I just got this elephantnose about a day ago, and its not eating my food I have for it. I know I'm supposed to be feeding it live food but none of the pet stores around here sell live food. Plus the guy at the pet store I got it from said it would eat the dry food. I'm not sure what to do.
Elephantnose Food?
- Thread starter Zman16
- Start date
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
elephant nose are nocturnal and go around picking food from the substrate. For my bottom feeders, I often dissolve brine shrimp or bloodworm in a cup of tank water and pour it so it sinks to the bottom. Try it at lights out so he finds gets what the others can't see.
Does the fish look healthy? Is he active? Is he picking at the bottom of the tank? here is a helpful site: however, they list the minimum tank size as 29g, but even for one elephant nose, this is too small...
click here
Does the fish look healthy? Is he active? Is he picking at the bottom of the tank? here is a helpful site: however, they list the minimum tank size as 29g, but even for one elephant nose, this is too small...
click here
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you also may want to try "precision feeding" take a turkey baster and put it right down by where he is. this is how I got my black ghost knife to feed and they're pretty similar
Hey There! Congrats on your new fish! I have one and I love him!!! Great fish! I feed mine frozen brineshrimp and bloodworms...like swimfins, I dissolve mine in a cup of water first and pour it right above him so it sinks to where he's at.
Make sure you SEE him eat. I lost one because of that...just starved poor thing, tried everything, but nothing :sad:
Target feeding is a good idea, especially right in the begining.
Mine didn't care for dry or prepared foods....most wont touch anything except for live or frozen foods...but there's always the one exception lol
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Also keep in mind they are sensitive to water quality and also don't like to have their tank redocorated and moved around...they tend to stress out very easily when everything is changed around on them.
Hopefully you get that 55 gallon sooner than later. They can be territorial, mostly to their own kind, but if there's not enough hiding places etc he will harrass the other fish....he may also be a target to get picked on himself if he's on the smaller more timid side.
Best of luck and keep us posted on how he does!!!
You picked an awesome fish!!! :clap:
Candice
Make sure you SEE him eat. I lost one because of that...just starved poor thing, tried everything, but nothing :sad:
Target feeding is a good idea, especially right in the begining.
Mine didn't care for dry or prepared foods....most wont touch anything except for live or frozen foods...but there's always the one exception lol
: Also keep in mind they are sensitive to water quality and also don't like to have their tank redocorated and moved around...they tend to stress out very easily when everything is changed around on them.
Hopefully you get that 55 gallon sooner than later. They can be territorial, mostly to their own kind, but if there's not enough hiding places etc he will harrass the other fish....he may also be a target to get picked on himself if he's on the smaller more timid side.
Best of luck and keep us posted on how he does!!!
You picked an awesome fish!!! :clap:
Candice
Yesterday I got two types of food for my elephantnose. One was sun-dried bloodworms, and the other was freeze dried brine shrimp. I gave it to him last night but I'm not sure if he ate the bloodworms becuse all the fish were eating it, and I know he didn't eat the shrimp becuse it was still there this mornig. Now I'm getting really worried, and I don't know what to do.
Elephantnoses are not going to come to the surface to eat. You need to feed him food that sinks easily like the FROZEN bloodworms and brineshrimp....most EN's won't eat dry or freeze-dried food. Buy some frozen Bloodworms and brineshrimp, dissolve a small amount in a cup of tank water and pour into the tank. You can use a turkey baster or syringe or anything like that to target feed (put the food really close to the EN) the EN.
Also, try feeding after the lights are out. They are more comfortable when it's dark and they're still new in the tank.
Also, try feeding after the lights are out. They are more comfortable when it's dark and they're still new in the tank.
Congrats! :clap: Glad to help out! Just be sure to make it a point to watch him eat everytime you feed, that way you know he's getting food. Sometimes they can get fussy or something could be wrong and they'll refuse to eat and thus starve. But yes, I was relieved too once I knew my EN was eating well. He eventually came out with the lights on to feed...will probably take a week or two for him to get adjusted and then you may start to see him venturing out during the day. Mine does all the time now and it's great!! :dance: My favourite fish in my tank other than my Clowns of course :
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