soliver Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 My Ruby Red has stopped eating. He was in the 210 when i noticed he stopped and i recently moved him into the 55 with his female. He still isn't eating and isn't looking to interested in the food(NLS). He swims around, chases his female, normal fish stuff. But just not eating. I fed them Frozen Brine Shrimp tonight and he mouthed it and spit it out. Im worried about him and he is really coloring up nice so i don't want to lose him. Any suggestions on what to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted January 11, 2009 Report Share Posted January 11, 2009 (edited) A healthy cichlid, is a hungry cichlid. The fact that it has stopped eating is not good. For now, stop feeding that tank. I would treat the tank with Jungle Tank Buddies Parasite Clear, 2 treatments back to back. (4 days total with a 40% water change in between treatments) No feeding during treatment. Then perform a large water change, and 24 hrs after that attempt to feed a small amount of pellets. (not brine shrimp) Also keep an eye on your 210, there may be others to follow ..... HTH Edited January 11, 2009 by RD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 Follow RD's advice and things will be good -- but as a side note I would never feed my africans frozen brine shrimp, it is messy and all the small particles get sucked up by your filters or get lodged in your substrate and rocks. Just a problem waiting to happen in my opinion. If you really want to give them a treat (I never do they get their pellets thats it) I would suggest frozen krill as it is much meatier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted January 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 Thanks for the advice. Im going to start the treatment tomorrow. Thinking about separating him as all the other fish are fine and just watch them carefully. I never thought of the brine shrimp causing problems. Thanks for the warning. Is there anything other than Krill that i can feed them. Krill is a little too big and i don't see them ripping it apart as much.(The fish aren't full grown) I will try and take a picture of him and post it, not that it will do much good, But you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 I find that minimizing stress helps. I always keep the lights off during any kind of treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 For the time being I wouldn't worry about feeding anything besides your pellets, no point in introducing a new food & potentially causing any type of dietary stress. Down the road if you still want to supplement your fishes diet, krill can be broken or cut into small bites size pieces. For now I would definitely recommend leaving frozen foods out of the equation. Patrick's suggestion is a good one as well, not only will the fish remain calmer, but one of the ingredients in Parasite Clear (Metronidazole) is light sensitive & already dissipates out of solution at a fairly rapid rate so leaving the lights off will help in that regards as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted January 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 So i just got home, thought i would feed the other fish in the tank one last time before i treat tomorrow. So i fed them flakes. To my surprise, the ruby ate. Im so happy. Im hoping he was really stressed out due to me trying to catch fish in my 210(which is really hard due to the decor) I think im going to hold off on the treatment tomorrow and see if he starts to eat pellets again. I don't want to treat and cause more stress than i have to. Thanks again for all the help. Ill keep everyone updated on the progress tomorrow morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted January 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 So i fed him this morning. He isn't eating the pellets but he is eating flakes. He looks like he is feeling a little bit better. I don't see him having a parasite. I feed them parasite prevented NSL pellets. I don't know whats going on. I think he is just stressed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shocker Posted January 13, 2009 Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 So i fed him this morning. He isn't eating the pellets but he is eating flakes. He looks like he is feeling a little bit better. I don't see him having a parasite. I feed them parasite prevented NSL pellets. I don't know whats going on. I think he is just stressed out. My Firemouth has the same problem. Drop pellets and its like he is too lazy to pick them up. Put in enough flakes that will get past the feeding frenzy of my Tiger Barbs and he eats...problem is he has to eat a lot more to equal a pellet. Let me know if you find food that perks your guy up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 He is still not eating very much. More mouthing it than anything. Not interested in the pellets at all, but is comes out for the flakes. As i said before, i still don't think its a parasite. I have no clue what to do. I think im going to try treating with melafix and see what happens. One of my female lwandas's has started doing it as well. She is in a