Live versus frozen

[Mental1]

So as you know I lost the fuzzy and one of my fus last fall. The remaining fu has looked fine but he doesn't seem to want to eat anything that I give him. He grudgingly eats the silversides, refuses all shrimp, won't eat any of the stuff in Rod's predator blend, and is just not thrilled with the menu.

So I decided to get some feeder shrimp and he is a happy fu. Boy -- talk about a completely different fish -- this fu is VERY happy.

I have let my molly breeding lapse as the lions were eating frozen and seemed fine with it. I truly think there was some kind of parasite in some tuna that I fed the angler, the one fu and the fuzzy that made them sick. It was so weird that they were all doing just fine and then the first to go was the angler and he was pretty quick. But each of them had the same look when they died of this weird slime on their heads. It seems to me it had to be food borne otherwise why are all of my other fish fine? Why did it not wipe everyone out including the second fu? I understand you can have species specific pathogens but we have an angler, a fuzzy and a fu... but then one fu is fine.

The tuna was less than two weeks old and was frozen when it hit the angler. Maybe a month or so when the fu and fuzzy went down. I don't know -- they just seemed much better on the mollies and the shrimp. So I am going to start breeding mollies again and the LFS is saying he will keep a supply of shrimp. Just saying that the predator in him likes to hunt and he seems happier and -- well - he's alive!

[jarrod13]

I'm worried about SAD with my warty so I think I'm going to keep him on damsels and SW shrimp if I can find them. I think one of the reasons it happens (SAD) is because of the diet we give them so I'm going to try to match their natural diet as much as possible. We'll see how it works out I guess

[reefergeorge]

This is where I order my mysids from for my cuttles. Prices include shipping. http://aquaculturestore.com/

[Mental1]

It's interesting how his color looks brighter than it has for a while. I think I was on a roll with the mix of live and frozen. But Jarrod -- what is SAD -- Sudden Angler Death? Never heard of it.

reefergeorge -- thanks for the link ....

[seahorsedreams]

Any of my fish in the past that did not convert, did not live long as their counterparts. Damsels and shrimp are just 2 food items, you need to feed more or they will have deficiencies. If you went down to the pier everyday and brought home whatever live item you found there, they would live like a king. There is no chance damsels and shrimp will be a well rounded diet. Side effects of such a diet won't necessarily manifest in a acute manner either.... could be months... years.

[jarrod13]

That makes sense Renee. What else would they be eating in the wild besides small fish and inverts? Are you saying it would be better to just offer a variety of fish? I didn't realize there would be much of a nutritional difference between a damsel and say a cardinal

[Mental1]

What I was doing was the live and the frozen. I think that worked well. I am not sure the fu will cooperate because he was the tougher of the three but I can try that again. I know just the two wouldn't be balanced but I am having a really hard time getting him to eat. He's out swimming around this morning hunting and looking very bright colored. Unfortunately the local pier is a good two hours away. And now the grocery stores seem to have mostly farmed or previously frozen wild caught fish. Just don't know what to do.