Help Please: Red Scorpion Fish Not Eating

[piggles]

Firstly, hello to everyone....newbie here..

This is my first post so bear with me.
I have a small tank 60 gallons with a decent reef octopus protein skimmer, lots of live rock, some coral and 1 snow flake moray, 1 dwarf lion fish and 1 red scorpion fish. All living happily for 5 months. Previous to this they killed a scott fairy wrasse.

All chemicals are showing as very good except there is relatively high nitrate and I have that annoying red algae growing. Water changes are done every week with about 1/3rd of water changed each time so it is very clean. All fish seem happy and everyone is eating fine except the scorpion has completely stopped eating and cannot be tempted. he hasn't eaten in about 2 weeks now.

He has always been a very good eater and has fed off the the feeding stick since day one. We feed him frozen fish as he wont eat other types of food to date. I have seem him spending a lot of time near the power heads and his eyes are a tiny bit cloudy so i can assume he is or will be shedding him skin quite soon.

Mt question is how long can these guys go without food and what can i do to tempt him.....

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated..
Cheers,
Piggles

 

[Anonymous]

You could try live food? Get some ghost shrimp and gut load them (feed them some cyclopeeze or other nutritious food), then try to tempt him with that.

But, try to remove any uneaten food and detritus (fish poop). You need to get the nitrate down...

Also, you can try to siphon off the red algae (is it cyano?). Sometimes high levels of alga can consume the o2 at night....

 

[brandonberry]

I heard they eat better if you give them a back rub, LOL.

 

[piggles]

Thanks for the quick response

The algae is cyano and I am trying syphoning off every week and also cleaning the rocks as much as possible but it it a stubborn plant to be rid off properly.

Will continue to try and eradicate it however difficult with such dirty eaters.

Will try ghost shrimp and maybe some guppies however I have a strange feeling the lion fish will gobble everything before the scorpion has a chance at them.

We shall see?
P

 

[piggles]

He is asuch a lovely little fellow i have been tempted to pat him and have resisted to date.

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi and :welcome:

If you describe the setup a bit more (filtration, etc.) we can probably be more helpful. A few general comments that come to mind...

Cyano is typically a problem in tanks with high nutrient levels and poor circulation. From your description is sounds like the water quality is suffering and that may be playing a role in the loss of appetite and/or eye problem.

You might try upping the circulation. If you have a course substrate in the tank that might be trapping uneaten food and detritus which needs to be vacuumed out when you do the weekly water changes.

Also, make sure you have good test kits - might want to try some newer ones just to make sure your parameters are really OK. Also, if you're not using good source water that could be adding to your troubles.

 

[piggles]

Hi ChrisRD,
Thansk foir the extra info.
In terms of general set up tank is using a large reef octopus protein skimmer, two power heads at each end. I think this might be the problem i might need to add another int the middle to create a whirlpool effect. I think the main issue is that because i have caves for the moray then food and detritus gets caiught up in there and is difficult to feed.

Also there is course substrate which is a problem although this is vacuumed heavily during each water change.

I am buying all new test kits thi sweek to ensure everything is good. Water quality is very good and always from the same source so i am confident that is ok. I am going to start testing all water (tank and new) as a precaution though.

Let you know how things go.
Piggles