Longnose / Big Longnose butterfly not eating? help

[sighthoundlover]

I bought a Longnose ( or Big Longnose butterfly-can't really tell) and put it in my quarantine tank for a little over two weeks - but it was just not eating anything! :? On rare occassions I would see it take a tiny, tiny remnant of food but the rest would be ignored and I'd have to scoop it out of the tank. :x I started to think that maybe it was a Big Longnose :idea: because I had another Longnose in the past who ate really well and I read where the Big Longnose was more difficult to feed. Anyway, I decided after two weeks to put her in the main tank on the theory that it was a healthier tank than the quarantine and because I read that the Big Longnose did better in tanks with lots of live rock and amphipods. :?: I don't know if I have amphipods or not but I thought she might fare better in my 75 gallon because it's well-established. She's been there now 3 days, is still thin, but looks happy as a clam, picks on the rocks constantly and still does not eat any of the food I feed the others (I only feed frozen San Francisco Bay Brand multi pack - brine shrimp, marine cuisine, squid and emerald entree). I want to know if there's something else I should be doing - if I don't see her eat the food I give her but she's picking at the live rock, can I assume she's getting food? Am I worrying for no reason

 

[Anonymous]

It should eat live brine. Try starting with that and adding a bit of flake or frozen food at the same time. Be persistent and do it every time. Eventually it'll figure it out. Frozen mysis will probably work too.

 

[rayjay]

In addition to live adult brine shrimp, you could try clams.
Go to the local fish market and buy saltwater clams that you can store in your sump. Cut open one and put half in the fridge and half in the tank. It may take a bit of time but he should feed of it when he gets used to it being in the tank.

 

[fungia]

clams always does the trick for me too. i think someone about the smell gets fish all excited and hungry. live brine works too, the wiggly little guys are irresitable to fish.

 

[Tarasco]

My longnose goes nuts for live brine. It's probably getting nutrition from the stuff it picks off the rocks as well.

As for figuring out if yours is a standard longnose, or a big one, the standard ones have eyes that are black on the top half, white on the bottom. The entire eye is generally black on big ones.

 

[Anonymous]

I've also had good success with live brine and clams. Try to get it on frozen mysis as soon as possible as they are better for the fish.