My T Bars Not Eating

[bullit]

shes in a tank with other american ciclids and up untill recently she was the boss. the last week or so though she got lethagic. she hasnt eaten anything the last few days and just hides at the bottom. any ideas? theres a male in there but hes still a youth. cheers

 

[hamfist]

Any new fish ? ie. source of infection ?

 

[bullit]

nothing for a few months now. everyone else is stil scoffing

 

[Big_eyes]

What other cichlids is she in with?

 

[hamfist]

Have you checked your water stats recently ? COuld be just that water quality has crept down (ie. increase in ammonia/nitrite) and your T-bar could possibly have become a bit vulnerable and run down, and therefore open to infection.

 

[bullit]

ammonia 0.25
nitate 10
nitrite 0

so yeah things have crept up. i started to do bigger and less frequent water changes reecntly whether that has anything to do with it but i hadnt tested for a while either. is there anything i should do apart from water changes? how many should i do at the mo? cheers

 

[hamfist]

ammonia 0.25
nitate 10
nitrite 0

so yeah things have crept up. i started to do bigger and less frequent water changes reecntly whether that has anything to do with it but i hadnt tested for a while either. is there anything i should do apart from water changes? how many should i do at the mo? cheers

NItrate of 10 is just fine.

ANy ammonia at all is unacceptable. I'd do 50% changes daily until the ammonia reads zero. And then keep a close eye on things thereafter.

A great motto, that I also use in practice, is .... if in doubt, do a water change.
A huge percentage of the fishy problems that we experience are probably avoidable by more frequent water changes.

Hopefully, it'll be enough to perk your T-bar up.

 

[Tolak]

Try feeding live food after the water change.

 

[bullit]

right, shes still not eating. ive not seen her eat anyway. she mainly hangs by the filter at the top of the tank but she does swim around a bit. this a bad thing?

 

[hamfist]

I'd assume that not eating is a bad thing, yes. As she's swimming around a bit, I'd guess things are not critical yet though.

Have you got your ammonia to zero yet ?

 

[bullit]

its going down but not to zero yet. ive just seen her eat some food though thank god

 

[bullit]

shes still kicking, or rather finning. the water is fine. she swimming around etc. i see her eat but she spits it out. she must eat a little though as shes still going. i take it she has infection? cheers