Q: New fish not eating

[Jamesthe500]

This is a question from a 9 year old student at Oak Hill Montessori school. She asks, "Is it normal for a pajama cardinal fish to be scared and do we have to make him eat? Because we have had him for a week."

[This was a donated fish from Bill (wee willie). He is a beauty but tends to stay in one spot when people come around and he doesn't make a move to eat during feeding time. He seems healthy enough otherwise.]

[acolwel]

I'm tagging along on this one to see what the "cardinal" keepers say. I have three bengai cardinals and two of them are slugs when it comes to eating anything other than frozen or live food. The third eats almost anything. It will even eat the sheets of algae meant for tangs\angels. -Adam

[acharpenter]

My cardinals are pretty shy and light eaters as well but....

If this fish were directly from an LFS I would suggest trying to feed it something live - like blackworms.

If it eats the blackworms, then eventually you could attempt to wean him off of live and switch him over to frozen and such.

(I suggest blackworms as my 2 huge cardinals are so/so about everything else I feed but they go CRAZY and totally come out for blackworms)

Since he came from Bill - your best bet is to ask Bill what his feeding paramaters were - like what types of food, when etc

[fivesmallworlds]

My pajama cardinals were always VERY mellow in nature. They don't swim frantically like many other fish but rather stay in one spot suspended in the tank twitching their fins. Has it eaten anything?

[wee willie]

I had it for over 3 years and it eats flakes and frozen.It may just need to adjust.

[guy9smiley2]

mine float around all lazy all day, feeding time they grab a shrimp or 2 and mind their own business and seem perfectly healthy. just lazy :p

[hypertech]

Sometimes with shy fish, it helps to shut off the circulation pumps so the food doesn't fly around as fast.

[kensilvey]

Heck, I had 3 paja cards stay behind my reef wall for about 2 MONTHS before they started to come out and feed. I am sure they were chowing down pods and the likes during that time though. They are housed with some large tangs.

[Jamesthe500]

We tried turning off the powerhead during feeding yesterday (it just so happens that his hiding spot is right below the powerhead, so no food ever drifts there). Food drifted into his area and he ate some brine shrimp and pellet food. Thanks for all your advice, we'll keep him fed!

[Tropical Aquarist]

Remember that they can be nocturnal too so feeding a little at night might help.

[Got2luv3mReeferZ]

keep in mind that although some of these fishes have been captive bred, they still possess the genetic traits of their wild caught ancestors.. with that thought in mind remember that in the wild these fishes can go for weeks without eating due to all sorts or reasons regarding mother nature.

my personal experiences with my two wild caught TP's were quite similar... got me worried sick (Ask Peng, I was a wreck)... once fully aclimated and use to my tank they eventually and gradually started to eat. Took my TP's month and half to come around.

Also, you can try adding Garlic additives to the food... lots of people recomend this.... said to have it's beneficial values.
My 2 cents and a half :gay1: ....

[liono]

My experience with cardinals.

-they are very skittish (shy)
-are not as aggressive when food is introduced
-come out at night more

How i feed mine:
-feed BLACKWORMS (they will eat these up like crazy, will even challenge larger fish due to their crave for these worms)
-feed home made frozen (clams/shrimp/oyster/etc) mix, they will also go after these
-feed mysis shrimp

-I have never seen mine go after pellets or flake before just FYI

-If he does not eat at all, stomach becomes sunken in, then quarantine and feed alone, in low flow, low light conditions

good luck:goldfish: