white banded possum wrasse wont eat

[kizanne]

mndfreeze also it probably won't be forever. I have trained many 'difficult' fish to frozen but it takes time. My last mandarin was very resistance I was very worried it took her probably 4 months but now she sucks down the mysid. but until then I just keep adding pods, amphipods and using a live brine feeder and feeding in the beginning anything and everything trying to get her to eat. Then I broke out the live brine feeder and just threw in mysid. Can't tell you how happy I was when she started putting on weight and heading to the feeding spot (which is hidden). I suspected, hoped and then just a few days ago saw her actually eat the frozen I had suspected. That is always a great feeling.

When I got my dragonface pipefish, same thing all three now eat frozen.

It might take a while but just keep being patient and consistent and eventually he'll probably come around.

Also you can clean up uneaten food after about 30 minutes to save on bioload if you are worried.

[mndfreeze]

Thanks. I'll start looking into culturing them I guess. I really didn't expect or want a fish that was going to be that much of a pain in the *** lol. Though I guess if I'm going all the way to culture pods I can get myself a damn mandarin.

Are there any good methods for training a fish like this? I know for mandarins you sort of lock the food into a spot with them, but this guy moves pretty fast if he gets scared. he doesn't just float around the bottom and stuff. I think if I was to try to put him in a breeder box inside the tank he would stress and not eat anyway. He usually darts to the back of the tank even when I walk up to it.

He is getting thinner also I think. Now that I know where to look in the upper back part behind the head it does seem to be going down a bit so I think he might not have been eating at all until I put those pods in.

If anyone has any ideas/methods I can use to try to train him on frozen brine/mysis I'd love to hear it.

[norfolkgarden]

Paul B has a mandarin/possum wrasse/pipe fish feeder. He has a thread going for his 40 year old tank. He is moving to a condo in the next few weeks so is pretty busy right now.
Google Paul B mandarin feeder.
It is the first thing that comes up. I don't seem to be having very good luck posting thread urls.

I'm sure a lot of other people have the possum wrasse, but his is the only one I ever hear about and he is very successful with his.
Been reading about them and looking for information on them for years.
Have always liked them, but they are even more cryptic and non-aggressive then some of the stuff I want even more.

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[kizanne]

yes my brine feeder is modeled after Paul B's and probably the easier/cheapest way to keep a hard eater until they got for the frozen.

As far as training. I try to feed in the same hidden spot every day. Because I know new fish are shy I don't try to train them to come out front. I also usually turn off the tank this both signals them that food is coming but also for pickers like a mandarin and possum wrasse(just basing this on wrasse behavior never had a possum wrasse) they don't have to chase down their food. Be consistent.

When using the feeder I also feed the frozen and wait 10-20 minutes before I fill the feeder. I usually start with a variety of foods bloodworms and frozen brine and/or eggs seems to be the first thing they go for. I've heard but not tried caviar or eggs for sushi. I do know that my current hard to train mandarin loved fresh seahorse eggs but didn't seem to like the frozen as much. They make frozen amphipods so if your LFS will order you some of those might be worth a try.

Don't know where you live and what all is available but wrasse like small crustaceans. if any of your buddy's or the lfs recently got in any live rock then small rock crabs might really be something he'll go for. He's eyeing those hermits to see if he can get one. shrimp larva or small shrimp. live mysid. you know you can hatch brine in a little over 24 hours. Petco and such have brine shrimp eggs for $8.Try chopped clam or oyster or scallop and make sure a little juice goes in the tank with the flesh to spread the smell(fresh from the deli/seafood counter). One only cost like a buck and will feed your wrasse for a week if he shows interest.

Remember it would be rare for this to be a life long eating habit. If you look around you can probably find things that aren't as expensive as pods. I breed pods but I never plan on breeding enough pods for a life time supply for an animal. I always go with the plan of switching them over. It just takes some of them longer. I have lost a few along the way (20 years) but most I lose are within a day or two of getting a half starved one from the fish store and hoping I can save it.

Over the years I've trained multiple mandarins to mysid/brine/pellets. Ruby reds, and pipefish. I don't use the feeder as much as Paul B. I usually break it out when i have a 'new' thing to train as it attracts almost everything. I have even seen Giant cardinals chasing the baby brine that have escaped the feeder. the jerky little movement draws their attention. I am currently using it daily because my newest mandarin just started the mysid within this week. And my pipefish seem to love it, so since I"m already hatching brine for my baby seahorses I'm giving that tank treats. But when I don't need to hatch baby brine I don't usually use the feeder unless I"m trying to train a fussy eater. The feeder also isn't best long term larger fish like a 3" mandarin have to eat a lot of brine to just maintain weight.

