New Additions To The Aquarium Not Eating

[mark4785]

Today I bought a pair of German Blue Rams (one male and one female). I thoroughly checked the pair while they were in the LFS aquarium for gaunt bodies, Hole-in-the-head and any other issues. Based on appearance they ticked all of the boxes and I was reassured by the LFS employee that they were eating 'tabs'.
 
When they had been bagged up I returned home via car with the climate control set to 28 degrees C so the temperature of the transparent flimsy bag of water containing the Rams did not fall dangerously low; the bag was also placed in a cotton bag so that changes in light didn't stress them.
 
After having got home, I removed the transparent bag from the cotton bag and both of the fish were very colourful and there were no 'black tar marks' which was, as far as I was concerned, a good indicator that they were not stressed at all.
 
I then spent 3 hours drip-acclimatising them to a planted aquarium which, due to the co2 injection, would probably have a much lower PH level than that of the bagged water. I fed them whilst I was drip-acclimatising and noticed that they were spitting out the food. I tried flake, freeze-dried blood worm, pellet and tabs; all of it they spat out as though I'd fed them something horrible. Also take note that they spat out a tab which was something they were supposed to be eating according to the LFS employee. This constant spitting out of food as continued throughout the day whilst they were actually roaming the aquarium so I decided to turn the light off as the whole experience was perplexing and stressful.
 
So there you have it, I spent £12.00 on a pair of GBR and they won't eat. What is the deal here? Do I have yet another pair of Dwarf cichlids with intestinal hellminths (hexamita)?
 
Aquarium water stats: The ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 ppm. The temperature is 27.8 degrees C.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I don't know much about fish illnesses, so can't really say if they have what you're asking about.
I did want to try and reassure you though, that it's normal for fish to not eat right away. Some can take a week or so to settle in & start eating. Keep your eye on them though.
 
Also, not sure what tabs are, but would assume there are different brands/types of it. Are you using the exact one the LFS was feeding them?

 

[mark4785]

I don't know much about fish illnesses, so can't really say if they have what you're asking about.
I did want to try and reassure you though, that it's normal for fish to not eat right away. Some can take a week or so to settle in & start eating. Keep your eye on them though.
 
Also, not sure what tabs are, but would assume there are different brands/types of it. Are you using the exact one the LFS was feeding them?

 
Hi there,
 
Well 'tabs' in my mind relate to the Tabimin product manufactured by Tetra. I've tried them with the aforementioned and Hikari tabs with no luck. I will call the LFS tomorrow and ask them so that I can be sure.
 
I am keeping my fingers crossed that this lack of eating may be a phase that they are going through while they get used to the new environment. However, I am also aware that this particular dwarf cichlid can get ill very quickly with intestinal parasite issues if they are stressed, a disease which puts them off actually swallowing their food.

 

[Ninjouzata]

 

I don't know much about fish illnesses, so can't really say if they have what you're asking about.
I did want to try and reassure you though, that it's normal for fish to not eat right away. Some can take a week or so to settle in & start eating. Keep your eye on them though.
 
Also, not sure what tabs are, but would assume there are different brands/types of it. Are you using the exact one the LFS was feeding them?

 
Hi there,
 
Well 'tabs' in my mind relate to the Tabimin product manufactured by Tetra. I've tried them with the aforementioned and Hikari tabs with no luck. I will call the LFS tomorrow and ask them so that I can be sure.
 
I am keeping my fingers crossed that this lack of eating may be a phase that they are going through while they get used to the new environment. However, I am also aware that this particular dwarf cichlid can get ill very quickly with intestinal parasite issues if they are stressed, a disease which puts them off actually swallowing their food.
 

Ohh, I hadn't seen those before. Neat!
My fingers are crossed for you as well. I had no idea that there was a disease they often got. Thanks for helping me learn.

 

[ech0o]

maybe try some frozen foods?  like frozen bloodworms, or frozen brine shrimp? those extremely tasty and often stomachable by even sick fish, might help to get them started eating ok.

