I recently bought two cichlids and put them in a tank with two others. My two new ones don't seem to eat. The others picked on one specific one a lot, so I separated him I tried to feed him that way. He still won't eat. I was feeding them flakes, but I bought cichlid pellets and they refuse to eat those as well. Can anyone help? Thanks!
2007-09-04 13:30:41 · 4 answers · asked by alliep42 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Actually I got a totally new tank and put all my fish in at the same time. I put my new ones in first even, because my old fish (I had him in a previous tank) was rather aggressive towards my other fish. I have had my new ones for about 3 weeks now and I have since added another fish to the tank, who also chases the one I separated. I'm sorry I am not sure of the species of fish. I tried to find out but it was rather difficult. Thanks so much for your suggestions. I will definitely move my decorations.
2007-09-04 16:45:24 · update #1
My guess is the new fish are probably getting harassed by the other fish because to your others, the new ones have invaded their territory. To solve this problem you need to take the fish out of your tank, move the decorations around and then put all fish back at the same time.
2007-09-04 13:37:35 · answer #1 · answered by Dustinius 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It would really help if you could tell us what the species of Africans that you have are, the new ones and the old ones. Other basic info would be helpful as well such as how long you have had the tank set up, how big is it, has it cycled, what are the water parameters, have you quarantined the new fish before you put them in the tank, are there any visible signs of illness on the new fish?
If all of this checks out then it may be a matter of stress on the new fish if they are being bullied by the older ones. Yes it can help to rearange the decorations in the tank to wipe clean all fishes' sense of territory so that they will have to start over in establishing it with the new fish having an equal chance at it.
I would also suggest offering some other foods that are hard for many cichlids to pass up to see if this wets their appetites such as frozen blood worms (thawed first in a cup of tank water), quality freeze-dried krill, or for the more herbivorous cichlids some HBH Super Soft spirulina sinking pellets. These are rich so a little goes a long ways. Flakes are really not the ideal food for African cichlids, though they will usually eat them, I would lean more towards a balance of cichlid pellets both green(vegetarian), and red(meaty) combined with good alternative foods like the ones I mentioned as well as tubifex worms, brine shrimp, and mysis shrimp.
2007-09-04 21:33:29 · answer #2 · answered by Ash 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Really depends of breeds you have and what you bought? Try getting some frozen bloodworms or something like that. You may also try throwing a bunch of ghost shrimp in there, it will give everyone something to focus on and chase around rather than the new fish.
I agree the most with the person who said move things around in the tank and make them find new terrorities.
2007-09-04 22:03:19 · answer #3 · answered by laurie aka petsrus6 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cichlid pellets are normally for carni/omni-vorus fishes. If the cichlids you have are African Mbuna,you may not be feeding them the right food. The Rift Lake "Rock fish"(that's what Mbuna means),are vegetarians that will come down with a nearly always fatal disease called "Malawi Bloat" if they are fed foods that are too rich or meaty.
It would really be a big help if you could name the species of cichlid that you have.
2007-09-04 20:40:18 · answer #4 · answered by PeeTee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