Angelfishes for  Marine Aquariums Diversity, Selection & Care New eBook on Amazon: Available here New Print Book on Create Space: Available here by Robert (Bob) Fenner

Koran Angel/Feeding 3/15/09
Hi,
<Hello, whomever you are.>
I have a very small Koran Angel, new to tank, have live rock two weeks old, fully cured and also have one Sweetlip Clown. No mater what I introduce to aquarium he refuses to eat.
<The Koran or the Sweetlips?>
Tried pellets, flake, seaweed placed at bottom of tank frozen food, algae <algae> flakes, he is very active and shy, he will go around tank looking on botting <bottom?> of gravel. Also tried flake food rubbed with crushed garlic. Don't know what to do.
<OK, I'm going to guess the Koran. Problem is typical, folks buy fish before they know what is required to keep them alive.
Do read here and related articles/FAQ's.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/angels/pomacanthus/koran.htm
In future queries, please do a spelling/grammar check before sending. We do not have the time to correct/edit before posting on the dailies. Thank you. James (Salty Dog)>

Please help me, my Koran stopped eating   12/8/06 My very well established Koran just stopped eating.  I have had him for about a year, the tank has been set up for about two years.  He is 6-7" and has always been the most dominant fish in the tank.  He is currently in a 75, <Too small... perhaps too late> but I just bought a 210 specifically for him (it is still cycling, I will add all the contents of the 75 to it; <I would do this... and soon, including this Angel> 80lbs live sand, 100lbs live rock, a lawnmower blenny, and a Moorish idol. <Really?>   He has stopped exhibiting his dominant behavior and his voracious appetite since I broke the tank down to remove a small grouper and a small Niger that were getting on my nerves. <The Angel's as well, little doubt> The idol and the blenny are new additions (both eating well and showing no sign of disease or infection, QT'ed for 30 days). <The Zanclus presence here may well be of import...> The Koran has not eaten since the breakdown.  I moved 6 months ago and the entire system was broken down, <?... Assuredly the Angel has been eating something for this last half year> all the rock was kept submerged and I saved about 50 gallons of water.  The Koran had no problem resuming his eating habits. <Inconsistent with the above stmt.> I don't understand why he has stopped eating.  He is still active and shows no outward manifestations of disease or infection, other than a dime size scar on the side of his head that has been there since I got him; I do not think it is HLLE.  My water quality is pristine with the exception of high phosphates which I just corrected with the addition of a phosphate reactor and PolyFilter. I do not want to lose this fish.  I love him and this species is the reason I was able to convince my wife to let me set up a salt tank.  I have even bought a small colony of Zoanthids to try to get him to eat <... toxic more than food> (he annihilated a large colony I had when I first got him, but they were becoming a plague so I didn't care).  He hasn't showed any interest in them.  I have been feeding him angel formula from ocean nutrition and even tried soaking it in SeaChem's entice, but to no avail. <A worthwhile try>   Please give me any ideas you have.  I also tried a fresh oyster that I pried open. <Good> Thanks Ben <Mmm, well... I would read re Pomacanthid, Pomacanthus sp., this ones foods/feeding/behavior FAQs on WWM... but the real effort I would make here would be to quick like a bunny get the new larger system up, going and move this fish hyaku. Bob Fenner> Re: Please help me, my Koran stopped eating    12/9/06 "The Koran has not eaten since the breakdown.  I moved 6 months ago and the entire system was broken down, <?... Assuredly the Angel has been eating something for this last half year>  all the rock was kept submerged and I saved about 50 gallons of water.  The Koran had no problem resuming his eating habits. <Inconsistent with the above stmt.>" What I was trying to say was that this fish has been through a complete breakdown once and had no trouble re-acclimating. <Ahhh!> He ate like a pig for the last six months, which is why I don't understand why he suddenly stopped.  If it is because the tank is too small (which I know it is), wouldn't this problem have manifested in a gradual manner as opposed to out of the blue? <Not always... the size of the system is realistically at least part of the issue, cure here> Thanks, Ben Owen <Bob Fenner>
Re: Please help me, my Koran stopped eating  12/12/06 <Hey Ben, JustinN with you today> I wrote you guys the other day about an established 6-7" Koran that had stopped eating.   <I recall the communiqué©> After reading more of the FAQs on your site, as well as the articles, I decided to try garlic instead of Seachem's Entice.  It worked and he ate a small amount of food.   <Excellent to hear!> As per your recommendations, I tried to find some <S>elcon but no one here carries it, and I thought it was too urgent of a matter to order it online so I bought some Zoe instead.   <Is not as beneficial as Selcon, but is still of benefit here. Good.> For the past couple of days he has eaten a little bit with each feeding, but today I fed and he ate (almost) his usual amount of food.   <Excellent!> He is more active since the garlic guard and much more active since the addition of Zoe; him and the Moorish idol are back to chasing each other around the tank (in a playful, not aggressive, manner).  When he's not swimming, he and the idol just kind of hang out together under a big rock ledge.  Let's keep our fingers crossed, but it seems he's back to his normal self.  I know you guys are sick of hearing this, but thank you so much for the wonderful, informative site you have provided for aquarists.   <On the contrary, such compliments never get old. Thanks for the kind words.> I have had the Koran for so long and I am so glad he is seemingly getting back to himself again.  In passing, the idol has gotten a spot on his right side, just behind the fin, that is kind of like a light charcoal in color.  Any idea what this is or whether or not I should be concerned?   <I would simply keep an eye on this, watch for it to show any further signs of malady> I feed a much more varied diet now, and I am adding the garlic and vitamin supplement; he is still eating like a pig, but this spot concerns me.  I am aware of their poor survival rate in captivity, but I read about someone (I don't remember who or where) who has had some for 7 years.  He IS getting sponge in his diet. <I have read of someone who has Moorish Idols in his tank, and has had them for 9+ years, on ReefCentral. However, this person captured his own idols off the coast of Australia, and brought them straight from capture to his tank, bypassing the rigors of shipping. In addition, he has ready access to their natural habitat. This is not to discourage you, as your purchase is already made, more to outline that these beautiful creatures are still not completely understood in captivity. Good luck with him.> Thank you so much Ben Owen <Thanks for your kind words and the update, Ben. Happy holidays! -JustinN>

