HELP!! New to angels, subdom not eating.

[J. H.]

Ii just bought 5 angels on Friday (4 days ago) they went into my 55 gal tank. They set up a pecking order and I realized today that one of them is not coming to the top for feeding and is hiding in the plants/corner/piping/heater all the time.
Params: 0ppm Amonia 0ppm Nitrite <5ppm Nitrate Ph 7.2
Water change 40% biweekly
Tank has spiral vals and christmas tree moss. I added a large amount of native plants (cleaned with mild bleach- 1 capfull/5gal bucket and rinsed) on Sunday (Yesterday)
Tankmates: 13 Juvie Praecox/Dwarf Neon Rainbows 10 half grown to adult guppies 5 SAEs 15+ MTS snails 3 ghost shrimp
I bought 5 angels on friday, all between 1.25" and 1.5" long. 2 marbled, 2 half black and a koi. the koi is the biggest and the half blacks are the smallest. One of the marbles is the dominant fish and one of the half blacks is the subdominant. They all pick on the other fish a little, which is fine, they just run away. I am worried about the subdom 1/2 black. At first I thought it didn't know to go to the top, as all the angels where pretty stupid about that compared to the other fish (only the angels & SAEs were added on Friday, the rest were there for 2.5 weeks), but now I am getting worried that he is not eating. What should I do? I was told 5 is enough. Do I need more?

 

[tlindsey]

Personally I would just give more time and adding more not necessary. The plants will provide a break in sight occasionally from the dominant fish.

 

[J. H.]

The plants are still short. The only tall ones are grass like - not nuch for blocking view. Is that enough? How do I get him to eat?
Thanks for replying so fast.

 

[tlindsey]

I suggest trying frozen Brine shrimp.

 

[J. H.]

I should put it and let sink? The SAEs will get it.

 

[tlindsey]

I should put it and let sink? The SAEs will get it.

Thaw out a small portion and pour into the aquarium.

 

[J. H.]

thank you

 

[skjl47]

hello; I get two versions of your question and am not sure which is the more correct.
One seems to be what to feed the angels. I got two angels a few months ago for the first time in many years ( make that decades). I picked up some Hikari freeze dried blood worms at a cost of $7.99 for 0.42 oz. The angels took it well. I also mix in some TetraMin tropical flakes and some shrimp pellets ( I gently break up the pellets so bits will float). While the angels will take food from other levels of my tank, it seems stuff that floats might be the better. I have seen them picking food off of leaves and the bottom.

I have not tried it yet but have some floating goldfish pellets and suspect they may work also.

A live food I use in the past is vestigial winged drosophila (fruit flies). I first came across them back in the 1960's doing undergrad studies in biology. They are a genetically mutated variety in which the mutation breeds true over generations. The wings never develop so they cannot fly. They are easy to raise in fairly large numbers. They are small enough to be bite sized for many fish and are taken by top water feeders well. The flies float on the water. If some get away they do not become pests as they cannot fly. I have fed them to carnivorous plants ( fly traps and pitcher plants.)
I use to order them from biological supply companies such as Carolina Biological supply. You will need the dry food stock and several of the vial sets in which to raise them.

The other question seems to be that one angel is at the bottom of the pecking order and is not competing well for food. One approach that may work is to feed a bit too much one day so that all the fish get a chance at some. Follow this by a fasting day or two. During the fasting day the fish will scour the tank for the uneaten food and this also helps keep the tank from becoming sour from too much excess food which would happen if you feed heavy every day.
Another possible method is to first put some food at the end of the tank away from where the small one hides. With luck the other fish will rush to that end. Then put some food right where the small angel is and maybe it will get some.

Good luck

 

[J. H.]

Thanks. What I wamted to know was how to feed the small angel. Sorry for being confusing.

 

[J. H.]

I suggest trying frozen Brine shrimp.

I overfed the tank with brine shrimp yesterday, and the little angel got some. Today, though all my angels were at the top feeding time, so I guess he was just slow on the pickup. Anyway, thank you everyone for the help. I am looking into those wingless flies, they look like endless live food for less than $10! If I can figure out how to do it, it'll be fun.