Dwarf fuzzy stopped eating

[IPT]

I have a two year old DFL that has been doing great. Once I got him to eat initally he became voracious. Snapped up Mysis like it was going out of style. Well about a week ago I noticed he didn't seem to be getting much food (he's in a community tank). I started to watch him more closely and he would show some intrest but then not act on it. A few times I saw him make a febblie attempt (snap) but not get the food. This even when it was right by him. I've actually seen mysis bounce off his face and he just sits there.

We've had a lot of Sub zero weather lately up here and I finally noticed that one of my heaters crapped out. The tank temp dropped to 68. Not sure how long it had been that way but none of the other fish seemed affected. I have the temp back up to 75 now and it has been for 2 days. No real change in his behavior. I decided to try some Ghost shrimp and he basically just has staring contests with the shrimp! I've even seen the antane from the shrimp touching his face and he just sits there looking at them. He's even back away from them a few times. Once in a while he'll see them flinch and start to lock in, and then nothing. it's like he can't see them or just loses intrest. On a rare occasion he'll make a febbile snap toward them.

He did eat one Ghost but that was because I basically backed the shrimp up right into his mouth. He just snapped at it when it touched him. He got one or two pieces of mysis the other day too but this is far from normal behavior for him.

Not sure what if anything anyone has to offer about this. Hopefully he will just shake this off. There are no visible signs of disease on him in any way that I can notice. I am open to anyones thoughts or suggestions.

[namxas]

What have you been feeding the fish (besides mysis), and how often?

[seahorsedreams]

Has anything changed in the tank recently? Any newcomers? Who is in there.

Did this behavior start after the temperature drop?

Has he only been eating mysis? That's not quite meaty enough or varied enough and he may be experiencing some anorexia because of it. I've added vitamin C to the tank when I've been faced with anorexia. I've also dosed with B complex vitamins. I would def start with vitamin C as it supports the immune system while we figure this out.

[IPT]

Thanks for the input. Do you soak the food with the Vit C (not just dumped into the tank)? No changes in the tank at all. No newcomers. 75 gallon with a yellow tang, Ruby redheaded wrasse, Paired clowns, yellow tail damsel, a high fin tetra, a flame angel and a blood shrimp. Come to think of it a Yellow watchman died about a month ago. He just started swimming funny, listing, bumping into rocks, and was dead within a day. No external signs of disease (and there is none now on the DFL or any of the fish). He was about 8 years old so it may have just been his time.

Yeah, in retrospect I should vary his food more. It is pretty Much Mysis only. There also is some enriched Brine shrimp in the mix on occassion. I guess i should add some prime reef or something else? Anything in particular you recommend adding?

The tank is in an office so it is fed flake in the AM (DFL rarely ever touches that) and then Mysis in the PM during the weekdays. No feeding for 2 days over the weekend. The tank has been thriving like this for 6 years now. The DFL for 2 years until this. He has looked pretty full and healthy all the while. He's starting to look a little thin now.

His eating behavior changed within the past 10 days or so. I just noticed the temp issue the other day. We have been in a cold snap about the same amount of time but I can't say for certain that the behavior is correlated with the temp. I really don't know how long the temp was low.

Thanks again to all you guys sharing your knowledge and thoughts. My DFL and I appreciate it!

PS: Today he has been a little more active. Swimming more and seemingly looking for food. I fed the tank and he was alert and watching the food very intently but no strikes or pursuit of any of it. I even used a pipet to get it right infront of him and still no strikes. He used to pursue stuff mercilessly but now he just tracks it and watches it float by.

[namxas]

If the fish isn't eating, there's no use in adding the vit C to the food. I know Renee adds it to the tankwater, at least initially, and it has indeed helped in the past. I don't think you can "overdo" the vit C, but I'll be sure Renee pops in (she's the nutrition/med geek at our place).

A good varied meaty diet is the best for the fish...SW fish flesh (salmon is a big fave), shrimp, scallops, squid, etc.

I know that poor diets cause anoerexia, but I've also seen lionfish get plain old bored with their food, altho its refusal of live food suggests the former.

[IPT]

"anoerexia" - are we talking about the same thing like humans? Obviously a fish doesn't care about it's apperance this is this just in reference to them not eating like they should by choice?

I have some fresh Salmo here. Maybe I'll cut a few strips and put it ona feeding stick. If I can get it to touch his mouth maybe he'll snap it up like he did the ghost shrimp when it backed into him.

Thanks for the input, I'll keep you all updated on the progress. Since he was looking a little more inquisitive today I might try live again tomorrow.

[namxas]

Keep the food size on the smaller side, say the size of the fish's eye, just to be sure it isn't intimidated by the food.