Rope Fish Not Eating!

[love4aquatic]

i have a young 1ft long Erpetoichthys calabaricus, ropefish and it wont eat! i dont know what to do i have tried shrimp, blood worms, and fish flakes(i was desperate) . it still wont eat. it just swims around giving me the evil eye.

could it be sad about leaving the pet shop?
help!!!!!! it needs to eat! i have had it for two days help as soon as possible.

could i force feed?

i need it to survive it seems healthy but just wont eat, it is realy strange!!

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons or litres is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
How long did you climatise the fish for.

 

[Davo86]

I'll wait for your answer to Wilders Questions before saying much But if you've only had it two days then I think your jumping the gun slightly,
give the fish a chance to settle in and then it will start eating when its ready, they can easily go a week without eating

 

[love4aquatic]

How many gallons or litres is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
How long did you climatise the fish for.

moved from a 10 gallon pet shop to a 55 gallon.
he is no longer swiming! just hiding in the cave!
he is a Erpetoichthys calabaricus and my only one.
water stats are. ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-0 ph-7.8

i let the fish sit in its bag until it tried to get out so i just let it out.

How many gallons or litres is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
How long did you climatise the fish for.

moved from a 10 gallon pet shop to a 55 gallon.
he is no longer swiming! just hiding in the cave!
he is a Erpetoichthys calabaricus and my only one.
water stats are. ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-0 ph-7.8

i let the fish sit in its bag until it tried to get out so i just let it out.

it is now out and swimming looks healthy, wont eat, worried it will die.

 

[WILDER]

What was the ph of the store.
How long did you add tank water to the bag for.
Is his breathing ok.
Any excess slime on his gills or body.
Is your tap nitrate reading 0 and do you have live plants.

I would follow dave advice he might just be stressed due to the move.

 

[Davo86]

How long was the tank setup for before you added the Rope fish?

 

[love4aquatic]

How long was the tank setup for before you added the Rope fish?

no clue about the stores ph or any thing. he looks fine. he goes to the surface and gulps alot is that normal? his gill movement is ok.

the tank has been set up for at least 6 years...live plants-anubias-cryptocoryne-papyrus cutting-lotus seedling.

 

[WILDER]

Always wise to test the bag water in ph and temp, this way you know how long to climatise for.
Also make sure you know the lfs ph aswell.
Not sure about the gulping. I would wait for dave to reply.
Just make sure there enough aeration in the tank.

 

[love4aquatic]

What was the ph of the store.
How long did you add tank water to the bag for.
Is his breathing ok.
Any excess slime on his gills or body.
Is your tap nitrate reading 0 and do you have live plants.

I would follow dave advice he might just be stressed due to the move.

no extra slime, tap nitrate is 0.
he swam right out as soon as i opened the bag and he is verry slippery!

Always wise to test the bag water in ph and temp, this way you know how long to climatise for.
Also make sure you know the lfs ph aswell.
Not sure about the gulping. I would wait for dave to reply.
Just make sure there enough aeration in the tank.

alot of areation, i think, have a filter that makes bubbles

 

[WILDER]

That's fine then. Just wait for dave reply.

 

[Davo86]

How long was the tank setup for before you added the Rope fish?

no clue about the stores ph or any thing. he looks fine. he goes to the surface and gulps alot is that normal? his gill movement is ok.

the tank has been set up for at least 6 years...live plants-anubias-cryptocoryne-papyrus cutting-lotus seedling.

Reed fish are capable of living in low oxygen climates and so have developed the ability to breathe atmospheric air,
However your saying that this is happening a lot makes me think that the reed fish is unwell,

mine did this now and again when it was in a 60G (once a day but not everday, from what i saw) but since it has been upgraded to a 125G I have seen it do this about once in 3 weeks.

alot of areation, i think, have a filter that makes bubbles

what sort of filtration is on the tank? just you don't seem to convinced about the amount of aeration.

 

[lordofthesea]

what are you trying to feed it? when i had senegal bichirs (which i've heard are closely related), they'd only eat defrosted fish. it may just be you're feeding the wrong food.... i'd ring the LFS and ask what they were feeding it.

 

[love4aquatic]

what are you trying to feed it? when i had senegal bichirs (which i've heard are closely related), they'd only eat defrosted fish. it may just be you're feeding the wrong food.... i'd ring the LFS and ask what they were feeding it.

they said they were feeding them blood worms, so thats what i bought, i feed my other fish that too and needed more anyways.

he dosent go gulping alot just sometimes, but is it that bad? he does it like a betta does!

not sure of my filter i will check the type! it is a good filter, never had a problem withit!

should i try freezing baby endlers? full growns look too big?

 

[Davo86]

try him on a prawn or two, delicately place it right under his nose and see if he lunges at it, mine never refuse prawns.
I realise it may not seem ethical but if your going to freeze endlers you may as well just add them to its tank alive,

Oh by the way are you feeding the reed in the day or at night? Reed fish are really an nocturnal species so feeding them in the evening is often best

 

[love4aquatic]

try him on a prawn or two, delicately place it right under his nose and see if he lunges at it, mine never refuse prawns.
I realise it may not seem ethical but if your going to freeze endlers you may as well just add them to its tank alive,

Oh by the way are you feeding the reed in the day or at night? Reed fish are really an nocturnal species so feeding them in the evening is often best

i feed him whenever he is active! he moves in the day alot, and at night he does move more that is when i feed him. he always has neons and endlers in his tank never eaten. what kind of prawn? like a frozen shrimp humans eat?