Fish not eating

[mrsjoannh13]

Hi, everyone - I have a 20 gallon tank with 6 glofish tetras (skirt tetras). Parameters are all fine 0 ammonia and nitrite, nitrates under 20. Not planted (silk plants but I do have some moss balls in there), weekly water changes 25 - 30% with gravel vac, GH 2, KH 6, pH 7.6, temp 77. The tank has been set up since October and was fully cycled before adding fish. I'll preface this by saying these tetras are a bit territorial and nippy... but there is no blatant bullying as far as I can see. Just the occasional brief chase if one fish comes into another's favorite spot. Otherwise, a pretty chill tank.

One of the glofish is really not eating. It's the newest addition to the tank and has always been a bit shy - hiding in the back corner of the tank in some plants. I think we got it in October. It used to eat 'okay' but has been showing less interest in food. It doesn't really want to come out at feeding times. Today I watched it closely and after considerable time into the feeding session it came out and grabbed a few flakes. Each time I noticed it would spit the flake out after taking it in. It's Tetra color flakes and generally this fish's favorite food. So I know the fish love this specific food.

My question is this... is there anything I can do for this fish? Is it suffering from wasting disease or something similar that I can cure? I have several meds on hand like general cure and the other basic meds. The fish outwardly looks healthy - no clamped fins, no spots on its body, no damage to fins, clear eyes, good color, etc. I'm wondering if it's something internal that I just can't see. And if that's the case do I treat the whole tank? Or isolate and just treat this one fish?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Don't treat with meds unless you are sure of illness.

Do you feed a variety of foods? I find that some of my fish prefer flakes, while others prefer pellets, and still others prefer sinking foods...I keep a wide variety of foods because of this...how often do you feed?

 

[UnknownFishies]

Hi, everyone - I have a 20 gallon tank with 6 glofish tetras (skirt tetras). Parameters are all fine 0 ammonia and nitrite, nitrates under 20. Not planted (silk plants but I do have some moss balls in there), weekly water changes 25 - 30% with gravel vac, GH 2, KH 6, pH 7.6, temp 77. The tank has been set up since October and was fully cycled before adding fish. I'll preface this by saying these tetras are a bit territorial and nippy... but there is no blatant bullying as far as I can see. Just the occasional brief chase if one fish comes into another's favorite spot. Otherwise, a pretty chill tank.

One of the glofish is really not eating. It's the newest addition to the tank and has always been a bit shy - hiding in the back corner of the tank in some plants. I think we got it in October. It used to eat 'okay' but has been showing less interest in food. It doesn't really want to come out at feeding times. Today I watched it closely and after considerable time into the feeding session it came out and grabbed a few flakes. Each time I noticed it would spit the flake out after taking it in. It's Tetra color flakes and generally this fish's favorite food. So I know the fish love this specific food.

My question is this... is there anything I can do for this fish? Is it suffering from wasting disease or something similar that I can cure? I have several meds on hand like general cure and the other basic meds. The fish outwardly looks healthy - no clamped fins, no spots on its body, no damage to fins, clear eyes, good color, etc. I'm wondering if it's something internal that I just can't see. And if that's the case do I treat the whole tank? Or isolate and just treat this one fish?

Thanks for any advice.

maybe try some sinking pelletts

 

[mrsjoannh13]

maybe try some sinking pelletts

These fish only eat from the top of the tank. They won't eat off the bottom.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Don't treat with meds unless you are sure of illness.

Do you feed a variety of foods? I find that some of my fish prefer flakes, while others prefer pellets, and still others prefer sinking foods...I keep a wide variety of foods because of this...how often do you feed?

I have so many foods it takes up a whole shelf in the freezer for the extra containers. I take a little bit out at a time (defrost it) so it stays fresh. Seriously, my fish are WAY spoiled. I feed a mix of Tetra Color Flakes, Xtreme Krill Flakes, Fluval Bug Bites, Hikari food sticks, freeze dried brine shrimp, daphnia and blood worms, and frozen brine shrimp and blood worms.

I feed 2x a day and fast them on Sundays.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Yeah, that's a good variety, but you really don't need to feed 2X a day...most fish in the wild don't every day, much less twice.

I feed all of my fish every other day, sometimes they go 2 days w/out feeding...underfeeding never hurts, overfeeding can cause serious water param issues....not saying you are overfeeding, because I don't know how much you give them, but it's really not necessary to feed that much.

Try cutting back on feeding, your fish won't starve, and the picky eater will come around, I'm betting...

 

[Slaphppy7]

These fish only eat from the top of the tank. They won't eat off the bottom.

They will, if it's all they have....fish are capable of learning different feeding behaviors, you just have to teach them, and be patient

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Well I have a fish that is basically not eating at all. I don't think teaching it new feeding behaviors is in the cards right now. I've had these fish for a while and what I've observed is that they only eat the food from the top of the tank. Once it starts to sink mid-tank or bottom, they will not touch it. I'm fine with that if they are.

My concern with this one fish in particular is that it is rarely eating and when it does eat I see it spitting the food back out. I don't think this is the case of a picky eater. My gut tells me something is wrong with this particular fish. And I'm not sure if there is anything I can or should do about it.