my fish aint eatin'

[totalbolshevik]

I have been feeding my fish "Omega One" fish flakes in the morning and frozen brine shrimp at night. The first time I tried giving them the brine shrimp, they loved it. The second day, they were a little less enthusiastic, but they still ate all of it. Yesterday, when I fed them, it sank right past them and they seemed not to even notice it. That morning, they hadn't eaten very much either, but they did eat. I have been putting "Melafix" in the water because the fish store guy said it would help with fin rot. Could this be the reason they are not eating? Could water tempurature affect how much they eat?

 

[semper fi]

first of all what type of fish are you talking about?

second, why did youput melafix in the tank? are tehy losing the fins or are they becoming shredded? are you sure it is not another fish?

third, what size of tanks is it?

fourth, have you tested your water and are the parameters at zero?

fifth, what is the temp of your tank? has the tank temp gone down? fish will eat less and become less active and slower growing in cooler temps allowable for them. if the temp is lowered too fast could send the fish into shock.

when the fish did not eat the shrimp, did you remove the excess food? allowing excess food to stay in the tank can cause your toxin levels to rise which in turns affects your fish.

need more info.

semper fi

 

[totalbolshevik]

Just went in to feed the fish and one of them was dead.

 

[semper fi]

sorry to hear about your loss.

if you can answer the questions maybe we can help you out with the others in the tank.

semper fi

 

[totalbolshevik]

The one that died was a Congo Tetra. I have three more of those, 2 rummy nose tetras, a black tetra, 2 mollies, some tetras that I can't find in the book, a panda something or other, an algae eater, and two corys. (The corys eat the brine shrimp that falls to the bottom of the tank and they love it. The water temp. is around 80 degrees. I have a 50 gallon tank, I have not tested the water ( the problem just started yesterday) I am sure it is not another fish. They have a little white edge around the ragged area. Also, it is the four biggest fish in the tank that are being affected, and they tend to bully the smaller fish a little, so I don't know how it could be the other fish.

 

[semper fi]

whether or not you have a problem you should test the water on atleast a weekly basis. i test mine before and after a water change. also good to test the tap water to see what you are putting into the tank. sometimes the tap water here shows high. i wait a few days and then do the water changes.

shoudl get 2-3 more cories after you figure out what the problem is. cories are schooling fish and like to have groups of five or more to feel comfortable.

are any of these fish new additions? new fish should have a quarantine period before being introduced into the tank to prevent infecting the whole tank.

besides the ragged fins are they showing any other signs of illness? would get your water tested right away though.

semper fi

 

[totalbolshevik]

Thanks for the advice

ps: could changing the water do this to a fish? I changed some of the water a couple days ago (about 20%) and I treated the water with the chlorine stuff. The temp. of the new water was about the same. Thanks again.

 

[semper fi]

waqter changes are required to assist the bacteria in removing the harmful toxins from the water. i oubt that a water change did this to your fish. how did you add the chlorine treatment to the water? did you add it to the tap water or to the tank? do not use chemicals with my tanks. you are supposed to treat the water for the amount replacing only, not the total capacity of the tank, i beleive. then the water is added to the tank.

semper fi

 

[kevin007]

semper fi says it all