Still won't eat...

[Squirrelbuddies]

Does anyone have any suggestions what to give a fish that won't eat? I've tried everything I can think of: variety of flake food, small cichlid pellets, live brine shrimp, algae tablets, shrimp pellets, shelled peas.

This problem was part of another post regarding my sick krib. He's in a hospital tank and I believe he has internal parasites. His poo WAS white and stringy. But now there is no poo at all because he hasn't eaten in two weeks. He's so thin and his color is changing.

Since he would not eat the medicated food, I've been treating the water with Metronidazole (for the past 6 days).

He usually just hides at the bottom but this afternoon he actually came out and swam around the tank for a bit after the water change. I have to change the water frequently (and add the meds again) because the food spoils at the bottom.

Water conditions are all fine. (The tank is an established one.) He just won't eat and he is so skinny and I feel so helpless because I can only watch while he gets smaller and smaller.

Anyone have any ideas at all?

 

[Tolak]

How much metro are you medicating him with? I have good success with angels medicating at 40 mg. per gallon. The hex a mit & others you buy at the lfs suggest 20 mg per gallon, I've found that this often doesn't do the job. I've heard of people going as high as 50 mg per gallon but that is supposed to be really pushing it.

What temp is the tank? The high range for angels is supposed to be 86F, I kick the temp up to 92-94F and they seem to come around all the quicker. If there is someone on the board here or anywhere else that you could find out the extreme maximum kribs can take short term, that would help. I see fisprofiles.com lists the max at 81F, I imagine they would tolerate a bit more than that but it would be best to check with someone more experienced with kribs first. Anytime you raise the temp in any tank, make sure you have plenty of aeration, as warmer water holds less oxygen.

How often are you doing water changes, & how much? Metro is supposed to deteriorate within about 8 hours, so you could do 50% water changes every 8 hours & remedicate with a full dose. I've done them twice daily on the weekends, it seems to help things along. During the week I med & change water once a day.

What type of medicated food are you using? I don't even bother to feed them the first 3 days of medicating, they aren't going to eat anyway so why bother. After 3 days, I take a small amount of frozen brine shrimp, an amount the size of 3 or 4 match heads, & sprinkle some metro on it. This is pretty much an eyeball deal, I sprinkle on enough to make it look like a nicely powdered donut. Let it thaw with the metro, mix it in, & feed. It seems when they mouth it & spit it out, within a few days they are starting to eat again. After a week of eating medicated food, they are back to flakes, or whatever I toss in the tank.

Like I said, this is what works with angels, I've done it quite a few times already, I've got half a dozen small golds in a 10 gallon right now that are ready to go back in with their siblings, they've been eating anything for the last 4 or 5 days, they got done with this routine of treatment nearly a week ago.

HTH!

Tolak

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

I've been using 20mg per gallon - so I will try increasing to 40mg. I've been changing his water every 24-48 hours depending on my schedule and I always add back the metro. I will increase this to every day.

The water temp is just under 80F. Like you, I also read that kribs were ok up to 81F. It's such a small tank so it's hard to modulate the heater. I'll try getting it up another degree.

Regarding aeration -- I have a Penguin filter that's rated for a 20 gallon tank so there is a pretty strong current being that it's on a 5 gallon. Should I add an airstone, too?? (poor krib, I don't want to launch him out of the tank.) I have a sponge filter I could use as well.

Also, the filter cartridge has been in long enough so that the carbon is no longer "active" . I don't think it's impacting the effectiveness of the metro.

That's a great idea about mixing the meds in with the brine shrimp. I've noticed he will try to eat the flakes but always spits them back out. (Why do they do this?)

Thanks so much for your help, Tolak!

 

[Tolak]

You could add an airstone, or just drop the water level an inch or so, if you can tolerate the noise. Make sure the heater is far enough down in the water if you drop the water level.

If you can pull out just the carbon, it may help. If it has been in there that long, it probably doesn't make much difference. You could actually pull out the cartridge and run the filter with no media, or new media if you do 50% water changes at least once a day. The ammonia will not be an issue with constant water changes.

Why they spit the food back out I don't know. All I can figure is it's like when people start to get sick, & nothing really tastes right. Maybe fish think spitting out food is socially acceptable?

Tolak

 

[BettaMomma]

Have you tried frozen blood worms?
I only have bettas, but even when they're horribly sick, none of them can resist those.

Especially if you get an eyedropper from the drugstore - just squeeze a few of them into the dropper and squir them right down in front of his face.

I don't really even know if your kind of fish here will eat them, but I guess it's worth a try.

Good luck to you.
I hope all the best for him!

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

The eyedropper is a great idea! I sprinkled the frozen brine shrimp with the metro and sucked it up with the eyedropper when it melted -- then squeezed it out right in front of him. He actually ate a few tiny brine shrimp!

Hopefully, this is a good sign and he'll begin to eat more and be on the road to recovery. He's so thin and weak right now.

 

[Tolak]

Hey, just wondering how the krib is doing. I've done the metro thing with angels & livebearers, I'm interested to see how it works with other fish.

Tolak

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

I don't think he's going to make it. I really want to be optimistic and believe he'll pull through, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

He has sucked up a few baby brine shrimp that were medicated - but that's it. I just can't get him to eat.

The odd part is his fins and overall body condition look good except that he is so skinny. He's starting to hang out in the water in a vertical fashion now (head pointing up.)

He seems to be the most perky when I change the water. I'm not sure if it's because it scares him or if he really likes it.

It's so sad. I want to cry whenever I look at him.

 

[black angel]

I just want to add that i have lost two kribs to a mystery illness. They all stopped eating, had the stringy poo. I lost an adult angel to a bacterial infection in my community tank and only the kribs were infected. The adult female got popeye and the others became listless and stopped eating. I used internal med by interpet and the popeye went. Of the adult pair, only the male has come through it and of the three young i lost one and i may lose another. This has been going for a couple of weeks now and i think only the strong ones will make it. Sorry i cant help with a solution as i havent found one, but i found it strange that only the kribs were affected.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry to say once a fish stops eating that's it, he could have a bacteria infection as well with the internal parasites, sorry.

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

I'm not ready to give up yet, though....I just squirted some baby brine (with the eye dropper) right in front of his face and he actually ate some!!

I'm not sure if this is false hope or not. But this is the first time I've actually witnessed some kind of significant feeding activity in over two weeks.

When I was in 6th grade (back in the 70's ) we had to take care of a frog for science class. The frogs arrived at the airport in the middle of January. Several ended up with frost bitten noses and toes due to the extremely cold temperatures. My frog (Frank) would not eat and he got thinner and thinner. I had to hold him and open his mouth and put worms in (his mouth) to feed him. After a month or so, Frank started eating on his own and ended up being the fattest frog in the class and the only survivor at the end of the school year!

Hopefully, I will have an equally silly story to tell about my krib, too.

 

[black angel]

My male krib has started eating again after a couple of weeks so theres always hope. good luck

 

[BettaMomma]

Good news about the brine.
Do continue to let us know how he's doing.

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

The sad face says it all.

My "wellness" tank is now empty.

Rest in peace little guy.

 

[black angel]

oh, im really sorry. you did try though.