 

[BerryAttack]

as long as they do not seem to being skinny and aren't acting normal besides spitting out the food i wouldn't stress over it. and also getting a pair for that much, wow over here it'll be around 30+ Canadian. lucky you
 
i find that if my fish doesn't seem like eating or seems "depressed" without having any outside marks or stringy poo, i throw in mosquito larva.. they instantly perk up and go nuts, returning to their normal selves. doesn't happen, usually once in a blue moon, but its a good fix.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Did you ask to see the Rams eating in the shop tank before purchase?
 
This is a perfectly reasonable request, even more so if you are planning to buy a species that can be problematic to get feeding on hobby prepared foods eg. wild caught Chaetostoma spp. (Rubbernose Plecs).

 

[ech0o]

Did you ask to see the Rams eating in the shop tank before purchase?
 
This is a perfectly reasonable request, even more so if you are planning to buy a species that can be problematic to get feeding on hobby prepared foods eg. wild caught Chaetostoma spp. (Rubbernose Plecs).

 
Precisely, rams are one of those fish that seem to be finicky when it comes down to dinner time.

 

[mark4785]

maybe try some frozen foods?  like frozen bloodworms, or frozen brine shrimp? those extremely tasty and often stomachable by even sick fish, might help to get them started eating ok.

 
Over on UKAP's they have suggested I do exactly that. I will give them a break for 1-2 days and then introduce some de-frosted daphnia / blood worm. I have tried  feeding them freeze-dried blood worm which is irresistible to my black neon tetras; the ram's just spit it out.

Did you ask to see the Rams eating in the shop tank before purchase?
 
This is a perfectly reasonable request, even more so if you are planning to buy a species that can be problematic to get feeding on hobby prepared foods eg. wild caught Chaetostoma spp. (Rubbernose Plecs).

 
No because I asked what they were eating. The employee replied 'tabs' so I took that to mean that I was buying a fish pair that wasn't diseased and which knew how to eat. I do recall buying a female ram from them about 2 years ago and the same thing happened; it would not eat but it also had the first stages of HITH.

 

[mark4785]

I've taken some pictures of the male GBR as I noticed a pin-prick sized white dot on the head. I'm not sure that the said dot should be there and I am thinking that it may be a pus-filled. Anybody else agree with this assessment based on the picture evidence below?
 

 

 

 

[DrRob]

HITH would be unusual on a ram, but isn't impossible. Personally I'm not 100% from the picture, but I've only ever seen it on far bigger cichlids.

 

[mark4785]

HITH would be unusual on a ram, but isn't impossible. Personally I'm not 100% from the picture, but I've only ever seen it on far bigger cichlids.

 
The GBR's I purchase always end up dying 2-3 years later with HITH disease. Of recent, I've been sold GBR's with HITH 3 times in a row so it as though the UK stock of some dwarf cichlids in the East Midlands is absolutely rife with hexamita / HITH.
 
I think that it may be the very first sign of HITH considering the fact that the fish won't eat anything a part from de-frosted blood worm.

 

[DrRob]

Hmmmm, not good. Now would be the time to treat then. Personally I'm a fan of metronidazole for HITH, although there is still debate about what it's truly caused by. Not the easiest thing to get hold of though.

 

[mark4785]

Hmmmm, not good. Now would be the time to treat then. Personally I'm a fan of metronidazole for HITH, although there is still debate about what it's truly caused by. Not the easiest thing to get hold of though.

 
I've imported that from the U.S. however I think it's only worth using on African cichlids. The mouth of a GBR is tiny and when you consider that it won't eat, it's near impossible to get the metronidazole to it's intestine (supposedly where the HITH parasite begins it's active life). A qualified vet was of the view that treating the water with metronidazole is exactly that, treating the water (not the fish).
 
This is what a GBR should look like (this is a healthy male GBR which I had a while ago):