Juveniles Flagtail help!

[aykinhk]

Recently just pick up 2 flagtail 3-4 in from LFS
Having them in tank a week already , always keep the light off try to cliam them down
However, they still feel stressed while I walk closer and they are not eating
I put piece of boiled cucumber sink into the tank and feed some small micro pellet mini. They not interested.
What should I do now or what should feed them , just worry they will die without food a week
Thanks !!

 

[Oscar Mike]

My flagtail wouldn't eat pellets for the first few weeks I had him and would just sift through the sand. I noticed him sucking on river rocks so kept the lights on longer to grow algae. Now he eats algae wafers, bits of banana from my bigger fish, and 1mm pellets. I also add some sinking micro pellets that stay on top of the sand for him to graze on.

 

[aykinhk]

I am using this mini pellet slow sinking
Is this ok you recon?

 

[burntrubber]

Mine is almost 4 inches. I got it just before the pandemic at 2 inches. I don't see it eating much of the pellets. It nibbles on them then spits out. It seems to prefer grazing on the hardware for biofilm and occasionally the tankmates. It was in a planted tank as a grow out but I decided to risk it with the big boys since it started going after some of the tank mates. Size doesn't matter apparently.

 

[Oscar Mike]

I am using this mini pellet slow sinking
Is this ok you recon?

That's the same one I'm using. I like it because the granules stay hard for a long time as advertised. However flagtails are vegetarian and should be fed things like algae wafers or blanched vegetables.

 

[aykinhk]

That's the same one I'm using. I like it because the granules stay hard for a long time as advertised. However flagtails are vegetarian and should be fed things like algae wafers or blanched vegetables.

So sink cucumber are good?? Will try some Hikari alge walfer tonight
Thanks

 

[FJB]

Need to do nothing. They will soon relax and will be eating everything you throw in. They will not let themselves starve.
Although they will do okay with the gravel you have, they prefer sand/silt bottoms. Some people have reported 'nose damage' when kept on coarse gravel substratum; I cannot attest to that, but do prefer sand.
Mine came at ~2.5 inches and is now ~10. Very active, very tame, eats from my hands and demands attention all the time.
Very nice fish. Congrats!

 

[robmcd]

They will come around, don't worry too much about them eating. Worry more about one of them killing the other. You could add 2 more and that will spread out the aggression. They don't last long as pairs in my experience.