Purple Queen won't eat

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I bought a pq anthia last thursday and put him in my 10g with my wrasse. this guy is so scared all it does is hides. i sometimes see him swimming around with the wrasse as i stand hiding by my bedroom door 5 feet away. as soon as i stand in the doorway, he makes a beeline right to his hiding again. i have soaked marine diet with garlic, mysis and the wrasse comes up to me and eats everything. I don't have another qt and i don't know what to do.

[bigdaddyadam]

welcome to the skittish fish club, I have a royal gamma that normally only comes out to eat and has been that way for 3 years

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this guy isn't coming out to eat at all. in fact, when he's hiding he freezes and doesn't move a muscle. he might be picking up the odd piece on the bottom of the tank, but i feed about 2 teaspoons of mysis mixed with water and pour it into the tank but the wrasse pretty much gets it all. i'm in a tough dilemma right now as i have 4 weeks to go to fallow the mt. he's also a jumper so i'm scared of a bucket.

WHAT TO DO!

[bigdaddyadam]

well yeah he is scared he has nowhere to hide in a QT, honestly if he doesn't start to eat by say, tommorow, then you may consider taking him back, what type of wrasse is this in with the anthia?

[t5Nitro]

Well, for one, purple queen anthias are one of the top on the list for anthias that are hard to keep for getting them to eat. Ask the marine fish forum, you should get some better replies from people who have them possibly. Try soaking the food in garlic xtreme maybe if you have some.

[Shaummy]

Purple Queen's are quite difficult to keep....

Google search...

First discovered in 1927 off the coast of New Caledonia, the Purple Queen or Queen Purple Anthias, is also known as an Amethyst or Sailfin Anthias, reflecting its brilliant color and dorsal fin. Predominantly bright purple, this color is accentuated by an orange band that extends from the tip of the nose to the base of the pectoral fin.

As is true with most Anthias species, they swim in the middle of the tank environment but appreciate plenty of caves and hiding places. If keeping a group of Purple Queen Anthias, it is best to have one male with several females in a 500 liter (125 gallon) tank. If kept alone, a 150 liter (40 gallon) tank is sufficient. A difficult specimen to keep, the Purple Queen may refuse to eat and become invaded by bacteria or parasites as a result of malnutrition and stress.

The Purple Queen Anthias would do best with a constant infusion of live foods. Otherwise, they should be fed a varied diet of mysid shrimp, vitamin-enriched brine shrimp, frozen preparations and other meaty items for zooplankton feeders at least 4 times a day

[joe 09]

you could try to keep the pq by it self.that might help.

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Just caught him eating this morning. I just have two big mugs instead of pvc as i haven't got around to the hardware store yet. anyway, he goes for the shrimp and then runs back to hiding for a sec, and then he figures it's okay to come out, and does the whole procedure over again. I had to close my door and watch through a crack. it looks like he's going to be okay just so skittish. I can't feed 4x a day in a 10g though. i still have 4 wks to go to put anything in the mt. he should be okay with 2x small feedings?

[nyvp]

99% pq dont make it in our tanks. I think the longest Ive heard was 6 months or a year. I hope yours beats the odds. Most stores will not carry them any more because of that.

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that's great to know. Maybe i will take him back tomorrow as i have till thursday for the week guarantee.