help with feeding CBB

surgeonfish · #1 11-11-2007, 07:35 PM

Well it is 21 days today. After 2 weeks not eating I finally found some blood worms locally and he likes them. I have been adding garlic and Selcon. I don't know if he would thrive on just blood worms? I am going to try tubifex worms next. I am scared to move him into my main tank with several damsels and tangs as he likely will starve if he only eats worms that are lying on the sand.

michika · #2 11-12-2007, 12:45 PM

You can try adding in other food stuffs to the bloodworms and serving them togther, to see if that illicits a response. Sometimes you can get fish to acknowledge that one item is food, and generalize that knowledge to another item (seeing it as food), by serving them together.

Have you tried mixing in any dry foods, such a cyclopses (sp?), pellet food, etc.?

Der_Iron_Chef · #3 11-12-2007, 01:15 PM

I'm just wondering if maybe adding it to the main tank would actually improve its eating habits. I know by watching some of my fish, that they learn what/how to eat by observing the other fish eating (e.g. my chromis are now constantly pecking at the seaweed clip). If it was eating frozen brine shrimp while in a "community" setting, perhaps it will do so again once amongst other fish who are doing the same.

Just a thought!

surgeonfish · #4 11-13-2007, 03:03 AM

Thanks for the advice. There is also a few green chromis in the tank that eat everything. The CBB watches them eat but doesn't seem to increase his desire to try these foods. I have tried frozen and flake cyclops without success. I will try adding different foods at the same time as the blood worms.

Delphinus · #5 11-14-2007, 06:36 AM

Have you tried an oyster or clam (live oyster or live clam from the supermarket if you have one that sells that sort of thing, it sure is fun going up and asking for "one oyster please"

)? Or a mussel ..

I buy about 4 or 5 at a time, throw them in my sump, and about once a week I'll crack one open and throw it in the main tank.

Probably not great for water quality, but .. well, at least he's eating something this way..

surgeonfish · #6 11-14-2007, 06:52 AM

I have tried cracking open a clam with no success. I was too embarrassed to ask for just one clam, so I bought half a dozen instead. Maybe I will try muscles next.
Thanks

Delphinus · #7 11-14-2007, 07:01 AM

I hear ya. Now I more or less do it just to see the looks on their faces.

Actually sometimes they'll just give you the oyster since they'll weigh all off about 0.000001 grams and that's not enough to register on the weigh scale. I've had it happen a couple of times, but I felt kinda bad about doing that so I make a point to ask for 4 or 5 oysters. The oysters seem to stay alive (not always, but usually) in the sump at reef temps, whereas clams and mussels seem to die off pretty quick.

Once, at Superstore, I had my son with me, at the time he was 1, and the lady thought I was asking for the oyster for him to play with. I was sorta too dumbstruck for words. "Ummm .... yeah, I'm giving my ONE YEAR OLD an oyster to play with. Of course that's what I want it for!" ... "No, no, it's for my fish .. no, my fish at home, oh never mind.." But she gave the oyster to me for free .....