My Female Needlefish Hasn't Eaten For A Week Now

[1411939]

i bought this female needlefish from petsmart, she is 7" long, all i know is that they fed them rosy reds in their tanks, but this needlefish doesnt want to eat anything, from frozen food to live foods, she just ignores them or swims away from them, her tank is 55 gallons, and my other fish usually dont go after the food that i put for the needlefish, it just floats in there, i have tried to feed her: live crickets, live superworms, live rosy red minnows, freeze dried krill that i have heard some needlefish eat as well as cichlid pellets, and freeze dried floating tubifex worms, bloodworms, and brineshrimp, and NOTHING, it doesnt even takes a sniff at them. the water parameters are all good, nitrates are below 20 ppm, nirtites are 0, the water has excelent current flow, and filtration, it has fake big plants, another fish that tells me something is wrong in the tank is my delicate ghost knife fish, nobody is sick or bullying the needlefish that it gets stressed out, she just floats in the tank, she doesnt look sick either, she looks like she has no interest in eating any kind of foods, i never turn the lights on so she doesnt dart around the tank, its very calm for a needlefish

temp. is 79F., the tank has been running for years, like i said before, she doesnt show any signs of sickness, she just floats but the one thing it won't do is eat. floating plants seem not to help

 

[WhiteDevil]

I used to have a texas cichlid that only ate once a month if that. he lived for 7 years.

 

[WILDER]

I would copy and paste your thread and post in the right part of the forum. Will get more help over there.

 

[Colin_T]

Most fish should eat if offered live food. However, it is unlikely to starve if it doesn't eat in a week. Fish can go for weeks or even months without food.

I would do a 50% water change and complete gravel clean each day for a week. This will make sure the tank is clean and the water good.

Check the pH and contact the shop to see what their pH is and if they had any salt or anything else in the water with it.

 

[1411939]

Most fish should eat if offered live food. However, it is unlikely to starve if it doesn't eat in a week. Fish can go for weeks or even months without food.

I would do a 50% water change and complete gravel clean each day for a week. This will make sure the tank is clean and the water good.

Check the pH and contact the shop to see what their pH is and if they had any salt or anything else in the water with it.

the gravel is fine, and by doing more 50% water changes its just going to stress more the needlefish, as a water change right now is not needed, the pet shop didnt have any salt in its tank, and the pH is the same of the pet shop's and my tank i dont know waht else to do

 

[Colin_T]

Depending on how long you have had the fish for might be part of the problem. If you have only had the fish for a few days then it could still be settling in. If you have had the fish for a couple of weeks then it should have started looking for food.

You could try having the light on the tank and see if that makes any difference. Did the shop have a light above their tank with her in?
If you are concerned about her panicking when the lights go on, try turning the room lights on and opening the curtains about 30minutes before you turn the tank light on. You can also have a piece of paper covering part of the tank (between the light and cover glass). After the tank light has been on for a bit you remove the paper and more light becomes available.