Longnose Butterfly fish that won't eat??

[newbie27]

Hi all,



I've just brought a longnose butterfly fish but it is very timid and won't come out from his hiding place. Only had him two days but worried about him starving himself.

Feeding him Brine Shrimp and algae pellets. Brine shrimp not going down well as my clownfish love it and snatch it up.

Also how much should i be feeding him presuming he starts to eat it

Thanks :)
 

[Ottomund]

Howdy newbie27,

   I wouldn't be too worried about him starving himself as long as you know he was eating at the store before you bought him.  It's pretty normal for new butterflies to be timid. If he wasn't eating there (or if his belly is already sunken in) then he may be sick or too stressed from the capture/shipping/etc.  You can try to spot feed his hiding spot with a turkey baster.  I have one on hand for spot feeding anemones or certain corals. As long as you have live rock with enough life in it to eat up any extras, I wouldn't be too overly concerned about overfeeding.  The other thing is he may be eating all sorts of things on your live rock.  When I go on vacation I don't feed the fish at all for up to 2 weeks.  They never look any skinnier or anything so I am sure they find plenty to eat in the live rock.

Just so you know, butterfly fish are notoriusly difficult to keep, but the long-nosed is probably the easiest to keep of all of the butterfly fish. 

One other thing to mention...  I am not harping on you or anything but I promise you that you will save yourself a lot of money (and heartache) in the future by having an established quarantine tank.  I am saying this from experience... I have lost every fish on my 125g reef in 1 day from not quarantining.   In saltwater, all new incoming fish need to be quarantined for at least 3 weeks.  Quaratine at your LFS does not count.

[newbie27]

Thanks very much for the advice Ottomund. He's coming out and eating a little now. One of my Clownfish is driving me potty though. Steals almost everything i try to give the Longnose. Don't suppose there's any meaty foods the Longnose eat but not the Clownfish?
Also I brought some algae pellets but doesn't seem interested. What's the best diet to give him. Know Brineshrimp isn't a very good diet on it's own.
Unfortunately there is still a lot of stuff i could do with getting for the tank. Quarantine tank being one of them. Buying it all as the funds come to me. Know it's not ideal but it's been so expensive so far it's the only way i've managed to do it. Being very Careful not to overstock and only plan to keep four fish overall with maybe some crawlers so hopefully should lesson the risk a little.