Adult Koran angel phish Hi, Dr. Robert Fenner, <You got Steven pro this morning taking his turn answering questions as part of the WWM crew.> i have a quick question, i have an adult Koran angel phish. my question is that he only wants to eat formula flake food? is this ok long term? i tried frozen formula, he doesn't want it? he's constantly grazing all day on whatever's at the bottom of my phish tank. i have a 240 gallon FO tank with fake corals, a banana wrasse and a lookdown. i also put a clip of romaine lettuce in the tank and he seems to pick at it deviously. I'm just hoping that you will tell me he will be ok on just flake food! please respond soon. thanks in advance, Carlos! <Carlos, no one food makes a complete and well rounded diet no matter how good that food may be. Try Ocean Nutrition Formula I, Formula II, Angel Formula, frozen Mysis shrimp and bloodworms. Surely, he will find something else your fish will eat. You can also try soaking his foods in Boyd's Vita-Chem and Selcon and added nutritional value. -Steven Pro>

Adult Koran angel Fish hello WetWebMedia crew!  <Hola! my friend. Anthony Calfo in your service> my adult Koran angel fish does not like to eat anything other than flake food? I've tried everything.......etc. he just like's flake food's? He's very healthy and alert, and just gobbles up the flake's! just wondering what your feedback would be. Thanks in advance, your fish friend in Salinas, California. Carlos! <Carlos... your angel will need to eat a great variety of food if he is to survive long in captivity. Assuming you have tried frozen Angel formula and other frozen meaty foods, do consider adding live rock with some plants on it for him to graze with the hopes of weaning him onto new foods. Then bring some seaweed (Nori) and frozen foods back into the picture. Kind regards, Anthony>

Koran Angel Hi WWM crew, <<And hello to you.>> Recently I purchased a Koran angel which is about 8 inches. I have quarantine the fish for 2 weeks with frequent freshwater+ Methylene blue dips .It looks in good health and seems to be swimming around fine. <<Good stuff.>> But it doesn't seem to be eating the food pellets which I feed it. <<Time to try some other foods.>> Also, I have introduced the fish to the main tank and almost immediately it started chasing a 6 inch Naso tang and subsequently other fish. Luckily there is enough live rock to provide cover for the other fishes. <<Luckily...>> I had a smaller Koran before about 4.5 inches and it seems very calm and just grazed around the live rock looking for food. But the current Koran doesn't seems to exhibit this behavior. <<Well... such a large fish [read as older] would be well-set in its ways.>> What can be done about its appetite and do you think it will stop chasing the other fish once it has settled down? <<Try any/everything you can get your hands on, perhaps try to tempt it with live brine and once it is eating, switch to other foods. As for the end of the chasing, is very hard to predict, but I would say no, it won't settle down, or at least not very much - large angels need to be the boss.>> Regards, / ragu <<Cheers, J -- >>
Re: Koran Angel Hi there, <Good morning!> Since the last email, the Koran Angel seems to have somewhat adapted to the environment. It seems to be swimming calmly, started grazing the live rock & doesn't chase tank mates as much as did when introduced. <Good> The problem is it is still not eating. <Bad> I have tried spinach and live tiny shrimps, but to no avail. <I would try some other foods. Please search www.WetWebMedia.com for additional foods.> It hasn't eaten for almost 3 weeks now. <I would try anything and everything at this point to attempt to get it to feed.> I am just wondering if it is hungry it should eat something, if it doesn't like the food it should at least take it in and spit it out. <Not necessarily. It may not recognize the foods offered or the method of offering as food.> What do you think? Something wrong with the fish? / ragu <Good luck to you! -Steven Pro>

Angelfishes for  Marine Aquariums Diversity, Selection & Care New eBook on Amazon: Available here New Print Book on Create Space: Available here by Robert (Bob) Fenner