# my male front is not eating



## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

I have 6 fronts in a 4x2x2 120 gal tank I know 1 is male and think the other 4 are females and the last one I think is a male.

I have been feeding them NlS since the first part of January and the last few days I noticed my big male is not eating and looks rather thin.

water parameters are 
ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate unknown but I do water change once every 2 weeks
temp 78

they have all been living together for over a year with zero problems

any Idea what is could be?

The others are eating but not a whole lot.


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## woogie0004 (Jan 17, 2011)

could be bloat.


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

from what though? nothing has changed?

the only thing I thought it could be is the NlS sinks and he may have eaten some crushed coral?


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

frontosa can skip a few meals. How long have you had them? What is your PH like?


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

have had them for 15 months now and they have been in the 120 for 13 months not sure of the ph of the top of my head but I think around 7.7-7.8 maybe I'll have to check


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

I tried feed again today and he is just not interested and the others seem to eat but then spit it out

I also dropped in a few algae wafers and the male grabbed one and then spit it out? now I am not going to feed for a few days and then see what happens?


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## woogie0004 (Jan 17, 2011)

this is common when the fish are stressed i have had this when i first brought frontosa home but seeing as they have been in the tank for 13 months something else must be stressing them. i would do a large water change and keep an eye on the water quality. also try feeding some frozen krill its there favorite


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

yeah I am going to fast them for a few days while doing a water change.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

It is rare, but not entirely unheard of that frontosa males can hold some of the fry. Has there been any breeding activity in your colony?

If that isn't it, I would agree with Charles that a well fed front can easily skip a few meals. With my fronts moved from daily feeding to feeding every other day, because if I feed daily there just doesn't seem to be enough interest, and a lot of food keeps sitting around, even when I feed smaller portions. One time I was on a 10 day vacation and my autofeeder malfunctioned so they didn't get fed at all. I have a lot of small fish in the tank with the fronts, but suffered no detectable losses.

When fronts are not doing well, I would advise a strategy of feeding less rather than enticing them with their favorite food. In that regard they are a bit like people. When I have an upset stomach, I'd rather fast a day than to eat a huge bowl of ice cream 

Last but not least, I think it is far better for fronts to eat from the bottom. If they swallow a few grains of sand of crushed coral, they'll simply spit that back out. Fronts are diggers anyhow. If they eat from the surface and gulp in air that can cause a lot more trouble.

Hope he'll be better soon!


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

*fmueller*
no breeding at all so i know he is not holding

i am thinking of just going to every other day after a few days of fasting.

we will see i will let you know if he eats or does not.

thank you


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

now no one is eating. the others will pick it up and then spit it out.

could they just be picky and not like the NLS?


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Mine get NLS almost exclusively. What were you feeding before you changed to NLS?

One thing to consider is that a single pellet of 3mm NLS contains quite a bit of food. They don't need very many of those on any given day. If you want to feed the same amount of food in flakes, it looks like a truck load of stuff, but it's just more voluminous.


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

they use to eat pellets from kens fish.

They have been eating nls since jan 11

and I have not added anything to my tank since Dec. when I re introduced one of my fronts


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

still has not eaten I tried some frozen shrimp he took a bite and spit it out.

he is starting to look super skinny now.

I have begun treating with metro for 3 or 4 days now. what else would help incase it is bloat or what else would it be?


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Sorry to hear there doesn't seem to be an improvement. Probably hard to turn that fish around once it has weakened so much already. At that stage, the side effects of any strong med like Clout are likely to just finish it off. Have you tried salt? There are some good tips about that in this article, but really at this stage it's all just grabbing for straws.

Best of luck - you'll need it!


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## eeztropheus (Jan 10, 2010)

He is stressed out in a 4' tank. Fronts need big tanks 6' minimum. Did he make it?


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

he has lived in the tank for over a year. I do not think it was stress. he is now starting to eat again.

I think New life spectrum made him sick I will no longer be buying any NLS products.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

matthew1884 said:


> I think New life spectrum made him sick I will no longer be buying any NLS products.


That is an entirely irrational conclusion, since plenty of people feed their frontosa NLS, and the fish are thriving.


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

It is in my eyes because I began feeding the same els to other fish after my fronts were sick and now those fish are sick as well.


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## RayQ (Sep 26, 2007)

Are you possibly over feeding? NLS is a "concentrated" food to say it simply, not a lot of fillers and stuff. I fed NLS to tropheus for a couple years and never had any real issues.


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

yeah once a day and no feeding on sunday.
they were fine before NLS after they got sick.

and then I begun feed it to my uncles fish at his house in a different city so the NLS is the only constant.

So I will no longer be buying it or feeding to any of my fish that is how I feel about the product.


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## Cichlid_Expert (Feb 8, 2011)

Try and feed iy _New Life Spectrum_ if you can find it at your local store. Trust me it works. I had the same thing happen to me.


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## matthew1884 (Jul 24, 2009)

*Cichlid_Expert*

NLS is new life spectrum. I don't understand what you mean


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