New Cardinals Won't Eat....

[blue_ram]

I realize that this should be posted in Charcin forum, but dearth of traffic there made me post here... Anyway, I have 4 Cardinals (6 originally) in my quarantine tank. They have been there for almost 2 weeks, and except for one, rest refuses any food I give them. They won't touch flakes, or frozen bloodworms/daphnia. I haven't kept them in almost 8-10 years, but I don't ever remember them being this finicky. Now I'm starting to get worried. I was planning to integrate them into my main aquarium this weekend, but I'm not so sure if that's a good idea anymore.

Quarantine tank is an unlit, bare bottom tank, with a mature sponge filter. Aaside from two medium plastic plants, it's devoid of any decorations. The temperature is 73-75 degrees F (23-24degrees C), pH is at 7.6-7.8, no ammonia, no nitrite, <10ppm nitrate, <.5ppm phosphate. Any suggestions?

 

[Ethos]

Huh, thats intersting.
Sometimes fish just refuse to eat.... There's not much you can do.
Where did you buy them from? Did you mean you owned them for 10 years, or you've had some for 10 years?

 

[MegTheFish]

The temp is a little on the cool side, try increasing it to atleast 78 degrees. Also, maybe they are just nervous and scared, try adding a few more plants so they feel secure.

 

[blue_ram]

Huh, thats intersting.
Sometimes fish just refuse to eat.... There's not much you can do.
Where did you buy them from? Did you mean you owned them for 10 years, or you've had some for 10 years?

I meant, the last time I had them was almost 10 years ago. I had trouble finding them at LFS near by me. I found them at Petsmart (of all the places) about 2 weeks ago. Since I haven't had them in a while, I bought 6 of them and put them in a quarantine tank. Now that I think of it, I need to find out when was the last time guys at Petsmart fed them. It might even be more than 2 weeks.

I do recall Cardinals being a little pickier, but I've never had a fish that refuses to eat for more than a week. Funny thing is they all look very healithy. Alert with erect fins, no signs of injury, straight spines, bright colors, etc... The larger one even picks on the smaller one from time to time. Their behavior is typical for healthy fish, except for the fact that they won't eat!

 

[blue_ram]

The temp is a little on the cool side, try increasing it to atleast 78 degrees. Also, maybe they are just nervous and scared, try adding a few more plants so they feel secure.

Thanks, will try as you've suggested. But even the panic prone Corys don't have problem when it comes to food.

 

[Gazoo]

They won't touch flakes, or frozen bloodworms/daphnia.

I have six newer cardinals and have found that two of the smaller less aggressive ones aren't eating as much but from what I know your conditions sound good. Have you tried frozen or live brine shrimp?

 

[OohFeeshy]

If you're satisfied they're healthy, I'd add them to the main tank. Theres not really much you can do, you can't force them to eat. Maybe once they're in the proper tank with probably more hiding places etc. they'll feel secure and eat.

 

[Ethos]

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.
Its been a while, hows the situation?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Tetras like cardinals and neons rarely actually ever come up to the surface of the tank to eat, they tend to hang around the mid level and pick off the dusty particles that get pushed along in the tank with the filter current, chances are they are eating but you are just not noticing it. If you feel really concerned change their diet to dried fry foods, they never pass on those, they might just be feeling intimidated by the large chunks of food you are putting in the tank as a single average sized bloodworm is enough to fill up a cardinals stomache for a day .

 

[blue_ram]

They won't touch flakes, or frozen bloodworms/daphnia.

I have six newer cardinals and have found that two of the smaller less aggressive ones aren't eating as much but from what I know your conditions sound good. Have you tried frozen or live brine shrimp?

Not brine shrimp, but tried daphnia. Live foods are impossible to find around here.

 

[blue_ram]

Tetras like cardinals and neons rarely actually ever come up to the surface of the tank to eat, they tend to hang around the mid level and pick off the dusty particles that get pushed along in the tank with the filter current, chances are they are eating but you are just not noticing it. If you feel really concerned change their diet to dried fry foods, they never pass on those, they might just be feeling intimidated by the large chunks of food you are putting in the tank as a single average sized bloodworm is enough to fill up a cardinals stomache for a day .

They are actually ignoring the food. They seem to "sniff" at it for a second, and then move away. I'll try your suggestion of trying smaller food size. Even after more than 2 weeks without food, they seem to be in good health. They are still "chasing" (for about 1/2 second) each other around. I'll just add them to my main tank tomorrow.

I'm pretty sure I fed them flakes, and red (blood?) worms last time I had them. Even my discus weren't this picky.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.