different tank entirely. Hope it isn't in the 210. Would be a big dose to treat that tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Melafix is used to treat wounds/injuries, and certainly isn't going to resolve your problem. IME when a cichlid stops eating, 9 times out of 10 it is the beginning to what is commonly referred to as bloat. Also IME, you have a very small window to react, once the fish begins refusing food. The following info was posted on cichlid-forum by a buddy of mine who used to mod on that site with me back in the day. IMO it's one of the best posts on this subject that you will find. "Malawi bloat" is a disease perptuated by microscopic flagellates (parasites) that are commonly found in healthy fish. These one-celled protozoans reproduce by binary fission. They can occur on the skin, in the intestine, internal organs, and in the blood of fish. Intestinal flagellates can be found in many fish which they do not harm. The pathogenicity of the organism varies from fish to fish. Thus, Angelfish may not be affected at all by the same flagellates that damage say a Discus. The intestines of these fish can contain millions of flagellates averaging in size of about 8-12 microns. Here is a list of some commonly known flagellates: A. Hexamita B. Spironucleus c. Trichomanas D. Bodamonas E. Protoopalina The most recognized are the first two. Most researchers support the view that some of these protozoans reside in the intestines of healthy fish (dormant), but can proliferate to harmful numbers under stressful conditions. Here is a recent quote from Ad Konings from his book Back to Nature Guide to Malawi Cichlids 2nd. edition pg. 46: "Malawi Bloat is believed to be caused by a flagellate (a unicellular animal, a protozoan). This flagellate occurs in the intestines of all Malawi cichlids but normally causes no harm since the fish's immune system can cope with it. However, in a stressful situation such a balance may disappear and the fish may lose its resistance against an outbreak of a flagellate "attack". This often leads to bloat." Fish are very good at fighting off disease, but when exposed to stressful conditions over a lengthy periods of time their immune systems weaken, thereby exposing them to the possibility of contracting various diseases. Under "stress" the organism multiplies causing considerable localised damage. Once severe enough, the intestinal lining is penetrated and the organism enters the blood causing systemic and organ infections. In large numbers they can block the intestinal tract of a fish creating the"bloat"effect. Some stressors: 1. Low oxygen (O2) levels 2. High nitrite (NO2) levels 3. High nitrate (NO3) levels 4. High ammonia levels (NH3) 5. High or low temperature levels 6. Water pH 7. Lighting 8. Rough handling fish 9. Overcrowding 10. Not enough shelter 11. Harassment 12. Excessive salt 13. Improper diet (specifically herbivores) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Alright thanks again, should have listened to you in the first place. I will treat with Jungle Tank Buddies Parasite Clear. Ill keep everyone updated. Should i separate the 2 fish that are infected? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Typically once one fish begins to show symptoms, there will be others that will follow. The most effective method is to treat the entire tank. You can take a wait & see approach, but you will be taking a gamble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I just took a look at your Lwanda/Demasoni tank, and IMHO that tank is going to cause you nothing but grief. It is simply too small of a tank, with not enough territory to go around. Between getting harassed by the male dem/s, and the male peacock/s, the female peacocks are going to live in a constant state of stress. It could possibly work long term as a single species tank for either/or, but not for both. In the wild demasoni are reported to be loners, and when you keep them in a glass cage they become fairly aggressive as they become sexually mature. That scenario requires lots of territory (numerous rocks/caves/escape routes/line of sight barriers for the sub dom fish, and enough fish in total numbers to spread the aggression from the dom male around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted January 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 Good to know. I knew they were aggressive but i haven't been having any problems with aggression. The demasonies have breed for me already but the female ate the eggs. When the females are holding they will be put into a separate tank for the duration to minimize stress. I will keep a close eye on it and see what happens. Might end up getting a few more females to even out the stress though. I can only imagine how stressed the fish have been in the last while, i have been catching fish to sell as well as moving them into separate tanks. Just to reduce problems in the long run. Its going to be a learning experience for me since this is the first time i have breed fish. Thanks for the input and i will take it into consideration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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