electric yellow cichlid

[Niall Stewart]

Hi there,
I'm trying to find some answers as to why my electric yellow cichlids aren't eating. I have an 80 litre tank with three small (4cm) fish I purchased 3 weeks ago. The tank was set up a month before the fish were put in. It is well oxygenated and all the water parameters are fine (checked by me and by the local aquarium). There are plenty of hiding places for the fish, and there is no bullying going on. But the fish won't eat!. I have tried them on specialised cichlid food, and a variety of different vegetables. They don't show any interest. They don't look at all distressed. One fish died last week. It's gills, internal organs etc were fine, but stomach and intestines were completely empty. Another was dead this morning. No sign of disease but empty stomach etc. Anyone got any ideas?!

 

[libertybelle]

What was the store feeding them before you bought them? Live foods like brine shrimp perhaps?

 

[Niall Stewart]

No, he was feeding them pellets made for cichlids. I bought the same brand to feed them with, but no luck.

 

[gilpi]

Im hoping by now they are eating?

 

[CardinalDiscus]

If they havent eaten by now they are probably dead.

 

[Niall Stewart]

One of them is still alive. It ate a couple of bloodworms for the first time in about a month yesterday. Maybe it's been on a hunger strike...

 

[libertybelle]

Should have mentioned this earlier but you should check all the standard water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph). Fish won’t eat much if water quality is stressing them out.

 

[V227]

It's likely you are doing a fish - in cycle. As noted above, the water parameters of your newly set up tank might be unstable. Try making 2 weekly 50% water changes & one very small feeding a day. Things should improve after a few weeks.

 

[gilpi]

It's likely you are doing a fish - in cycle. As noted above, the water parameters of your newly set up tank might be unstable. Try making 2 weekly 50% water changes & one very small feeding a day. Things should improve after a few weeks.

Totally agree with this. Not sure if you did a cycling prior to adding the fish but at this point (if you didn't cycle) follow this guidance ^^^^ and do not clean the filter.