fish wont eat

[SuperGourami]

If you just want your fish to eat, a lot of people say that adding garlic to the food not only prevents diseases, but causes the fish to be more attracted to it. I've personally never tried it, but it does make sense.

 

[cmw9787]

ya don't over feed your fish. only feed them what they can completely consume in about 3 mins. Overfeeding could easily be contributing to your high ammonia levels.

 

[Autumnsky]

I have found that New Life Spectrum, tropical fish food - says on the label with Garlic work for the pickiest of eaters.

I prefer Hikari foods and to supplement with the others.

Make sure to get your water to a good level
Ammonia lower than .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate lower than 40, better at 30 or less

You can add a little more Prime if you are close. But that is not a substitute for good water parameters. Just a helpful tool. Continue water changes as needed to get it good!

 

[Tomlintm]

update i did 2 water changes and added prime and this morning my fish were going nuts with eating the flakes i will do another 2 more water change thrusday

 

[cmw9787]

awesome! do a water test and let us know where your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are now.

 

[Tomlintm]

will do tonight when i get home at 9 est

 

[Autumnsky]

Great news!

 

[Tomlintm]

ya im happy there eating and the prime is alsi helping get the rest of the the foggyness away to

 

[Tomlintm]

update tested the water the ammonia is now still betwwen 4.0 and 8.0 nitrate still at 0 and nitrite also 0 and temp is at 78F

 

[Autumnsky]

update tested the water the ammonia is now still betwwen 4.0 and 8.0 nitrate still at 0 and nitrite also 0 and temp is at 78F

Are you sure of the ammonia reading? It should be at .25 ppm or less!!!

You need to do a few huge water changes if your reading is right or you will have some dead fish. Cut back in feeding!

 

[Tomlintm]

i feed once a day and i test the water in the test tube kit

 

[Autumnsky]

If you look at the chart, you are at the end of the chart beyond danger. You need the water to be .25 or less, basically yellow to be "Good".

Maybe cut down to half of the quantity you are doing now and see how it goes for the fish. This is a serious situation for the fish!

 

[Tomlintm]

ya i no the ammonia is high i just did a full capful of prime this morning to see how that reacts with the ammonia i hope it will take care of it or elemenate most of it to help me stableize the tank but its weird tho the fish dont seem to care that the ammonia is high there energy is high they eat normaly the tank cloudyness is almost gone the slim on the side of the tank is almost gone so i dont get it

 

[cmw9787]

Prime doesn't eliminate ammonia. It neutralizes it temporarily - for about 24 hours. After that it reverts back to its toxic state and will kill your fish. It's awesome that you have nitrate in your tank already though. That means your tank is almost done cycling (I say almost because you still have ammonia). Definitely cut back on feeding for a while, the fish will be fine without food (or with less food) briefly. Maybe try feeding them only what they will COMPLETELY consume in around 1 minute - and feed them like this only every other day for the next week or two.

Keep doing those water changes. It is, by far, the most effective way to lower that huge amount of ammonia you have in your tank. Once you get ammonia levels under control you can start to cut back on water changes.

 

[Tomlintm]

but the nitrate test i do still says i have 0 nitrate in the tank and how long can i go with out feeding

 

[cmw9787]

oops. i read your post wrong. thought you said you had nitrate reading of 8. the cycle is still just beginning then. feeding every other day won't hurt the fish at all. a lot of people do it regularly. I personally feed my fish once a day, but I only feed them what they'll completely consume in about a minute or two each time. Just start off with very small amounts and watch them closely. Don't be afraid of underfeeding though. Overfeeding is one of the most common problems encountered with fish keeping. And if you do underfeed, you can always give a bit more later. It's a bit harder to correct overfeeding.

 

[Tomlintm]

no my ammonia is between 4.0 and 8.0 not my nitrate that is at 0 idk why my nitrate and nitrite levels wont increase

 

[cmw9787]

takes time and patience. it'll happen though. if you haven't done a water change to get that ammonia level down below 4, I'd do that now.

 

[Tomlintm]

i did 2 on monday i havent had time since i work i will do 3 water changes tommorrow

 

[Tomlintm]

i cleaned the tank all the decorations and cleaned half the grave i started to put the decorations back in and all my glofish started to die all at once all i have left now is my cory cats :'( im glad there still alive but i only put 2 of my fake rock formations back in all the plants are still out