New Longnose Hawk Not Eating

[cdw79]

I've just about finished cycling my tank as of yesterday (0 ppm ammonia, .1 ppm Nitrite, 25 ppm Nitrate, 1.026 sg) and went to Reef eScape to pick up a fish to keep the cycle going. I specifically wanted to go there as I learned they strictly QT all their livestock, so I figured something from there would be particularly resilient.

 

I was hoping to snag a Bangaii Cardinal, Chromis, or something else that would be especially hardy, but they literally had either a $150 1" platinum clown or a long nose hawkfish. Since the latter has been on my stock list for some time now, I went with him. I know he has been through quarantine and had been for sale for at least a further week and a half, so I was comfortable he would be a decent candidate given my options. I also made sure the person working there fed him, and he ate pretty voraciously. 

 

Fastforward to now, and I've still not gotten him to eat much at all. I tried pellets with no luck, and also tried a good chunk of thawed RODI's. He ate one, after watching it a long time, but otherwise let the rest swirl around him. He seems to see it, and he'll sometimes swim out to have a closer look, but will turn right back around to perch on his rock or two that he's picked out as his territory. I tried again just now to feed him (bought him at 5:30 last night, tried feeding at 10, now tried again today) and nothing. He will sometimes show a little interest, but didn't go for any of the pieces.

 

Besides feeding, his overall behavior is fine- normal breathing, perches high and seems alert (compared to past forums I've read where the fish would end up sitting on the substrate). My only concern is he doesn't move much. He stays on one or two different spots and will sit there for 5 minutes on end before adjusting, moving a few inches, etc. I know this is pretty standard hawkfish behavior, but just trying to give the full context here. 

 

Overall I'm hoping things will turn around. He's the first fish in there and might still be adjusting to his surroundings. I'm just concerned that because I haven't been able to seed my tank with pods yet (hopefully will be here Thursday / Friday from AlgaeBarn) that he has no microfauna to snack on if it's just a matter of not liking the food I have available at the moment. If anyone has any ideas, advice, or similar experiences, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

[jhOU]

Try frozen PE mysis. I also recently got a longnose from reefescape. He was super picky at first and wouldn’t eat other frozen foods, but loved plain old mysis. Super healthy and eats everything now!

Edited September 6, 2021 by jhOU

[DaJMasta]

I think frozen food is your best bet, and it's pretty common for fish to eat sort of sparingly in the first few days in the tank (don't know how long it's been exactly).  In my experience they will only really go for pellets immediately if they eat out of the water column and it's falling (usually different fish) or if they already have been eating it and are used to it.

 

Provided it's acting alert and not looking slim, you've still got time for it to come around.  Remember also that the relatively sedentary lifestyle (especially if there's not a ton of flow to contend with), means that its requirement for food is lower than those free swimming always-active types.

[cdw79]

Thanks so much for your replies. I've never used RODI and had mostly used miss / brine in the past, so I'll definitely go back to those asap. Any idea where I could get some that might still be open today? I work long hours during the week so I'm not sure if I could manage to get out to an LFS on a weekday before closing. I'm tempted to go to Petco just to see what happens, as I've seen that apparently they occasionally have saltwater out here, but I'm not sure.

[DaJMasta]

Petco usually has frozen food, as does Petsmart (though the petsmart near me doesn't have marine fish at all), not sure about specifically in your area, though.

When you say RODI you mean Rod's food, right?  I hope he is getting more than water!

[cdw79]

Yes, Rod's! Sorry, I was actually making some RODI water as I was typing and clearly was caught in two minds there.

 

Update, I went to Petco and snagged some Mysis, and immediately he started eating like nothing had ever happened. Looked happy as can be. Thank you both so much! I feel so much better knowing I'm not starving the poor guy, and he should have plenty of pods to pick at between feedings by midweek. Thank you both again, have a great rest of your Labor Day Weekend!