Jaguar Cichlid (4M) - doesn't seem to want to eat

[PumpKineTick]

• tank size : ~ 450 liters ( ~100 gallons )
• tank age : 4 years
• pH : ~ 8
• nitrite : 0 ppm
• nitrate : ~ 40 ppm
• kH : ~ 12
• gH : ~ 10
• tank temp : 27 celsius ( 80 fahrenheit )

My 4-year-old male jaguar cichlid hasn't shown interest in food since July 12th.
He seems to be in perfect shape other than that.
Since then, he has eaten precisely 6 pellets, 4 on July 14th and 2 -ones which I had soaked in garlic water- on July 15th (today).
I feed him these daily:
Hikari Cichlid Gold Sinking Medium (https://www.amazon.com/Hikari-Cichlid-Gold-Sinking-Medium3-5oz/dp/B000TZ59ZW)
Hikari Tropical Food Sticks (https://www.amazon.com/Hikari-Tropical-Food-Sticks-250g/dp/B00025Z6JI)
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I do 40-50% water changes monthly and I change the filters every couple of months or so.
I have a sump-like filter and a surface skimmer submersible filter.
He's alone in the tank.
I haven't added anything to the tank for a long time.
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Photos attached.

 

[PumpKineTick]

I know it probably isn't an emergency but I hope I found the right place.

 

[Nicky1968]

I have no idea I'm afraid, only to say that's one amazing looking fish, and hope it's OK obvs. How big is it?

 

[PumpKineTick]

I have no idea I'm afraid, only to say that's one amazing looking fish, and hope it's OK obvs. How big is it?

35-ish centimeters (~14 inches).
He is perfectly okay as of now, and I hope he won't get worse.

 

[Colin_T]

What's the ammonia reading?
What does the fish's poop look like?

You mention changing the filter once every couple of months. What do you do when you change it?

You need to do water changes more often. 50% once a week or at least once every 2 weeks would be better for the fish.

Filters should be cleaned once a month. The filter media/ materials can be washed out in a bucket of tank water and the media re-used. The bucket of dirty water gets poured on the lawn outside.

----------------------

BASIC FIRST AID FOR FISH
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until the problem is identified. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[PumpKineTick]

What's the ammonia reading?

I use Tetra 6 in 1 test strips, and it doesn't measure ammonia. I should probably get one that does I guess.

What does the fish's poop look like?

It's normal, no stringiness/whiteness.

What do you do when you change it?

I have an unused shower where I thoroughly wash the media. I haven't had problems with it, although that doesn't mean I'm doing it right.
As for specifics, I rinse, then squeeze, then rinse, then squeeze and so on. I make sure to squeeze it dry afterwards. Then I simply put it back.
I turn off the return pump in the mean time.
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Thank you very much.

 

[Archerfish]

I recommend several partial water exchanges. Do one every other day if needed. Fresh foods will probably help too. Do you normally keep the tank at 80-degrees?
One other suggestion is to closely examine what might have changed within the tank or with the life support equipment.

 

[PumpKineTick]

Do you normally keep the tank at 80-degrees?

My heater's set to ~78, so it's definitely a bit heightened by the summer heat. Although, the higher temp. should mean increased metabolism = greater hunger I believe.

 

[Fishies4Ever]

It could be the high nitrates, not sure if they are super sensitive fish but nitrates can slowly harm the fish over time so a 50% water change and test again. See what it is at and if it still a bit high you could do another 25% water change the next day.

 

[Archerfish]

My heater's set to ~78, so it's definitely a bit heightened by the summer heat. Although, the higher temp. should mean increased metabolism = greater hunger I believe.

Yeah, that is true up to a point. But every species has a 'comfort zone' and your fish will let you know what that is over time if you closely observe them. You mentioned the tank is 4-years old, have you had the fish that long? If so, again, I would carefully examine what has changed. Sometimes it is something subtle that we brush off as nothing but in their tiny aquatic world, slight changes are huge. To us, 100-gallons is a large tank but to them it is like living in a closet. Things like adding another fish, changing the lighting or photoperiod, temperature changes out of the comfort zone, old food, filters not performing as they did when new and poor water quality are just some of the things that can disrupt their lives. Stray voltage from a defective heater or internal power filter can also cause loss of appetite and listlessness.

 

[PumpKineTick]

You mentioned the tank is 4-years old, have you had the fish that long?

Indeed, I bought the aquarium for the fish.

One other suggestion is to closely examine what might have changed within the tank or with the life support equipment.

The only thing I can think of is that I did the filter cleaning 3 days prior to this.
Maybe my method of cleaning messed with the balance or smth else.
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I plan on getting ammonia tested, but my LFS's closed today, so I'll try tomorrow.
I think I'll do a water change today just to lower my nitrates and cool the aquarium down a bit.

 

[Colin_T]

I have an unused shower where I thoroughly wash the media. I haven't had problems with it, although that doesn't mean I'm doing it right.
As for specifics, I rinse, then squeeze, then rinse, then squeeze and so on. I make sure to squeeze it dry afterwards. Then I simply put it back.
I turn off the return pump in the mean time.

You could have an ammonia reading due to how you are cleaning the filter.

Until you get the ammonia level tested, I would suggest doing a 75% water change every day until you know the reading.

In future, wash the filter media in a bucket or two of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the buckets of dirty water out.

If the ammonia is 0pm, then try different foods including raw/ cooked prawn/ shrimp and bits of white bait.

 

[PumpKineTick]

Water change in progress.
I'll make sure to test the water tomorrow. This time including ammonia. We'll see.

 

[PumpKineTick]

This is the surface skimmer. I decided to remove it just in case. I'm no electronic expert at all but that doesn't look safe.
It's also quite old and I was planning on getting a new one as it often shut down/the propeller got stuck.

 

[Ram419]

I've heard mention of use multimeters to detect stray voltage from malfunctioning equipment. My equipment is too new to have something like that issue I think but shouldn't be ruled out as a cause to a case like this.