High Tide Aquatics

Feeding

Euphyllia

Euphyllia

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My vicious clownfish always like to pick at other inhabitants of the tank. Today, they pulled a hermit crab out of it's shell and nibbled on it but the hermit quickly ran away. They saw him again and picked at him and he ran away again. I'm wondering since this is a constant thing with my clownfish if they are getting too little food or not a big enough variety. I feed them and my Jawfish a good amount of brine shrimp twice daily and they seem to love it and eat it all. I give them live brine shrimp as a treat every couple of weeks and they like it as much as the frozen. I also feed them frozen mysis, and the extra small sized Red Tiny Bits pellets which they gladly accept. Is this a big enough variety? I've tried giving them chopped up frozen krill which they hate and refuse to eat. What other foods are accepted and healthy for clownfish. I think that they are getting enough food. Does anybody else have any suggestion on what to feed them to give them a variety?
 
I'd feed more pellets and mysis than brine (not that much nutritional value in brine, so I hear). Also, I figure the "rule" of feeding as much as they'll eat in 3min or so works fine (esp in smaller tanks) and then repeat 3-5x a day is possible.

I highly doubt your ocell. pulled a hermit out of it's shell....is it possible you're looking at a molt that got caught in the current?
 
I'm thinking based on their behavior the last couple of months that they are percula. I stood there and watched them pull the hermit crab out of it's shell. I've seen the molts that get caught in the current before and this definitely wasn't it. It grabbed a rock and started moving to hid after the clowns harassed it so much. I'll try looking for a variety of small pellets to feed them, but I also want something that is small (about the size of brine shrimp) and frozen to where my jawfish can eat it. They caught some of the bigger mysis (I bought the big, fat ones with long tails that are about 1/4-1/2" each) and then both the jawfish had a long, hard time swallowing so that is why I'm feeding the brine shrimp. I've also hear that brine shrimp are referred to as the "Cotton Candy" of the marine world since they have low nutritional value. Although I didn't believe any of that at first, hearing you confirm it changes my mind on my opinion. I'll try to cut down on brine shrimp and only feed it as a treat every now and then. Is there brine shrimp I can buy with enhanced nutritional value?
 
If you can ID the clowns based on behavior then hats off to you because you're further along in ID'ing than I am. I'm still really curious why your clowns /how your clowns actually managed to pull a hermit out of its shell. As for the pellets, I use New Life Spectrum in the smallest size possible. My jawfish used to eat them, but it took a little for them to get used to it. You can try looking for PE mini mysis as they are smaller than the brand you're apparently using. I know they sell enriched frozen brine but as always, using a good vitamin/supplement could be a good idea with most frozen foods. I suggest reading online about other things to feed/methods. Here's somewhere to start:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/feeding.htm
 
Hm never noticed percs to be noticably more aggressive than ocellaris ... do you have a picture of the clownfish in question?
 
Clownfish need more then just meat, give them some pellets, they'll even eat nori :)

I've seen many fish suck hermits out for no reason, I'd probably do the same myself as crab is tasty :p

Brine shrimp are not very good feeds for more reasons then they just don't have much nutrition. Feeding a brine heavy diet isn't that great. Try some daphnia based feeds with them, or even black worms.

post pics of your clowns, guessing helps no one :D
 
We have been feeding our new young fish New Life Spectrum and they love it. Most of the pellets sink which is perfect because our yellow tang never ventures near the top. I wish he would since there is tons of green stuff growing up there!! :|
 
I like the high protein content in Ocean Nutrition foods (all varieties including formula 2 and spirulina, made for herbivores, since clowns are actually omnivores). They make flakes and pellets.

I also feed cyclopeeze wafers and mysis; sometimes bloodworms, daphnia, and vitamin enriched brine (treat only, maybe once a week). I usually feed dry for the first feeding and frozen for the second feeding. Sometimes I will feed a 3rd time. My clowns forage for pods too, and they get the occasional live plankton feed when the Cleaners are releasing larvae. :)

Oh, and I also use Selcon.
 
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