Fish refuses to eat

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JaredShope1

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Aug 12, 2019
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114
I got a pearl gourami recently and it absolutely refuses to eat. When it nips a flake, it just spits it out and doesn’t try to re eat it. It’s been 4 days and it hasn’t eaten anything. What should I do?
 
Have you tried different foods like pellets or live/frozen?
Is he otherwise healthy? Any other symptoms? What are your water parameters? What size is your tank?
 
Have you tried different foods like pellets or live/frozen?

Is he otherwise healthy? Any other symptoms? What are your water parameters? What size is your tank?



I’ve only used flakes. I would rather not spend more money just to get this guy to eat. The tank is cycled, with 0.25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5 nitrate. And my tank is 29 gallons. And yes, otherwise he looks and acts healthy
 
If you have .25 ammonia you’re not fully cycled, you’re in a mini-cycle. Stressed fish don’t eat as well and that combined with it being new is likely your problem.

Was it eating flake where you bought it? If so it might just be the ammonia and new environment stressing it out. If it wasn’t than it might still be getting used to the idea that flakes are food.

Trying a different food is a good idea but water changes are (nearly) free; so get rid of that ammonia first.

Edit: (if this is the same tank as your other thread, the 29 gallon that has only been running a couple weeks, it’s not really surprising your cycle has not settled yet. It can take much longer for a tank to really be stable)
 
I’ve only used flakes. I would rather not spend more money just to get this guy to eat.

So you'd rather he starve than try a different food? Fish can be picky eaters too. It's always good to supplement with live foods every now and then.
 
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