimp. That is the only BS I recommend. Feeding ordinary BS is a waste of 'stomach space.' Still, I would not make even enriched BS a standard diet. They are not nutritious enough, even when enriched or fed these things. Maybe use these kinds of BS for 20% or less of the total meals fed to marine fishes that are omnivores.

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