Fish Not Eating

[Matt]

Hi Guys

I have tried this on the chit chat, but have had no response (Only waited two hours but I am getting concerned)

My fish don't seem to be interested in the food anymore, up until recently they would nearly rip my arm off. It's not just one of them it's the whole lot. I have been feeding a mixture of flakes, algae tablets, Granular food and the occasional blood worm. I am fairly sure that i am not over feeding as I would normally only feed once a day and only what they would eat in a few minutes. Up until the last week or so this was all Ok, but now they don't want to eat anything. If I leave the food in it is gone by the next morning, but i don't know if it is just disolving or being eaten. None of the fish are showing any signs of illness other than maybe spending a little more time skimming the top surface of the water. The only thing that i have added recently is some floating plants that cover less than a quater of the water surface. The fish I have in the tank and all of the level are listed below. If you have any suggestions please let me know? Am I just being paranoid?

240L Tank with internal filter
Nitrate 30ppm (Water changed Sunday, this is the level I get from the tap)
Nitrite 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
PH 7.8

2 x Golden Severum
2 X psudotrophus albino
2 x Psudotrophus Afra
2 x New guini Red Rainbow
3 x Bosemans Rainbow
4 x Red Eye Tetra
4 x Clown Loach

 

[impur]

How is the temp in your tank? I know if mine gets a bit on the low side they seem more sluggish. I regularly keep my tank between 80-84.

 

[Matt]

The temp is currently slightly higher than normal at 80. But thanks for the advice you are the only person who has responded so far.

 

[Feline]

R ur fishies happy? (like r their fins all up?) Sorry I can't think of any reasons of them not eating. Perhaps they r a bit nervous when u r around so they'll choose to eat when they r alone?

 

[Matt]

They seem fairly happy and don't move away quicky when I approach the glass. However they do seem to be happier when the lights are off. Maybe its my ugly mug looking through the glass that they don't like?

 

[Tanked]

the fish that you listed will be fine with a temp around 78 but 80 would be fine too. nitrate seems a bit high. 30ppm out of the faucet makes me feel blessed. how often do you perform water changes? you may want to add more plants to combat the nitrate as well. do you have an UGF? if so when was the last time you broke the tank down to clean it?

 

[Matt]

Hi Tanked

I have just added a load of floating plants, so hopefully they should start to bring down the levels. As for water changes, I do a 25% change every other week. However if when testing I find any of the levels to be high then I would change on a weekly basis.

 

[impur]

You could try keeping the light off when you feed them, see if that helps also.

 

[playfulalliecat]

They could just be shy about eating when someone is around. I have a couple of convicts that seem to be that way. I wouldn't get too concerned as long as they aren't showing any other signs of illness. Clamped fins, gasping at the top, not moving around......any of these signs wouldn't be good.

As for the nitrates, my understanding is that 0 to 40 ppm is OK. I wouldn't want it to get over 40 but when we first set up our 55 gallon (first of 6 tanks) the nitrate was always from 20-40 and we never had any problems with our fish. I am sure that others will disagree with me but from my experience and that of others I know that is considered safe.

Allie

 

[Jamnog]

ok well my thaughts are posibly only feed them once a day try changeing to a mix of mid and bottom feeder stuff i get this stuff called tetra prima something like that its sposed to be the best food but its not as good as they say even that gets left on the bottom. they are eating the food if its all gone in the morning as it leaves a coloured stain if its just disolving. but if its not gone within about 5 mins hoover it up. i allways feed mine in the morning. i thaught also perhaps the food is being affected in some way by the way its being fed perhaps you changed the soap you wash ure hands with or something. it could be allmost anything. but they wont starve themselves in my experience.

 

[Matt]

Thanks Guys

I think I have found the problem. I looked on the site for other entries with simular symptoms and found one that mentioned that the problem might be caused by a lack of ripple on the surface of the water. When I checked I discovered that my pump output had dropped a few inches, leaving virtually no surface ripple. I corrected the position and today the fish seem much happier and are also eating.

Thnaks for your help.

Matt

 

[Feline]

That's good news Matt! I've also learnt another thing today!

 

[Tanked]

glad to hear that they are getting better. have they began eating again?

 

[Matt]

Yep they have all started eating again. But I must admit they do seem to prefer the lights off when they are feeding.

Matt