How Long Can My Hogchoker Sole Go Without Eating?

[Dave Legacy]

I just got a new Hogchoker Sole last Friday and so far I haven't seen him eat once. It was shipped on a truck for 2 days so I can understand it might be a bit stressed, but my last hogchoker ate a blackworm the first day I took him out of his shipping box and then started eating frozen bloodworms within 5 days.

I'm trying live blackworms with no success. He might be eating them, but definetly not when I'm watching. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm feeding at night with the lights off as always, my archers wont feed in the dark and totally leave the sole alone so I know that's not a problem. My conditions are exactly the same as when I had my previous hogchoker sole... only difference is this one is about .5-1" larger.

SG is 1.010
Temp is 79-80 (with HOB waterfall effect plus airstone to compensate for oxygen loss)
Maybe only difference is I just started running Aquarium Pharmecuticals Black Magic Activated Carbon.

Any ideas? He was previously eating live daphnia at the aquaculture facility I bought it from but I can't obtain that stuff.

 

[AMS]

I just got a new Hogchoker Sole last Friday and so far I haven't seen him eat once. It was shipped on a truck for 2 days so I can understand it might be a bit stressed, but my last hogchoker ate a blackworm the first day I took him out of his shipping box and then started eating frozen bloodworms within 5 days.

I'm trying live blackworms with no success. He might be eating them, but definetly not when I'm watching. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm feeding at night with the lights off as always, my archers wont feed in the dark and totally leave the sole alone so I know that's not a problem. My conditions are exactly the same as when I had my previous hogchoker sole... only difference is this one is about .5-1" larger.

SG is 1.010
Temp is 79-80 (with HOB waterfall effect plus airstone to compensate for oxygen loss)
Maybe only difference is I just started running Aquarium Pharmecuticals Black Magic Activated Carbon.

Any ideas? He was previously eating live daphnia at the aquaculture facility I bought it from but I can't obtain that stuff.

I believe it is about 14 days a fish can go without food, but may be a little longer or sooner depending on the circumstances. Since you ordered him Friday and today is Tuesday I would not be overly worried. Just keep trying a variety of live foods and see if he takes to them. If you can not get Daphnia from an LFS, it is easy enough to collect some from a local pond or such.

PS-

Temp is 79-80 (with HOB waterfall effect plus airstone to compensate for oxygen loss)

You will get salt creep with an airstone and they do hardly anything for oxygen exchange.

 

[nmonks]

Dave,

Any joy yet?

How long a fish can go without food depends on size, and if it has recently been imported, you can probably slam on another couple of weeks for sorting, shipping, and then sitting in your dealer's aquarium. Something medium sized, like a molly, can probably go by without food for a couple of weeks, while an adult catfish or cichlid can probably get by a lot longer. A lot of fish don't eat at all during the "off season", e.g. over-wintering koi carp in ponds, or plecs in their burrows during the dry season.

Though AMS is right about airstones having a small effect on oxygen diffusion rate, soles are so sensitive to oxygen levels, I'd leave the airstone in for a while. I might lower the temperature though, if I were you. Hogchokers are subtropicals. What's the current sea temperature between the Carolinas to Florida right now? Go for that.

You already know they're nocturnal, right? So you should be feeding once the lights are out. If the soles are by themselves, I'd put the live food into the tank at bed time and leave them to it.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Dave Legacy]

Ok, I think he's eating now. I'm guessing because after I walk away and come back to the tank after about 20 minutes he's relocated himself to where the food was. This particular specimen doesn't seem to move around much at all. My last one was constantly moving around, never hiding so well that you couldn't find him, and would almost eat the food straight out of my hand. This one is super shy.

I always feed at night, and I've been turning down my moonlighting to make it darker in the tank to try to make him more comfortable. My lunar controller is currently on full moon phase so it's pretty bright in there at night otherwise. The temp is high because my archers weren't too happy with 77F. I'll try to get it down to a steady 78.5 and see if I can maintain happiness in the tank.

I'll feel better when I see him eat, but in the morning I can't find any worms and I don't think the archers are eating them in the middle of the night. I should probably check my filter sponge and see if any worms are in there.