feeding help please

Boxster · 07-13-2004, 09:38 AM

i have a cardnail since friday and as of yet have not seem he eat. feeding combinations of flake, bloodworms and frozen shrimp. any suggestions?

also.. my lawnmower blenny has been doing well chomping algae of my lr. but he seems to be getting skinny. what type of food will he like besides what is listed above?

thanks for any tips on these 2 feeding issues

yardboy · 07-13-2004, 09:46 AM

my lawnmower will eat flake food and blender mush (anything they have at the fish market ground up into mush and frozen)

Boxster · 07-13-2004, 09:50 AM

i never actually see him eat, but he is always moving and chomping. does yours eat in the water column or off the bottom?

Phishnoob · 07-13-2004, 10:36 AM

Our cardinal eats Formula One, and does well on the chopped assorted fish bits we are using now.

I have yet to see our lawnmower eat as well, despite putting in Formula One and Two and other stuff. He is supposed to eat algae, but our tank does not have much for him to munch on.

kwjones · 07-13-2004, 11:10 AM

Try some unsalted/oiled Nori, the stuff sushi is wrapped in. My herbivores go nuts for the stuff. Rubber band it to a rock or just weigh it down with a rock. Some LFS carry the kind without anything added to it.

You might also try some Formula 2 (green).

SPC · 07-13-2004, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxster

i have a cardnail since friday and as of yet have not seem he eat. feeding combinations of flake, bloodworms and frozen shrimp. any suggestions?

That sounds like the right food to be feeding the cadinal, Boxster. Anything harassing him in the tank?
Steve

Boekhtiar · 07-13-2004, 06:49 PM

My experience with blenny teaches me that by the end of the day if there's shortage of the preferred food, it will compete with other fishes for the the flakes and granules that we toss in. Adaptation is quite astounding for this species but it will take some time for them to make themselves cofortable in any new life niche. In your case, I suggest the wait-and-see strategy as it will helps in preventing havocs of introducing too many different food (which the fish might not yet consider as food). We don't want it to become confused. My theory is this: if the blenny see other fishes eating and compete for a cerrtain kind of food, in time it will learn that it is food by its own merit and join in the fray at feeding time. Don't you just love fishes' behaviour

... they are not immune to the Pavlovian theory or so it seems...

JennM · 07-13-2004, 09:54 PM

Cardinals are water column/plankton feeders. If all else fails, try some live brine, wean onto frozen enriched brine or try some frozen PE Mysis. We feed PE Mysis and even the fussiest eaters will take it usually.

HTH

Jenn

tims · 07-14-2004, 06:05 AM

my cardinal we also eat ghost shrimp.. kinda funny seeing it stick out of his mouth..

my LMB will at times eat the pellets i give everyone else, but usally he just plucks at the glass and rocks

Phishnoob · 07-14-2004, 09:19 AM

Well our lawnmower jumped into the in tank refugium (goby moved out a week ago) and I think he might be eating Cheato now. Gotta catch him in the act. Also you were right about the pack mentality. When all the food went in he saw the other fish going nuts and tried to eat as well (too bad there was a refugium wall in the way)

Boxster · 07-14-2004, 01:35 PM

i tried some formula 1 that someone suggested last nite. no go. anyway, found some of my scarlet crabs having my cardnail for breakfast this morning. guess he passed on over nite. thanks for all the advice anyway.

Phishnoob · 07-14-2004, 02:38 PM

I am sorry to hear about your loss

Something might have been wrong with him. I think they are supposed to be a 5 in the 500+ book or we are not talking about the same thing. We lost a fish to not eating as well and it is just so frustrating.

Boxster · 07-15-2004, 06:52 AM

it is frustrating. he seemed healthy and looked fine but he just wouldnt eat anything. nobody was picking on him either. do cardnails do better in pairs maybe?

JennM · 07-15-2004, 07:26 AM

Was it a Banggai cardinal? If so, was it wild caught? There seems to be a problem with wild caught ones anymore. "Experts" cannot agree whether it's capture method, handling/shipping stress or something perhaps bacterial or viral. I've got a veterinarian friend who leans toward the viral theory - since bacterial would show some physical symptoms. I've had a few wild caughts that did fine for a few days then just keeled over. Most ate just fine. I doubt it's chemical capture because of the way they live in the wild, it would not make sense to use cyanide on them (although I could be wrong there) - but I'm picky about suppliers.. but I digress. In any event, many mortalities occur in wild Banggais, for whatever reason. I'm not bringing in wild ones at all anymore for that reason.

As for pairs etc., 2 females will tolerate each other in a larger tank - I have 2 sisters but each owns "half" of my 120. Male/female pair is fine, but I've heard that 2 males will not tolerate each other... but haven't "done it" so I don't know for sure.

They will school when juveniles but I think as they get older and pair off they become territorial.

HTH

Jenn

Boxster · 07-15-2004, 07:35 AM

yes it was a banggai. i did not know if it was wild or not. very interesting stuff jenn. more data for my memory banks

thanks