What's the Longest a New Fish Can Go Without Eating?

[steve888]

I just added a yellow clown goby to my 14G BioCube which is currently inhabited by a sharknose goby and my CUC. I added him 36 hours ago and so far I haven't seen him eat anything yet after two feedings. At what point should I become concerned?

The sharknose isn't known to be an aggressive species and I haven't seen any aggression between the two but he is a bit over an inch long whereas the clown goby is about 2/3 of an inch and pretty skinny.

Maybe the clown goby is still a bit stressed out from going from the distributor in GA to the fish store in VA to my home in VA (over the course of the last few weeks I suppose)? Or maybe he's intimidated by the sharknose goby?

[James77]

Give him a few days....after a week I would start getting worried. It could be he is eating leftovers on the floor as well. What is his behavior like? Is he still hiding or is he actively swimming? You could also try a differnt food like frozen brine or mysis....I have had many fish that will totally ignore some food, even flake.

[Sk8r]

Cyclopeeze or frozen mysis

[steve888]

Originally Posted by James77

Give him a few days....after a week I would start getting worried. It could be he is eating leftovers on the floor as well. What is his behavior like? Is he still hiding or is he actively swimming? You could also try a differnt food like frozen brine or mysis....I have had many fish that will totally ignore some food, even flake.

He's very thin but appears relatively active. For the first 12 hours or so he hid but now he is perching on the sand, live rock, and back wall of the cube. Not swimming a whole lot but he's a perching fish afterall. He's quite thin in the middle of his body on the bottom (directly behind his head). There's a definite indentation in that area rather than it being flat. He's probably just had a tough few weeks and hasn't been eating too much. I've tried Rod's Food and some flake so far but I'll also try some brine shrimp and mysis that I have in the freezer. You're probably, right, however...he is tiny and could be finding some leftovers in the sand.

Thanks for your comments and feedback!

[steve888]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Cyclopeeze or frozen mysis

Thanks...I have mysis and brine shrimp that I'll try next (he didn't go for the flake or Rod's Food...not yet anyway).

[dzfish17]

Ive had some fish from LA go over a week before eating... when he's hungry enough he'll eat.

[SushiGirl]

If he arrived that skinny, he may not make it. Usually once they hit a certain point they're beyond saving. I hope that's not the case here & he eats soon. I would try the foods Sk8tr suggested.

[dzfish17]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

If he arrived that skinny, he may not make it. Usually once they hit a certain point they're beyond saving. I hope that's not the case here & he eats soon. I would try the foods Sk8tr suggested.

I was thinking the same thing but didnt want to sound negative... hope youre not right too.

[SushiGirl]

I almost didn't post it for that very reason, but felt they should know so in the future they know what to avoid when purchasing fish. Hopefully it will take to one of the foods offered & make it through!

[steve888]

I'll try the mysis or brine shrimp tonight after work...I didn't see him this morning anywhere. I should've done a better job of checking him out at the LFS before buying (I'm a newbie and have only been doing this for about 8 months). It wasn't until I got him home that I really saw how skinny he was.

Oh well, lesson learned and fingers crossed! Thanks again

[steve888]

SushiGirl/dzfish17:

Welp, you two were both right. I woke up this morning and found the yellow clown goby lying flat on his side in the sand.

After brining him home last Tuesday, I never saw him eat a thing and he swam pretty sparingly (I tried Rod's Food, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and flake). The prior yellow clown goby jumped out a few weeks ago so that's the reason I wanted to get another one. They are very spunky fish with a lot of personality and swim quite a bit (considering they're a perching fish) so that's why I wanted a second one...very colorful, too (bright yellow).

I should've done a better job of checking him out at the LFS. It wasn't until I got home that I realized how thin he was (he had a pretty deep indentation on his belly right behind his head and it was obvious he was quite emaciated). I'm really surprised my LFS sold him in that condition but maybe they were hoping he would recover. They actually have a pretty good reputation in the area for being ethical and honest (as LFS's go anyway).

Anyway, now that I've had two fish die in the last three weeks it kinda makes me wonder about the ethical/philosophical aspect of fish keeping. If we left these fish in their natural habitat, they could live for years...or they might be eaten by a predator 3 days after coming into the world...who knows. I'm not going to stop being a fish keeper (in fact, I'm probably going to upgrade to a 50G system in a few weeks) but it just kinda makes me feel a little guilty!

[jasin401]

ive also heard of soaking food in garlic juice/sauce as a home remedy food enticer.

sorry for the losses, dont get discouraged! and keep asking questions

[SushiGirl]

I hear you on feeling guilty sometimes. Very sorry it didn't make it.

[James77]

Originally Posted by steve888

Anyway, now that I've had two fish die in the last three weeks it kinda makes me wonder about the ethical/philosophical aspect of fish keeping. If we left these fish in their natural habitat, they could live for years...or they might be eaten by a predator 3 days after coming into the world...who knows. I'm not going to stop being a fish keeper (in fact, I'm probably going to upgrade to a 50G system in a few weeks) but it just kinda makes me feel a little guilty!

Yeah, it does stink, but it happens. We all have the best intentions. I like to think they in a way are getting a better home free(hopefully) of predators with good amounts of food. Life in the wild is no real fun either....

I usually buy from LiveAquaria, but the cut off on free shipping can be steep at $225. When I do buy locally, I make sure it is a plump active fish. I ask the owner when it came in, and how it has been eating. Even then, i have asked they hold it. Unfortunately LFS are not always able to give guarantees, so I put as much risk as I can on their end before I take the fish home.

[steve888]

Originally Posted by jasin401

ive also heard of soaking food in garlic juice/sauce as a home remedy food enticer.

sorry for the losses, dont get discouraged! and keep asking questions

Thanks...I'll remember this for the next fish I get.

[steve888]

Originally Posted by James77

Yeah, it does stink, but it happens. We all have the best intentions. I like to think they in a way are getting a better home free(hopefully) of predators with good amounts of food. Life in the wild is no real fun either....

I usually buy from LiveAquaria, but the cut off on free shipping can be steep at $225. When I do buy locally, I make sure it is a plump active fish. I ask the owner when it came in, and how it has been eating. Even then, i have asked they hold it. Unfortunately LFS are not always able to give guarantees, so I put as much risk as I can on their end before I take the fish home.

Thanks for the pointers...I've only been keeping fish for 8 months so I still have a lot to learn. I'll be more careful next time before I actually get out my credit card and ask the same questions you do. I've heard good things about Live Aquaria but I also believe in supporting my LFS so I'm kinda conflicted when it comes to deciding who to buy from. So many fish stores in my area have gone out of business in the past few years. I like the idea of being able to do everything online but it's also nice to have a real physical store and staff where you can go to ask questions.

Anyway, yes, I agree...the animal kingdom can be a very cruel and violent place so perhaps keeping fish is not such a bad thing.