# Peacock Hiding and not eating



## rtirado

I have an OB peacock in a 40gal corner tank with an Acei, Yellow Lab, and "eureka" Peacock. All of them are between 2-3" but the OB is the largest of the group. 
Recently I removed a Blood Parrot from the tank because he was very aggressive towards all of the fish over his territory and food as well. I replaced the BP with a Syno. Nigriventris who is enjoying all of the scraps since I had no bottom feeders in the tank at all, he gets along well since he hides until its dark in there anyways.

The hierarchy went: BP > OB peacock > Acei > Eureka > Lab

Now once the BP isn't in there, the OB is constantly hiding, and hasn't come out from his space whenever I get near the tank, even during feeding. He does defend his cave by chasing the others out, but promptly returns to his hole. 
I also noticed that his colors have started to intensify, oranges and blacks are finally starting to get more dark/vibrant, which is the opposite of what I would expect from his behavior.

As far as water goes: 
Nitrates: 20ppm
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
pH: 7.4 (yea its a little low, I'm slowly moving it up)

I do 30% water changes weekly as well.

The not eating part is the only thing concerning me in this, since it seems he has finally staked a claim on some territory where he wasn't able to do so with the bully BP before.

Any thoughts?


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## GTZ

Not eating and hiding are classic symptoms of bloat. Keep an eye on any bowel movements from this and all other fish. Anything long, white/clear and very thin almost thread-like would be confirmation for me.
Treatment
Also, your tank is too small for your current stocklist and is likely the cause of the problem.
An insufficiently sized tank along with aggressive occupants will undoubtedly lead to stress which leads to a multitude of possible illnesses, one of which is bloat.


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## rtirado

Yea, I know the tank is inadequate, its the best I could do for my small 1 Bedroom Apartment at the moment. They will have a 75 gal waiting for them when I move into my house this spring. I will look for any irregular poop from them and also any irritation or swelling on him. Thanks!


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## vann59

My first concern is social stress. The tank is way too small for those fish and now that they are starting to grow, it isn't going to get better. Get a 4 ft long tank, and it should help, or at least will be more suitable.


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## DJRansome

vann59 said:


> Get a 4 ft long tank


Plus one. :thumb:


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## 13razorbackfan

DJRansome said:


> vann59 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Get a 4 ft long tank
> 
> 
> 
> Plus one. :thumb:
Click to expand...

LOL...I even have problems in my 4ft 75g.

Can't wait to upgrade to 125 or 180. May be a while though.


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## rtirado

Yes I realize the tank isn't up to par, thank you all for reiterating that for me...also keep in mind that I have 4 juvenile fish in this tank with a bottom feeder that only comes out at night. I'm not like every other clown that throws 20 fish in a 40b and thinks it will work out.

However, I don't think you realize just how placid all 4 of these fish are. The other 3 swim around peacefully and mingle extremely well. Now that the bully fish is out there is no more chasing around. I checked for poop and I havent seen any stringy type poop from any of them but I will continue to watch. And the OB doesnt seem to have any enlarged areas on him or signs of redness around the anus.


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## Mike_G

Your OB is now the dominant fish in the tank and may simply be establishing his territory as per his color display and chasing other fish from "his" cave- my best guess is he'll start eating when he gets hungry enough and/or feels his territory is firmly established. How many days has he gone without eating?


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## rtirado

4-5 days at the most, he just sits in his corner watching the others eat... pretty annoying lol.


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## DJRansome

GTZ said:


> Not eating and hiding are classic symptoms of bloat....stress which leads to a multitude of possible illnesses, one of which is bloat.


Your fish has symptoms of an illness which is often caused by stress. When you look for stress factors, the stock versus the size of the fish is one.

Do you have any other information that would point to a different conclusion? It's not just the 40G capacity that is a concern, but a corner tank does not usually provide enough length for the fish to form separate territories.


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## rtirado

I started treating the entire tank for Bloat last night, did a 30% water change and used a medication I had on hand that contained Metronidazole. Will continue treatment on the entire tank because I have read that it can affect more than just the fish that I currently see symptoms on.

I started the treatment because I was finally able to spot the OB with some clear/stringy poop.

Anyway, this morning he was actually swimming up and around, but still did not eat when I fed them. Just sat there under my hand watching the pellets get eaten by the others, lol.

I hope this is good news that he isnt hiding anymore and hopefully I can still save him.

Kinda makes me want to switch to the Thera A NLS formula, instead of the cichlid formula that I have.


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## GTZ

Disregarding the stringy poop, I assume you're sure that the fish is male and isn't a holding female. It's another explanation, unlikely or not.


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## rtirado

Unless I am mistaken, he's a male, lol.


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