# Fish not eating



## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

I just recently moved all my fish to a new place and maybe 3 of my fish are not eating now. the Lemon Jake was beat up fairly bad by my Protomelas Spilonotus Tanzania and now today he stopped eating along with my Kigoma frontosa. I put some of my new fish in the tank since they have been in quarantine for weeks now and they have been eating just fine. I am treating the whole tank with melafix to fix there fins and sores but I dont think either of them factor into them not eating. I did test the water and everything seems normal I will be testing it again today. Any help will be greatly appreciated.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Getting beat up causes stress and stress is a big contributor to illnesses like bloat that have a symptom of not eating. In my tank if I allow stress to be present for any length of time, my demasoni a guaranteed to get bloat.

Sounds like you have a stock mix that is not ideal as well which could also be causing stress.

Any other bloat symptoms? Check the new article about bloat in the Library. :thumb:


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

The thing is though this fish were in the same tank for the past 4 years no problem. Then I moved Wednesday and those 2 started fighting. Today those 2 that were fighting are swimming side by side with no problems. They are just not eating. The frontosa was eating some food from off the sand. Maybe they just aren't hungry. I figured it would take some time for them to settle in since they spent a couple hours in a cooler during the move.

I will look into the article on bloat.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My fish died from one beating. He recovered from the beating, but then he got another illness and died of that.

Any time you move fish they have to re-establish territories, and that requires fighting. :thumb:

Did they eat at all, even one time since the move? And then stop after the fight?

Or have they not eaten at all since the move?

I'd put the Lemon Jake in a hospital tank so fins and scales can regrow.

The frontosa may just take longer to acclimate to the new tank especially given his more rambunctious tankmates.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Yeah they all ate up until today. I figured the smaller fish would of been the ones having more issues than the larger fish.

we are thinking of a place to put the jake right now.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

OK then the not eating is not because of needing to acclimate to the new tank.

Malawi are always hungry...if they don't eat they are holding sick or traumatized. We eliminated the first and last.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Yeah im going to put the jake in my girlfriends tank till he heals up. This hoping the Tanzania will calm down.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Could the Tanzania not be eating because I did rearrange the tank on him and he is busy not trying to establish his new territory? He really has no signs of bloat he just isnt eating when i put the food in he seems to be getting it later off the ground. I feed NLS and Omega 1 mixed. He swims around the rocks and around the driftwood. The way he is acting is like there is a female in the tank actually.

Ill keep watching him closely. Is there anyway i could treat the whole tank for bloat?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

You can treat the tank with metronidazole. Link in sig. I might try just epsom salt for a few days first and see if it does anything to get them eating. If not, proceed with the metro.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Thanks should I do water changes?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

I would do daily, around 20-30%. Dose epsom in the replacement water before filling to maintain the salinity level.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Should I just use the Epsom and not worry about mixing it with the aquarium salt?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Just epsom, aquarium salt will have little to no effect.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Right, *** been sick and along to a fairly bad work related injury *** just been resting. But going out for the first time in weeks i got a young z-rock male im pumped about. Im just gunna put like 2 1/2 teaspoons in the tank and see if that helps. I did the 20 gallon and the lemon jake started to poop along with a couple other fish in the tank. Kinda weird how fast it works.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Should I be adding more salt than what I am adding? It wont hurt any right?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Aquarium salt or epsom?

They say more fish are killed by unneeded medications than illnesses. I would not add anything unless it was needed. :thumb:


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

I was talking about epsom salt. The one has for sure bloat because of the pine-coning looking scales. he is in a 20 gallon and the other 2 are not eating I was still wondering if its bloat. The frontosa is back to digging so it must be a good sign.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

danielratti said:


> Should I be adding more salt than what I am adding? It wont hurt any right?


1 tbsp per 5g tank water. Premix, add gradually taking 5-6 hours to dose completely.
Can you quarantine the pinecone looking fish? Add the epsom over half an hour if you can quarantine alone.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Order or pick up some metronidazole, I'd be dosing both tanks as per the bloat article linked in my sig.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

I was going to try the epsom and seemed to make he start to poop. I can go out tomorrow and try to pick up some Metronidazole. Could I just quarantine him in a 5 gallon bucket even?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

danielratti said:


> Could I just quarantine him in a 5 gallon bucket even?


That'll work with a heater and aeration. You'll need to do daily water changes unless you can filter it as well somehow, otherwise you'll build up toxic ammonia and nitrite. With metro, you want to do daily water changes prior to each dosage anyhow.
In case you missed it in the article, I wanted to mention that a fish suffering from bloat that is visibly bloated has a slim chance of recovery. At this point, it's often too late because internally, organs have begun to shut down or there's a bacterial infection in addition to the digestive blockage. This isn't always the case, but more often than not, it is.
Your last post wasn't clear on bowel movements. Is the fish having bowel movements?


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

He was yesterday after I treated the 20 gallon with salt. It wasnt much but it did something for him. He seems more lively today than yesterday. The other 2 have no signs of bloat other than not eating really but it looks like they are taking the food from off the bottom of the tank.


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

Got the bloat taken care of. started adding garlic to the food and it cleared up quickly for the most part. The little z-rock I have looked like he was coming down with something not sure what but will keep watching.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

:thumb:


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## danielratti (Feb 17, 2008)

I hope the litle z-rock doesnt have bloat... I used Epsom and I mean a lot. The z-rock had some white stringy poop a little bit ago... I hope he isnt getting bloat... *** been looking for one of these for so long now and they only lasted not even a day being out on display.


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