Help to get Long Nose Butterfly to feed

[oceania]

Hi All,

2 wks ago got 2 healthy long nose butterflies. They're in QT and have been feeding on brine for a wk during the initial wk. On a daily basis I did a 25% WC and a 50% change last wkend.

Strangely after the 50% WC, the fishes stopped eating. Has anyone encountered this prob before? Tried brine and mysis but it's still not working. Wht is the possible cause and any suggestion to get them feeding again? Thanks!

[uLtRaMaN]

Why do u hv to do so frequent water changes? 25% per wk shld b enough already. I would suggest doing nothing for d time being just in case u stress them more. Observe for a couple of days to see their behaviour. Hopefully their appetite returns again.

[Tian85]

If you are not using skimmer, then 5 to 10% daily will be more then enough.

For WC, is 5% per week or 20% per month. 25% water change daily is too much, no need to mention the 50% WC. Water parameter change too much which cause the fish to stop eating.

[xaine]

Large water changes can cause stress in sudden pH changes and other parameters involved. It can cause fishes to stop eating for a while until they recover from the shock. In the mean while try reduced feeding of 1-2 brine shrimps to see if they eat, if they don't, stop feeding to prevent causing the water to turn bad with wasted food. They should start eating again in a couple of days, just have to monitor.

IN the meanwhile, heed the water change routine as mentioned by "Tian" as 5-10% would be sufficient per water change.

[BFG]

Feed them brine shrimp? Not enough for a staple diet, it's like us eating crackers all day. Won't feel full.

[oceania]

Thanks all for the advice! My mistake, think I misread some where n got the numbers mixed up. My itention is to start them on brine first followed by mysis and subsequently pellets. Is that right diet?