cichlidlover

(sorry this is on the damselfish section. there isn't one on anthias.) my purple anthias that I got three days ago still won't eat. they're really shy and every time you walk by the tank they hide. I'm giving them frozen brine shrimp often, but their so shy they won't come out of their house when I'm there. I try to stay hidden but by the time they come out the other fish have eaten all the food! PLEASE HELP!!!

nemo addict

try feeding with the lights turned off and mix food in garlic paste until the fish associate you with food ,, everytime i walk past my tank they think its time for feeding ,and as my tank is between the tv and kitchen and i drink a lot of tea they think its feeding time all day,, even my scarlet hawk fish thinks it now who is also shy and hides (until you walk past then his out perched on rocks for food) hope this helps

cichlidlover

I'll try.

travie

I wouldn't start to worry till it gets to about 2 weeks with you not seeing them eat. They could be eating copepods in the tank. Also try to find out what they were eating at the LFS, then try feeding them the samething.

cichlidlover

hmmm... well, I've set up a auto feeding rig that I built out ofa dixie cup and some string. I'm going to pull the string to dump the food when I see that they're out. I'm waiting for them to come out risht now. I've got brine shrimp,flake food, and algae meal in the cup all soake in garlic juice. hopefully that will work.

cichlidlover

It didn't work. it still scared them.They made huge improvement today though. when you walk by they are just caucious. but still when you open the lid, they hide.

au01st

See if any stores around you carry live brine shrimp. There's not much nutritional value in brine, but it's better than nothing.

cichlidlover

ya, the LFS near me carries them. i'm actually going this weekend sometime. the problem is, they are so busy hiding in a shell that i don't think they even see it.the only time they see the food is when i swirl it down to them with my hand and then they're so scared they don't even care.