care for Pearl Butterflyfish

[asmiley73]

Does anyone have any idea how to get a pearl butterflyfish to eat. I have had this fish for a week. I have tried frozen shrimp as well as flakes. Its been a week and he is still extremely difficult to feed. I have resorted to feeding him with an eyedropper. He eats a little bit of the frozen shrimp through the dropper but not enough to sustain him I am sure (he is about 3 inches). He is extremely slow when getting to the food and he has been hiding for the most part througout the day under the rock alo. I have 2 green chromis, 1 clown, 2 yellow tail damsels. All fish are peaceful.

Any ideas?

[MonoSebaelover]

For starters Damsels are not peaceful fish! If a 3" Damsel can hold its own with a 10" Trigger they are not peaceful. But other than that Butterflies are one of the toughest families of sw fish to own and care for in captivity. Do you have a scientific name of the Pearl? Butterflies will not eat flake and most people are lucky to get them eating frozen. Try live brine shrimp, frozen cubes of food by Ocean Nutrition. You will have to put forth a TON of effort to get him feeding and keep him happy and healthy. Just make sure the Damsels aren't stressing him, and start trying everything asap. They can start to degenerate extremely quickly. Hope this helps and hope he does well.