[mndfreeze]

Awesome, thanks guys!

Just an update, he finally decided the bloodworms I've been offering are up to snuff enough to eat, or he decided he didn't want to starve anymore. I've been trying different frozen mixed foods with no success this entire time but every time I put them in the tank he does get excited and chases them around. He's mouthed and spit out quite a few brine shrimp, never touched a single mysis. Eyeballs pellets but never bites, follow flake around giving in the stink eye but nothing. Tonight as I was putting in some mixed once again (for the goby and everyone else in the tank and HOPEFULLY him) he once again got excited, ate nothing, chased stuff around, etc but then right after I put in the frozen I threw some dried bloodworms in just to see. I noticed he always hangs out around my overflow section where stuff gets sucked into and pods like to live in the sponge right behind it.

So, he started popping bloodworms right off the surface. In spots they get stuck to the glass or whatever, he went after em and actually ate them. Woooo! He even chased a few blown around by my in korelia nano and snatched em out of the water column.

Not sure if he just needed to starve long enough, or make the association that my turkey baster and food coming into the tank meant he wasn't going to get tasty live pods delivered every time or what, but regardless I'm relieved.

I did already order a bunch of mixed pods with plans to grow them, so I'll probably still go that route at some point. Until then at least I won't have a starving fish!

Also, not sure if its normal for other fish, but he makes a very audible click when he eats. I actually thought it was my pistol shrimp popping off a few times when I heard it before, but after seeing him eat its apparent it's definitely him.

[norfolkgarden]

Fantastic! Glad it is working.

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[kizanne]

Glad you stuck with just keep trying variety. You might try soaking the dried bloodworms in selco or some enrichment for extra calories and fat. Help him bulk back up. Of course he may turn his nose up if you change his snack. Over time he'll decide to like some of that other food too. He's like a toddler when you introduce a new food (which in the wild he didn't eat this prepared crap) you can expect them to reject it for a while. But he'll keep seeing your other fish eat it and eventually decide he likes it too, or at least most do.

[mndfreeze]

Whats funny is these are the same dried bloodworms I had tried many times before lolol. He is very much like a damn toddler I swear. I fed tonight before coming to work and he went nuts for stuff. He does seem to have issues taking down the larger worms, he sucks them in, spits them out like 5 times then eventually gets it all the way down. I think his mouth cavity or however he swallows is small. I might need to break the worms up more before soaking.

He has started eating like a pig now though. It's like the lightbulb clicked on and he suddenly gets it that all that **** going in is food lol. He seems to spit out a LOT of stuff first and keep trying to eat the same piece over and over, including non-bloodworms in that mix, but he always eventually gets something.

Is any of that indicative of some sort of parasite or malformity?

[kizanne]

No.

Image each day someone made you a fresh medium rare steak with a few select fresh fruits and veggies. And you ate this every day.

Then a box van pulls up shoves you in, takes you someplace puts you in a small cage. Each day they throw in freeze dried beetles, worms, the occasional frozen raw pidgeon. Each day you get hungry and you pick up the beetles but you tell yourself you can't possible eat that. You even try one but it tastes bad. You see other prisoners eating the stuff. Each day you get excited when they come because you know there will be food but maybe today will be a steak. Eventually you realize something, it tastes like **** but you can live off it. You may even decide hey the beetles taste kinda like chicken and you always liked sushi! So now when they come you eat.

Not a problem just a totally different system.

He'll get more and more variety that he eats and after another week you can probably stop the worms and get him on something more traditional like mysid.

Most will come around if given variety and time and sometimes a little live food in the mean time. Most will not starve themselves willingly unless they are already starved when you buy them. In that case you might not have the time for them to see your variety and bite. That's why when I get a skinny one, or a known picky eater like a mandarin, I start with some live food (even a variety) and as close to what they eat in the wild to put some weight on them before the weaning begins.

But don't worry your wrasse if most likely perfectly formed. He's just getting used to the different foods and textures, swimming (or not swimming) habits and such. Also eating enough in one or two sittings instead of grazing all day.

[mndfreeze]

Ok thanks. It was mostly the bigger pieces he kept spitting out then eating 5 or 6 times I was concerned about. The pods I had ordered for him came today and of course he had a field day. He definitely isn't shy anymore.

Thanks everyone. That was a nerve wracking few weeks lol