# Red Devil not eating



## Janis (Dec 30, 2008)

I have a HUGE red devil that I rescued about seven years ago when he was small. He has been completely healthy except for some sort of pigment changes in the last couple of years (used to be all red now he looks spotted) Eleven days ago he just quit eating. I have checked all levels of nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, ph etc. and everything appears to be perfect. Am doing regular water changes, temperature is 78. He has no extnal signs of any problems and is acting totally normal except for not eating. Any suggestions?


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## zoyvig (Oct 27, 2006)

Your RD may be entering its "old age" period. I have had dozens of RD/Midas over the past 43 years and have only had a very few that lived to be greater than 10 years of age. They usually quit eating for approximately a month and the pass-on. I hope that is not the case for yours, but be prepared for it.


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## Janis (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks for the info zoyvig. I have never had a fish live this long and I thought he might be headed for "that big aquarium in the sky". I looked it up and it has actually been nine years since I first got him, so he must be about 11. By the way how do you insert pictures into your posts?


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

1. Sign up for a free account with a one of these web sites: 
www.freewebspace.net 
www.photobucket.com

2. Upload the pictures from your PC to that online site. Pictures will be stored on their server and then accessible anywhere on the WWW.

3. After the upload is complete, view the photo you wish to post here. Right-click on the picture and then select Properties. Copy the Address (URL).

4. On this forum, Write in your post the following:

Code: 









5. THEN, before you SUBMIT your post, be sure to PREVIEW it first. You should see the image. If not, double check your code.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

These fish could live to over twenty years old.
As for not eating... There's a couple of things you can do. 
The first thing I'd try is a nice fat earth worm, then I'd try a fresh shrimp from the fresh fish section of your grocery store, legs eyes and all, just rinse the food stuffs first. 
If that doesn't do it try it's natural prey... Crayfish! 
Sometimes (most of the time) a small treat like that will stimulate appetite.

Your water params are good so maybe he's looking for something exciting to do or eat. 
They do get in a funk sometimes, it's not uncommon.

When he was eating how often were you feeding him? 
Adults (over a year old) only need fed once every other day.


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## white_t (Mar 7, 2008)

My RD loves earth worms :thumb:


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Any news Janis?


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## Janis (Dec 30, 2008)

Hey FishGuy,
Thanks for your concern. He has never eaten anything except a variety of cichlid food made by hikari (that is except for when I first got him and he ate all 6 of his other cichlid tank mates!) I was feeding him daily. He is still picking up the rocks and spitting them out so I bought some sinking hikari food ( I always gave him floating) He is in a tank that is very long but kind of narrow so I just bought a larger tank (100) gallons thinking maybe his space is too small. Still looks great and acts excited to see me. Am going to go outside right now and try an earthworm. I had no idea he could live to be that old, so am going to do everything I can to help him. By the way his name is Gizmo and he has an amazing personality! Thanks again.
Janis


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Well keep us posted... you've got to have a place somewhere around you that sell earthworms...


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## Janis (Dec 30, 2008)

I actually have earthworms in my garden, tried to give him one and he had no interest, but the cat fish (don't know what he is but has spots on body and stripes on tail and used to have large hooks on his top fin before Gizmo bit them off, and I gave him a place to hide) ate it. I thought the cat fish was a veggie! Gismo is 14 inches long and in a 40 gallon tank, since I joined this site (AND WHAT AN AMAZINGLY INFORMATIVE SITE IT IS!) I now think the tank is WAY TO SMALL, therefore I am going to put him in the 100 gallon and see what happens. Thanks so much for everybody's input.
Janis


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

You'll find that there's a lot of catchfish that are predators...

And I think you'll see a huge change once he's in the 100...


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## zoyvig (Oct 27, 2006)

How is Gismo doing? You might try putting some Guppies or Platys in his tank.

Another thing I usually do is put another RD in with them. Especially if you have one that is not aggressive. Keep an eye on them to make sure they do not harm each other. I recently lost a 13" wild RD (A.labiatus} that I had for about two years. (The downside of buying wild stock is that you don't really know their age) He (Big Nick) was the meanest fish I have had in fifty years. When he stopped eating and became lethargic, I put a very docile 11" wild RD in with him. They were pals together constantly for approx a month.

I've done this a number of times. At least I feel like the end was more comforting.


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## Janis (Dec 30, 2008)

Hey Zoyvig, Gizmo is eating again! Even when he had gone for weeks with no food he never became docile. He still chased the cat fish and flared at my cats, so I did not dare put another fish in with him. I changed the water conditioner to API tap water conditioner and started changing ten gallons of water every other day. On the fourth change he started eating like nothing had ever been wrong. Even though I did regular water changes and his water parameters were great I think it has to do with the size of the tank and the size of him. Am going to get him in to the 100 gallon this weekend and hopefully he will live for another 11 years. Thanks for your input.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Yay! Very good news indeed!


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## zoyvig (Oct 27, 2006)

Fantastic!

I really hope you keep GIZMO for another 11 years.

My 11" docile wild male I mentioned in an earlier post passed away during the night. That's seven (7) wild RD (A.labiatus) I've had to pass away in the last three years. All but Two of these I feel were from Old-Age!

Take care of Gizmo and good luck!!!


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## Janis (Dec 30, 2008)

Sorry to hear about your loss.
I know how attached you can get to Red Devils!! 
I wonder if maybe the wild ones are harder to keep in captivity for long periods of time. That is a lot of fish to lose in a three year period.
Thanks for the encouragement
Janis


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