None of my fish are eating

[Sam Goldblat]

Hey it’s been a week now and it appears that none of my fish are eating. The swordtails will pick at the food but not eat it and the Kribensis isn’t picking at it at all. My tank is at the beginning of the cycling process and I don’t know what to do. I’ve treated the water with focus and metroplex but it doesn’t seem to be working.


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[Colin_T]

Have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?

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If you are doing a fish in cycle (have fish in the tank while the filters develop), you should only feed the fish 2-3 times per week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. You should also monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels and do a 75% water change if you have any readings above 0.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

If you haven't done any water changes in the last week, I would suggest you do one today. Remove 75% of the tank water and replace it with dechlorinated water.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Colin, I’m curious as to why you instruct to only feed 2 or 3 times a week during fish in cycling. Doesn’t the food feed the ammonia for cycling? Not doubting you at all just curious. Can you please explain? Thanks so much.

 

[Colin_T]

The filter bacteria will still grow in a tank with a fish but no food being added due to the ammonia produced by the fish. If you add a bit of food a couple of times a week, you keep the fish fed but keep the ammonia levels low. It's a compromise. The less food going into the tank the lower the ammonia levels. The less ammonia in the water, the less damage it does to the fish.

When the filters have cycled you can fed the fish more often and do a water change once a week.

 

[FishGuest5123]

The filter bacteria will still grow in a tank with a fish but no food being added due to the ammonia produced by the fish. If you add a bit of food a couple of times a week, you keep the fish fed but keep the ammonia levels low. It's a compromise. The less food going into the tank the lower the ammonia levels. The less ammonia in the water, the less damage it does to the fish.

When the filters have cycled you can fed the fish more often and do a water change once a week.

Great! Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense.