Potter Angelfish problem

So About 2.5 weeks ago I bought a potter angelfish from a bag sale (direct from collector). He had great colors and looked very healthy. About a week ago he started to loose color and looked a lot more gray. Unfortunately I still am yet to get hm to eat but i do occasionally see him picking off the rock. Ive tried 5 different types of foods and cant manage to do it. Recently he started to rub against rocks(Ich?) My tank has been up and running fully cycled for 5 months. Just got rid of 3 damsels that i finally caught and have a percula clown and a sailfin tang and none of them seem to have the same problem. Would like some speedy advice as to what you experts would do in this situation. Thanks

 

bump

 

Since you got him direct from collector, it is possible that he hasn't been in many confined aquarium and will take time to acclimate in your system. Wild caught fish could also carry parasites which is not harmful when the fish is healthy. Monitor closely and treat him properly in quarantine. One thing (probably the only thing) you can do is to keep excellent water quality and try not to do anything (like moving rocks or adding new fish) that might cause more stress.

 

He may never acclimate to life in the old aquarium a certain percentage never do.. May try enticing him with some live food or chopped up clam or mussel maybe some frozen brine or mysis shrimp ? Live would be much better to excite the feeding portion of his brain

 

Purchase some Marine-Max by Tropical Science and stick with it, especially with a Tang in there.

 

Did it pick at one certain spot on your rocks or all over? If its a certain spot try mashing some food into the rock at the spot. He might eat some that way, you might also try some raw shrimp we have used that trick in the past.

 

I have tried live brine, Frozen Brine, Frozen Angel and butterfly diet, freeze dried mysis shrimp and formula one marine pellets. He caught one live brine and spit it out... He swims actively through my live rock and picks all over but i am concerned It is not enough to keep him healthy. I guess I should pick up some fresh shrimp and mussels to try out. I will look into Marine-Max it looks like a great product.
Thanks Everyone.

 

bump

 

I've had a similar problems with Potters angels before. They seem to take a longer than usual time to acclimate to aquarium life.

The last one I had frantically swam around the tank, nipping here and there at the live rock, and scratched itself against the rock almost 24/7 (it didn't seem to sleep). Basically the same symptoms you just described. I named it psycho fish. I don't think the scratching on the rocks is a sign of a disease, but I could easily be wrong about that. Anyways here is how I dealt with it:

I waited for a few weeks, but it wasn't eating and its color would come and go. I caught it and moved it into a hospital tank. This gave the angelfish longer to look at the food (competition is high in my display). I had luck feeding it new life spectrum pellets, and with a spinach clip. I tried live brine shrimp, spirulina flakes, dried brine shrimp, and various fresh foods, but it didn't eat any of them. It took a few days in isolation before I had the fish consistently eating the pellets. I kept it in the tank for about a month, until it seemed like it would be able to compete with my other fish.

Hope that helps. Potters angelfish are my favorites, very beautiful fish, and I think they are worth the trouble.