Mr. Butis Butis

[ray311]

Hello TFF, I have a bit of an issue with a fish (butis butis) that i acquired 36hrs ago or so. The lfs said it would eat the flakes and pellets they would feed the fish they housed with him danios and corry cats. But Im pretty sure i saw a fin tail on his mouth. So i have not seen him even be tempted to eat anything i throw in the tank (55g) and i was wondering what would be on a menu for a fish like that.

 

[TooManyChoices]

A fish like that I highly doubt is going to be feeding on prepared flakes/pellets straight from a LFS. They're highly predatory fish that will ambush other things. If I were you I'd get a load of cheap feeder shrimp for it to eat whilst you try to wean it onto pellets. 
 
Post some pics I'd love to see it! (You'll need to make an account on Photobucket, Flickr or any hosting site, upload them there and post the IMG code, definately worth it!)

 

[ray311]

Well bought a few small molies and some ghost shrimp to try and coax it to eat, but to no avail. Its pretty active as of today, maybe it just needs time to adjust to the tank. Well pretty much out of ideas but here is a pic or two i managed to snag.

 

[TooManyChoices]

I wouldn't be to concerned that it hasn't eaten yet, took my african butterfly weeks to actually get a good meal. Hopefully the mollies will have some fry and they'll be an easy meal when needed. 
 
They're a great looking fish that's for sure. 

 

[ray311]

Update*** Its been about two weeks, and things seem to be going well. I still have the ghost shrimp (-1 crawfish ate him) and the mollies have been relocated. The only "problem" is that he/she only seems to eat bloodworms i feed it by dangling them on the water top.

 

[yargnits]

at least its eating something other than live fish ! 
 
you might try soaking pellets in the water of some food it likes to try get it to eat the pellets. it will take a while but if its been feeding well before it should be ok for a few days of fasting to try get it to eat the flavoured pellets  
 
good luck